Tuesday evening, I attended the Jane Goodall Live Movie Event held at Reading’s IMAX theater. This was one of 500 theaters across the nation which held this one-of-a-kind, one-night only event.
The originality of this event stems in the fact that part of the live event was a documentary on 77 yr. old, energetic Jane Goodall and the work she has done in her life with not only chimpanzees but conservation and adding to this was a live interview that was conducted with her for all of us movie goers to see. Pictured is Jane with participants who were a part of the live broadcast.
Jane knew she wanted to go to Africa since she was 10 yrs. old. She wanted to be Tarzan’s “real” Jane. She made that a reality when her mother told her she could do anything she wanted to do. Jane studied chimps in Gombe for 25 yrs. Old 8 mm footage was found in Jane’s attic that showed her as a young woman among the chimps. What fascinated me was the closeness in proximity she was able to sustain with them. Jane appears to be a humble and unassuming woman. I feel this attribute is what allowed her the unique advantage to observe them. Jane travels to Gombe at least twice a year. It is where she finds her inner peace. She still can walk and sit among the chimps as seen in the documentary.
Once upon a time, the chimps were mere numbers. Jane gave them names. She recognized them as living, breathing beings not subjects in an experiment. After years of observing them, she wrote a book about her adventures, ” The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior”.
Jane also realized she needed to spread the word about saving the chimpanzees. Thus her journey began traveling the world and giving lectures. She is well received by all, especiallly youth. Celebrities also love this woman as was seen during the live broadcast. From Charlize Theron to Angelina Jolie and David Matthews and more, all are impressed with Goodall’s work. However, I don’t think it was necessary to bring in celebrities to showcase her work. Her work stands alone and it doesn’t necessitate any celebrities’ powers. In fact, having a celebrity endorse this means nothing to me.
I admire Jane for her work with the chimpanzees and making us realize they matter. As she clearly states, animals have feelings. That in and of itself should make people realize what we as a society are doing to animals. Whether it be a dog or cat that someone surrenders to a shelter because they no longer want it and knowing the prospects of finding homes these days is not that good to keeping animals caged for experiments which are no longer required to animals being abused for our entertainment purposes in amusement parks or circuses, the fact is the bottomline-animals have feelings!
Visiting Africa is one of my goals to achieve. This is what originally drew me to see this documentary. One woman – Jane Goodall- has made a difference. Even though I wish more footage of her days in Gombe 25 yrs. ago would have been shown in the documentary, I left feeling quite inspired and with something more powerful.
It takes one person to make a difference in the lives of animals and people. Jane is clearly a stellar example. I will use her as my inspiration as I continue my journey to make this world a better place for animals and people.
The documentary will be available on dvd in December. You can check out Jane’s website here.
(You can also view a video clip of one of Jane’s projects- Snare Removal Program. Warning- the video may be too graphic for children. http://player.vimeo.com/video/26637398) Amazing work!