Analysis Of Margaret Mead's 'Tales From The Jungle'

Margaret Mead is one of the most influential anthropologists to modern society due to her anthropological research and her outspoken demeanor on any topic. Mead’s research was groundbreaking in an era where places like Samoa were still seen as the paradise away from the civilized world. Her efforts to transform the unknown societies of the Samoans into visual imagery for the Western world were successful and resulted in the book, Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization, originally published in 1928. This book made the exotic and misunderstood cultures of the Samoans tangible for the general population. Mead’s special effort to debunk the myth of unavoidable childish adolescence was paramount in her work in Samoa, specifically adolescent females. Margaret Mead established in her work, Coming of Age in Samoa, that adolescence does not need to be the unwieldy and uncomfortable period in life that Western culture portrayed as “stormily” (Mead 5). Along

Derek Freeman and Margaret Mead both conducted fantastic research in Samoa, even though their findings were conflicting. Tales from the Jungle illustrates how different aspects and influences, such as time period and specific focus, can impact the outcome of the research and create a scenario where the opposing parties are not necessarily wrong in their findings and conclusions. The film provides insight into the methods Mead and Freeman used in their research. Both anthropologists learned the language as well as immersed themselves in the culture to some degree, which is paramount in the quest for accurate and thorough research. This controversial film shows an unbiased point of view into how anthropological research can yield one result in a particular setting, and an entirely separate result in