The purpose of the Nim project is very clear, to raise orangutans like humans from childhood to see if they can master language like humans. After watching the film, I have a huge question, that is, was Nim really cultivated as a "human being" from beginning to end?
All I saw was a ridiculous farce, a naked revelation of human nature, and bloody injuries again and again.
First, Nim was deprived of the opportunity to be raised by his biological mother and brought to Stephanie, the human mother. Stephanie seems to treat nim as her own child, breastfeeding, playing, and a seemingly harmonious and happy family. But it should be noted that when Nim was wanton and went against his father, no one taught Nim that it was wrong, but everyone thought it was very interesting. Is this the way to treat children? I look like I'm watching a naughty pet dog. I don't believe Stephanie does this to any of his children. This is indeed a bit like some Chinese-style education, and everyone understands what the result of this education method is. And when Nimes grew up and settled down and Stephanie went to visit him, she said "it didn't appeal to me because he was an adult orangutan and I didn't say anything like 'how beautiful he is'". The remarks have exposed Stephanie's mentality. Yes, this family has always regarded Nim as a special pet. The so-called "family member" is at best higher than cats and dogs.
Let's look at the reason why Nimes was finally forced to leave Stephanie, because it did not learn any sign language, which human child does not learn language step by step under the care of his family, which human child will be separated from his mother because he can't learn to speak, throw it away. To study in the laboratory closed? Taking over Nimes is Laura, an aspiring college student who continues her role as mother. Laura apparently sees Nim only as a key ingredient in a great scientific experiment, and is ecstatic to be a part of it, desperately trying to instill sign language in Nim, complacent about her achievement. Laura finally left for personal reasons. For her, it was just the end of a scientific research project, but for Nim, this was the second abandonment from her mother. The day Laura left, Nim was furious.
Next, Nim was nurtured by three teachers for a period of time, and the wildness became bigger and bigger. I doubt that Nim was properly educated that it was wrong to hurt people and that he was properly disciplined. Because one of the teachers said that Nim bit her the first time she saw Nim, but she immediately bit back and told Nim that it was even and that it was not allowed to do so again. After that, Nim did not bite her again, so it can be seen that Nim It's not that Mu can't be taught.
In short, for whatever reason, Nim's wildness was ultimately uncontrollable, and after a serious injury incident, the director of the Nim project, Terrace, finally made a decision to terminate the project. One of the big reasons is that they have got a lot of data to sort out. Yep, that's what Nim's existence is all about - that pile of data! Terrace already has his data, so Nim can return to his pack. Even more ironically, Terrace came to the conclusion after sorting through the data that Nim was only responding to needs, and that Nim, whom everyone spent years communicating with every day, did not use language! So Nim's life has become a farce, waiting for it is the second half of his life full of misery.
As for Dr. Terrace, this is a character that disgusts me from start to finish. He started the Nim plan on a whim, first leaving Nim at Stephanie's house and leaving him alone, and then suddenly taking Nim back from Stephanie and starting cramming teaching. He never takes care of Nim, never alone with Nim. When Nim starts to become violent, he says that Laura's tone of debriefing rather than a warning got his attention. After the Nimes attack escalated, he was afraid that the injured would take himself to court, so he hurriedly came forward and said, it's all over, let's get the data sorted! I wish Dr. Terrace was just a character in a movie, but he does exist, a so-called scientific researcher, and there must be more than one Dr. Terrace in this world, I don't know whose sorrow this is.
It is worth mentioning that after Nim was sent back to the institute, Dr. Terrace visited him once (with a camera and a photographer), and the naive Nim thought he was saved, so he happily ran over and hugged him. Terrace, but Dr. Terrace disappeared without a trace the next day. I think Nim may have realized then that he can't go back to his old life. In the end, when Stephanie came to see it, Nim didn't dance with joy anymore, it was clear that they were all just here to see if it was doing well. To be more precise, just look, because Nim is having a bad time and they have no one to help. When Stephanie wants to enter Nim's cage, Nim is furious. These people have cut Nim from their lives by birth, and now they want to enter Nim's life as if nothing happened, and the angry Nim chooses to use violence. Banish Stephanie back to her own world.
I also find it puzzling that in the film, Nim is so adept at expressing his needs in sign language that he never sees it express his feelings. Dr. Terrace said that Nim couldn't speak because it just wanted what it wanted, and I think it's because there was one thing this group overlooked from the start. That is, human language is not only used to express needs, but more importantly, to communicate emotions. And this group of people took Nim as a part of the experiment from the very beginning, and only they knew whether they had treated Nim as a human being to show their affection. So, they only taught Nim to sign language to express that he wants to eat bananas and hug a kitten, but when Nim feels sad and angry, it can only return to its original state and express it with a violent beast. .
At the end of the film, Nim, who "can't speak", gestured "come to play" to Bob through the cage, and then ran jubilantly in the cage. I guess at this point, it doesn't matter how Nim's plan turns out anymore, Nim is finally able to live his own life, albeit a less-than-ideal one.
As for what the film says at the end, Chimpanzees are truly wonderful animals, they will forgive you. I really don’t like this kind of remarks from the point of view as if human beings are the creator. No human being can understand that Nim has been affected and hurt in his life. How can he come to the conclusion that Nim chose to forgive, and then continue to stand in the savior’s point of view. Position handouts with compassion and love. I don't know if Nim really forgave them, I just know that if it were me, I might choose to forget and continue to live, but I'm afraid I can't forgive it with all my life's efforts.
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