Total Baby

Produced by Kate Davis and Alyson Denny

• "In classic anthropological style, the film makers stand a bit outside the culture they scrutinized..." - The New York Times
• "'Total Baby' is a wry look at the way parents, scientists, and the baby industry use those gurgling thumbsuckers as canvases on which to paint their hopes and neuroses..." - The Village Voice

How infants are reared is a reflection of the society into which they are born. Set within a historical context, Total Baby shows that in today's competitive society, parents are scrambling for programs that will give babies an advantage over their peers. This wry look at the extremes to which parents go - womb simulating pillows, video mobiles, exercise workouts for newborns, art history lessons for toddlers - is both enlightening and amusing.

Along with examining the multibillion dollar parenting industry, the film gives an ironic yet scholarly overview of childbearing throughout history. We learn of Roman infanticide, Medieval swaddling practices, Renaissance glorification of the infant, and Victorian overprotectiveness. From Aristotle to Dr. Spock, there has been a panoply of theorists addressing the nature of babyhood.

Featured at the Margaret Mead Film Festival, Total Baby combines anthropology and social comment into a fascinating and timely film for classes in child development, psychology, anthropology, history and sociology.

Margaret Mead Film Festival, 1993
Berkeley Women's Film Festival, 1994
Melbourne International Film Festival, 1994

59 min. Video or DVD. Purchase $295. Video rental $75.