Homo Sapiens 1900 (NR)

synopsis

Eugenics is now a dirty word, consigned to the dustbin of history. Its utopian scientific basis--the idea of adapting humanity to a social ideal through biology--became twisted into the racial hygiene of Nazi Germany and the automatons of Stalinist Russia. In the beginning, eugenics did quite a lot of good in freeing Europe from stilting Victorian attitudes towards the body the body, introducing beneficial changes in health, diet, exercise, nudism and a huge plus for women, less constructive clothing. This sweeping documentary follows the history of this fascinating pseudo-science from these early century successes through its dark horrors of World War II and beyond.