The Human Experience, in my opinion, was an interesting choice for my first lecture into the world of psychology. The documentary opened with a young man named Jeffery Azize riding in a car talking to a camera. The choice of using a black and white lens for this opening made me feel as if this cinematic feature was him trying to be open, honest, and make very serious statements to help me understand his personality, where he comes from and why he is setting out on this journey. Jeff shows us throughout the film what exactly his inner demons are during each of his experience projects.
The first experience that puts my mind in motion thinking about others starts with Jeff and his brother Cliff living among the homeless in New York City during the winter. They immediately notice the hardships of sitting outside in the cold. I could empathize with the feeling of helplessness. To me, they feel and look lost which is what most homeless people seem to deal with on a daily basis. A homeless person most times doesn’t know where they are going to sleep, where they are going to eat, or what meal they are going to be served in the soup kitchen (if they can even find a soup kitchen). Jeff and Cliff meet some of the homeless people on the street and interview them. During these interviews, I got to listen to someone in a bad situation describe how people saw four dogs on the street and took them home so they wouldn't freeze to death, but did not help the homeless person standing next to them. I felt an emotional response of shame for both myself and the people who did not help them. This was a particular surprise to me, as I unfortunately pass by homeless people frequently and have never really considered that they would want anything more from me then change to buy their next bottle of alcohol.
In the second experience that Jeff and Cliff document in their film, they are traveling with a group from Surf for the Cause down to Peru. In