Exploring the work of Margaret Mead, this film investigates the 12 months Mead spent with the Samoans in the Twenties. Her resulting book, Coming Of Age In Samoa, had a huge impact on Western culture. Mead believed cultures like the Samoans could teach people how to live in harmony. Her book depicts a society of free love – devoid of jealousy and teenage turmoil. But, decades later, her work was criticised as being tainted by her romantic views and strong belief in liberal values. Tales From The Jungle examines whether Mead's study was merely misinterpretation and romantic wishful thinking.
This film examines the work of Bronislaw Malinowski, often revered as the founding father of modern anthropology. Malinowski famously "went native", intending to live among the mysterious tribes of the Trobriand Islands in the Pacific Ocean for 12 months. However, the outbreak of the First World War forced him to stay for four years and the resulting work he produced was seen as pioneering. Some 25 years after his death, his newly-published diaries revealed that he actually reviled the islanders and dismissed them as backward savages. The revelation rocked the reputation of both Malinowski and anthropology itself. This film returns to the islands to explore Malinowski's story and its legacy.
Carlos Castaneda rose to fame after the publication of his book, The Teachings Of Don Juan. The book is based on his anthropological fieldwork in the Mexican desert in the Sixties with a Yaqui Indian shaman, whom he called Don Juan. The Teachings Of Don Juan was an instant success for Castaneda, persuading thousands of Americans to set off for Mexico in search of drugs, nirvana and enlightenment. Castaneda was dubbed the "grandfather of the New Age movement" by Time magazine and awarded a doctorate in anthropology from UCLA. But an investigative journalist claimed Castaneda had faked his fieldwork and that Don Juan was merely a figment of his imagination. This film investigates the controversy that surrounded Castaneda's book and explores the practices of today's Yaqui Indians with Dr David Shorter, who has spent the last decade working among them in Mexico.
