Search - Primal Fear (History) on DVD

Carl Jung is never brought up.

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 02/01/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Don't confuse this with that bad flick by Richard Gere and Ed Norton.

I once saw a great documentary series on the five senses. This work was quite similar in saying that humans need fear. It keeps us away from dangerous animals, lethal environmental conditions, etc. This work shows dangerous stuff but celebrates how our bodies have a sense to know to avoid these things.

This documentary has multiple purposes. It is historical in that it shows how ancient man or man from the recent past feared much of what we do now. It is biological in that it speaks about how the brain processes fear and how the body dies when put in some lethal situations. But then there's the Bart and Homer Simpson factor. I think this was designed for those who like the adrenoline rush of fear. The people who loved the film "Titanic" or love extreme sports may like this. It shows risky stuff like sharks, fire, bears, and all kinds of stuff that some people, mostly males, love to hate.

Here's my problem: this work doesn't really emphasize that not all fears are alike. When I think about the fear of rats or drowning, I see how that is something innate and something my ancestors and other species also feel and fear. But this work included terrorism in this list with rats and monsters. I do fear terrorism, but it's not an essential, knee-jerk part of my chemistry. My distant ancestors and pets don't fear terrorism in the way that they'd fear drowning or dangerous animals. Terrorism is a civilization-based, highly sophisticated matter that involves numerous actors. It depends upon political tension. So I wouldn't have included that in this work.

Similarly, the work said in the 1700s many people feared being buried alive, including President Washington. But I doubt most people fear that nowadays as we have medical instruments that can still tell if we are alive. Unless you have a criminal enemy out there or are a victim of violence, you are not likely to wake up in a coffin by surprise.

I enjoyed this work, but I recognize that it purposely focused on controversial or "sexy" topics to garner its widest number of potential and actual viewers."