The Human Face (2001)

Fun at first - last episode boring

The first 3 episodes are pretty interesting and use a combination of animation and strange setups to make the points vivid and entertaining. There were demonstrations of the principles using things I had never seen before such as Indian laughter groups and the 1:1.618 golden ratio (ok I saw this in PI, but didn't know really how it connected to perfect beauty, and I had never studied otherwise).

(SPOILER - next paragraph)
In one part, a white woman who was raped by a black man helps to wrongly convict an innocent man for ELEVEN years and the worst thing about how she feels is EMBARRASSED? Wow! If I was responsible for something like that I would be devastated at taking away a part of someone's life. They used this to show how we can easily mistake faces and how we tend to lump other races into a prototype. The point was a good point, but a better example of a more regretful person would have been more poignant.

The last episode "Fame" was a big drag. There were some fun moments such as Cleese visiting his usual produce store, but a large part of the show was taken up by who this casting director was going pick. Where was the science for this episode? It was more like an expose in why some people are addicted to celebrities, and a reality TV contest. Ugh.

I would say watch it for the first 3 episodes and have fun with it, but don't expect this entire show to be a documentary into how our faces work, and don't expect it to be scientific. September 10, 2007

entertaining and educational

I love good documentaries, and I really enjoyed this series. There was so much good and interesting information about the expression of emotions, beauty, fame, and a variety of other topics, and John Cleese brought a lot of humor into it that made it easier and more enjoyable to absorb. To anyone who likes psychology, sociology, or John Cleese, I would recommend this DVD highly. August 29, 2007

it had me until... ZARA

ive watched this program before and ignored the one big part that can enable one to totally disregard the findings of that "beauty scientist": the fact that he agreed with the as-expected pathetic selection of the fashion committee to choose that ugly-duckling, Zara, over the other finalist Rachel, a real asian/eurasian beauty.

this time, i just couldnt stand it and had to write a review... i dont mean to be mean, but that zara is one of the ugliest pos ive ever seen.. it's fitting that the gurus of the fashion industry would choose her to be their ridiculous representation of beauty, but for that doctor to approve this, measuring her features and confirming her "beauty" when i just wanted to puke, or at least turn away from the tv rather than look at buck-tooth zara, was too much

i mean, she's the type of girl the boys would throw food at during lunch and could only dream of making the high school cheerleading squad... how the hell did she get the idea to become a model??? has the world turned up side down???

zara, if u're reading this, i hope u have a successful career (NOT in the beauty industry b/c that's ridiculous)... and have a fulfilling life outside of the fashion biz, im sure there's SOME1 out there who thinks u're hot, not me though

oh yea, i was so shocked that that old broad, liz hurley, took exception to the doctor's obvious statement that females look their best from 14-24 (a reasonable, if not liberal, range), NOT! of course, she claimed that she got better looking in her late 20's and the program showed old black and white pics of her when she was a teen and w/o much make-up, if at all

first, i dont find old or young liz that hot anyways... second, im sure that by her late 20s, lizzy was already in the acting biz and always had make-up artists and fashion consultants to make her look her best, but i guess she doesnt think $10k of hair and make up and hours and hours of preparation in the make up room makes a big diff to her looks, but rather, her "natural" beauty increased as she got older... please, if she thinks she looked better waking up in the morning in her late 20s than when she was a teen, she's fooling herself

still, im giving it 3 stars b/c the 1.68 thingy sounds interesting, even though it failed to "measure up" w/ zara July 23, 2007

Educational

Anyone looking to learn more about non verbal communication, this video is wonderful and keeps your attention. June 27, 2007

It's as plain as the nose on your face

John Cleese is not an academic but a comedian, so his approach to a serious subject has to be a little frivolous, but that is part of John's charm. None the less, Cleese is no fool. He approaches the subject from a number of directions, and comes up with quite a few surprises on why we recognize caricatures more easily than portraits, and just what is it that makes Elizabeth Hurley beautiful.
i enjoyed it on quite a few levels, for its intelligence, insight and humour. June 1, 2007

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