I thought of that old joke, y'know, the, this... this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, uh, my brother's crazy; he thinks he's a chicken." And, uh, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs." Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y'know, they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs.On the surface for most Woody Allen's famous last speech in Annie Hall is a somewhat tragic quote about the up-and-downs of relationships in the modern times. For Allen, it was a quote that would go on to symbolize a life of fascinating and uncharacteristic relationships, in particular his notorious marriage to his and ex-wife and fairly beloved actress Mia Farrow's adopted stepdaughter. I like to think of the quote as a metaphor for not just relationships or a strange man's problems, but for life in general. This may best be reflected in the facebook/tweeter generation we've become part of (and addicted to). It's in many ways beyond absurdity some of the things we do with and in regards to facebook, and how we've let it become as involved in our daily lives as it has, but we don't seem to mind, because, well... most of us need the eggs.
It's hard to ignore the fact that people have been interested in other people's affairs for thousands of years. Culture is said by some to have spawned when some random Australopithecus thought it was pretty darn cool that his tall, dark, and handsome neighbor figured out that a rock had more uses then just merely decorating the lively landscape (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). As silly as we think it is to spy and gravel over people's walls, we've been interested in what others have been doing for ages. Facebook just happened to magnified this six hundred million times over and counting.
So it's a wonder to myself and many why people aren't into Anthropology - the study of humans in all forms of their glory - isn't as popular and mainstream. Most don't even learn about it till a chance course during undergrad, and even then most are so buzzed and bored of classes or high on life as a freshman that it just doesn't grab them. What's an anthropologist to do to get some attention? "Show 'em films!" some cried. Unfortunately Nanook of the North just doesn't cut it for kids these days. But you know what? I bet Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Do the Right Thing (okay, Spike Lee might be a stretch for some) can catch the attention of some. For ages anthropology has been stuck on ground level, teaching tribal culture and theories from the early 1900s (gasp!) and recounting stories of an older generation.
While important - even necessary - in every professional anthropologist's career, newcomers may need a classier way to connect with this "old" material. Film Anthropologie hopes to give a new spin on things for a new generation and explain anthropology's classic concepts in a fresh new way that's relevant for the Web 2.0 generation, all while bringing some class back to the masses with the reintroduction of timeless classics.