Project Nim

CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT

CHIMPANZEE INFANT LEFT WITH HIS MOTHER IS A THING, A LUMP.

TAKEN AWAY, HE ACQUIRES--

HUMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS-- PERFORMANCES,

WHICH ARE WELL NIGH UNBELIEVABLE.

Woman: NIM WAS BORN AT THE PRIMATE CENTER IN OKLAHOMA,

AND I WENT OUT THERE TO GET HIM.

I HAD NEVER BEEN NEAR THAT MANY CHIMPANZEES.

IT WAS FRIGHTENING AND INTIMIDATING,

AND I KNEW DR. LEMMON AND HIS WIFE WERE WATCHING ME

TO SEE WHAT KIND OF A MOTHER WOULD I BE.

CAROLYN, NIM'S MOTHER, WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE

HOLDING NIM.

AND SHE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BETTER THAN I DID.

SHE HAD HAD 6 OF HER PREVIOUS BABIES REMOVED,

APPARENTLY, IN THE SAME WAY.

WHEN THE TIME CAME TO TAKE NIM FROM HIS MOTHER,

SHE INSTANTLY TOOK ON

THIS--THIS DRAMA, THIS FEELING OF SOMETHING ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

[CHIMPANZEE SCREECHING]

Woman: AND DR. LEMMON SHOT HER WITH A TRANQUILIZING GUN.

AND THEN SAID,

"QUICK, WE HAVE TO GET HIM BEFORE SHE FALLS OVER AND FALLS ON HIM."

SHE WAS TRYING TO PROTECT HIM AND CRADLE HIM.

SO HE RACED IN AND GOT NIM,

AND HANDED NIM TO ME,

AND SAID, "GO BACK," YOU KNOW.

"GO BACK IN THE OTHER SPACE."

[CHIMPANZEE SCREECHING]

HE WAS VERY DENSE,

UNLIKE A HUMAN BABY THAT HAS FAT.

HE WAS DENSE AND HARD.

HE DIDN'T STRUGGLE. HE DIDN'T TRY TO GET AWAY.

HE JUST SCREAMED.

AS MUCH AS HE MAY BE SCREAMING AND PROTESTING,

HE'S ALSO CLINGING.

HE WAS ATTACHING FOR DEAR LIFE.

Man: WOULDN'T IT BE EXCITING TO COMMUNICATE WITH A CHIMP

AND FIND OUT WHAT IT WAS THINKING?

IF THEY COULD BE TAUGHT TO ARTICULATE

WHAT THEY WERE THINKING ABOUT,

THIS WOULD BE AN INCREDIBLE EXPANSION OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

AND POSSIBLY GIVE US SOME INSIGHT

INTO HOW LANGUAGE, IN FACT, DID EVOLVE.

AND THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHY I STARTED PROJECT NIM.

Woman: I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS IN HIS MIND, BUT HE JUST CALLED.

HE WAS ASKING ME TO BRING AN INFANT CHIMPANZEE INTO MY HOME,

RAISE THIS INFANT AS IF HE WERE A CHILD,

AND SEE IF HE ACQUIRE LANGUAGE

AS A FUNCTION OF BEING PART OF A FAMILY.

Prof. Herbert Terrace: STEPHANIE WAS A FORMER STUDENT OF MINE.

SHE HAD A LARGE FAMILY OF HER OWN CHILDREN

AND HER HUSBAND'S CHILDREN,

WAS EXCEEDINGLY EMPATHIC AND WARM,

AND A CHIMP COULD NOT HAVE A BETTER MOTHER.

Stephanie LaFarge: I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CHIMPANZEES,

AND I NEVER ACTUALLY SAT DOWN TO STUDY THEM, UH,

AS ONE COULD HAVE, AS I SHOULD HAVE, PERHAPS.

BUT MY APPETITE AND MY DRIVE TO HAVE

THAT INTIMATE A RELATIONSHIP WITH AN ANIMAL WAS--

NOTHING WOULD HAVE STOPPED THAT.

THE FACT THAT WE COULD SHARE LANGUAGE WITH AN ANIMAL

SEEMED LIKE A VERY RADICAL POSSIBILITY AT THAT TIME.

Herb: IT HAD BEEN KNOWN FOR SOME TIME THAT

CHIMPS AREN'T ABLE TO MAKE THE SOUNDS OF HUMAN LANGUAGE.

Second man: DO THIS, VICKY.

SO WHY NOT TEACH 'EM SIGN LANGUAGE?

THE REAL BREAKTHROUGH WOULD BE IF, LIKE HUMAN CHILDREN,

A CHIMPANZEE COULD CREATE GRAMMATICAL SENTENCES.

SO WITHOUT MUCH PREPARATION,

AND WITHOUT REALLY ASKING PERMISSION OF MY CHILDREN, MY HUSBAND,

I SAID, "FINE. I CAN DO IT.

"I EVEN HAVE THE FUNDS TO DO IT WITH.

WE DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT MONEY."

AND SO IT WAS LAUNCHED. THE EXPERIMENT WAS LAUNCHED.

Herb: WHEN NIM CAME TO NEW YORK,

HE WAS BARELY 2 WEEKS OLD.

