Written by John Edward Betancourt Legacy is a word that holds great meaning in modern society and understandably so. Because we all find the notion, that our contributions to this world will allow for our memory to live on and inspire others, to be quite intoxicating. And that’s why we all work hard to do something special in this life and why we work to celebrate its meaning as often as possible. But while it is nice to see this word mean so much to people everywhere, it is safe to say that sometimes we as a society focus upon the wrong type of legacy. Because while it is amazing to highlight the physical accomplishments of say, a sports star; focusing upon their legacy only helps to move our attention away from the people who have genuinely changed the world. Which is why it is so supremely important to have documentaries such as She Walks with Apes on the air. Because documentaries in this particular vein focus upon everyday heroes that truly have accomplished long lasting wonders. For these are the people that have actually managed to save lives with their contributions to the world, or their work changed our understanding of life as we know it, and they’ve managed to influence others to follow in their stead, and that’s why this documentary was so worth our while. Because it did a fine job of teaching us about the three dynamic and brilliant women, who upended our scientific understanding of the primate world not that long ago, by bringing forth incredible new data about these creatures. The kind that helped us to better understand our evolutionary history and our modern world. If anything, a grand and sweeping celebration of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas is long overdue since they truly did so much for the scientific community and that’s why it was for wonderful for this documentary to take the time to highlight each and every one of their illustrious careers and the incredible sacrifices they made to teach the world properly about primates. Because each one of them faced ridicule and doubt from their peers before their tireless research was finally respected and it was sobering to be reminded that one of them, lost her life in an attempt to educate the world, since Dian Fossey met an unfortunate end for her rightfully aggressive efforts in saving Gorillas from poachers. But while it was powerful and wonderful to learn about the lives of these brilliant pioneers, the true highlight of this documentary was seeing the legacy they’ve created. Because we were also able to spend time with three unique women named Julia, Nadia and Ruth; who were inspired by the bravery of the three women who have come to be known as the Trimates. And that inspiration runs so deep that each one of them have opted to take up the cause put forth by their heroes and each one of them are now studying primates around the world, and are doing everything within their power to ensure that these genetic relatives have the chance to thrive. If anything, meeting these women and hearing their stories, and seeing the passion and dedication that they exude when it comes to carrying on the Trimates’ work, was both beautiful and inspiring. But while all of this was powerful in its own right, truly the highlight of this tale was Biruté’s journey. Simply because she is still in the thick of it after all these years and is still studying the orangutan in Borneo and doing everything, she can to help them thrive. Even going so far as to run shelters for orphan orangutan babies and she’s buying up land in order for these gentle creatures to have a safe space, and this is just breathtaking and inspiring as well. For it just goes to show what genuine dedication to a cause can accomplish, and all of these stories, make this a wonderful documentary for certain. One that serves to remind us that one person can in fact, make a difference when they are fearless in being the champion of a just cause, and hopefully this beautiful story inspires countless others to do just that, so we can truly work together to make the world a better place. One where mankind and the animal kingdom, can live together in harmony.
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