Inside the Human Body:Movie Review (S1:E1-3)

Michael Mosley takes his viewers on a journey full of visual mastery in this BBC Documentary, from life to death, with many fascinating stories in between of extreme uniqueness, adaptability, survival and strength of the human body. Starting with the miracle of life itself and how a baby with all it’s DNA is formed in the womb through fertilization of the woman’s egg by 1 strong surviving sperm, and how the baby starts to grow and develop with all the challenges it faces and eventually comes into this world, through topics of our lungs, how our body regulates heat and can adapt within extreme conditions to keep us alive, how we can train our bodies to adapt and deal with extreme cold that would normally kill us, to the human heart, how digestion works utilizes everything we feed ourselves, to the oldest living Siamese twins and finally death due to disease.

Some highlights from this documentary were with the journey of life, and procreation. The way they were able to share the complex facts that surround sperm, an egg, fertilization and the formation of the fetus and baby was astounding. With the ratio of sperm that are created, winnowed down by ‘duds’ and then the how everything needs to come together just right at the right time for sperm to make it into the uterus, and even then, how they are fighting for survival and to be the first sperm to infiltrate the egg was awesome to see. And the facts that if two sperm enter the egg before it can seal itself off, would result in the egg dying, was another pointer to the intricate creation, and safeguarding of human life, and the miracle that it is, and how often it is done right.

Also another highlight was how the body has to keep its temperature so precise to maintain bodily functions and survival, and how firefighters, under extreme temperatures can sweat so much, in this case a litre and a half, to regulate body temperature inside a firefighter’s suit and inside a blazing inferno to keep the body functioning and conscious, and ultimately alive.

Also the story of a woman who lives of of ‘crisps’, a snack food, as her only source of food, and yet her body is able to survive and function off of something that was never meant to give sole sustenance to it, is a remarkable story of the ingenuity, adaptability and strength of the human body, and the digestive system.

For me personally, I was impacted by the visual journey, and I loved the humour and the emotion of real life stories that was brought in to help share the facts. I was impacted by the unique stories of miraculous life, from the 3 triplets each in their own placenta, to the Siamese twins, and the gentleman who died so well at the end. However, I laughed when Michael Mosley said that we evolved from fish as if it was factual. He believes it is, I can tell, but is it factual? Traces of DNA linked to other species gives this factual evidence of our evolution? I would like to see theories stated as such, and recognized as beliefs, with faith needed to bridge the gaps, same as the christian worldview.