The six-part docuseries examining 15 newborns, now streaming on Netflix, does have some intriguing findings, but it's too focused on the science, says Robyn Bahr. "Babies disappoints not only because the science is too central to the storytelling, but also because the science presented here takes a Western-centric approach without the producers acknowledging it as such," Bahr adds. "Many of the researchers hail from the U.S., Israel or Europe and no doubt their conclusions include minute sociological biases influenced by their cultures of origin. I was surprised to see no infancy researchers from Asia, Africa or South America, save one woman who works in Singapore. While Babies bears no relation to the 2010 French documentary of the same name that features infants living in Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and the U.S., I wish it borrowed from that film's global ethos." ALSO: Babies even sidelines the parents to focus on scientists.
TOPICS: Netflix, Babies, Documentaries