THE IDEA WAS THAT HE WOULD BE TREATED, IN EVERY WAY,

LIKE A HUMAN INFANT.

Stephanie: I HAD RECENTLY MOVED TO A BROWNSTONE

ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE WITH MY 3 CHILDREN

AND WITH MY HUSBAND, WHO HAD 4 CHILDREN-- WER LAFARGE.

WER WAS A POET AND A WRITER.

HE REDEFINED HIMSELF,

BECAME WHAT, AT THAT TIME, WAS CALLED A RICH HIPPIE.

A NEW HUSBAND, NEW FAMILY,

NEW HOUSE,

AND I BROUGHT NIM INTO THAT RATHER TURBULENT SITUATION.

IT JUST HAPPENED. THERE WAS NO FAMILY DISCUSSION ABOUT,

SHOULD WE, SHOULDN'T WE? YOU KNOW.

IT WAS JUST, "OH, WE'RE HAVING A CHIMP,

WE'RE GOING TO TEACH IT SIGN LANGUAGE."

AND THEN THE REALITY OF IT IS SORT OF HITTING YOU,

THAT IT'S REALLY-- YOU KNOW, IT'S ALIVE,

IT'S NOT A DOLL, IT'S NOT A TOY. IT'S...

IT'S NOT A HUMAN, IT'S A CHIMP, AND IT'S AMAZING.

SWEET LITTLE NEWBORN BABY,

NEEDY CREATURE. SO...

I THINK I FELL IN LOVE INSTANTLY.

Stephanie: NIM DIDN'T LIKE WER.

AND WER DIDN'T LIKE HIM.

ALMOST INSTANTLY, I SAW HOW COMPLICATED

THIS WAS GOING TO BE.

I THINK WER WENT ALONG WITH IT.

IT WAS CLEARLY STEPHANIE SORT OF SAYING, "LET'S HAVE A CHIMP."

IT WAS THE SEVENTIES.

Stephanie: I BREAST FED HIM FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS.

IT SEEMED COMPLETELY NATURAL.

EVERYTHING WAS ABOUT TREATING HIM LIKE A HUMAN BEING.

BY THE TIME I HAD NIM, OF COURSE,

I FELT VERY COMFORTABLE WITH BABIES.

I WASN'T PREPARED AT ALL FOR THE WILD ANIMAL IN HIM

AND THE DRIVE.

BY THE TIME HE WAS 3 MONTHS OLD, I THINK,

AND STARTING TO BE AMBULATORY,

HE WAS JUST RIGHT THERE.

NOTHING PASSIVE, NOTHING PASSIVE EVER.

YOU KNOW, I THINK HE FIGURED THAT

HE COULD JUST GET IN BETWEEN WER AND STEPHANIE,

ON SOME LEVEL.

WHEN WER PUT HIS ARM AROUND HER,

AND--AND NIM JUST, YOU KNOW,

HALF ASLEEP HAVING A BOTTLE, YOU KNOW--

TURNED AND BIT WER ON THE ARM QUITE HARD.

HE DIDN'T WANT WER IN THE PICTURE.

HE WANTED STEPHANIE ALL FOR HIMSELF.

Stephanie: WER DEFINITELY FELT EXCLUDED.

NIM HAD JUST BECOME PART OF MY BEING.

THAT WAS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE ROLE THAT I PLAYED AS WIFE.

"HERB'S COMING, HERB'S COMING, HERB'S COMING."

HERB'S COMING WAS A BIG DEAL.

I WOULD JUST GO OVER AND VISIT,

JUST TO SEE WHAT HIS STATE WAS

AND HOW HE WAS GETTING ALONG.

HERB WAS INFINITELY EXCITING.

I ADMIRED HIS INTELLECT AND HIS GOALS

AND HIS ARROGANCE, ALL THOSE THINGS.

THERE WAS SOMETHING...

THAT DIDN'T SIT RIGHT WITH ME ABOUT HIM.

Stephanie: THE PEOPLE THAT I AM THE CLOSEST TO THROUGHOUT MY LIFE

ARE PEOPLE THAT I HAVE HAD SOME PERIOD OF SEXUAL CONTACT WITH.

I DON'T THINK THAT THE PREVIOUS SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN HERB AND MYSELF MADE A DIFFERENCE TO THE PROJECT AT ALL,

UM, OTHER THAN

IT WAS PART OF THE GLUE...

THAT ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN.

HERB DIDN'T COME VERY MUCH.

HE WASN'T PART OF THE CARETAKING PACKAGE AT ALL.

YOUNG NEWBORN CHIMPS

ARE ALWAYS RAISED BY THEIR MOTHERS, NOT BY THEIR FATHERS.

UM, AND I DIDN'T SEE ANY WAY OF TRYING TO CHANGE--

OR ANY POINT IN TRYING TO CHANGE THAT.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE, I NEVER REGARDED HIM AS A--AS A CHILD.

I REGARDED HIM AS AN INTELLIGENT, PERSONABLE CENTER

OF A SCIENTIFIC PROJECT.

I HAD AN IMPLICIT FAITH

THAT NIM WOULD LEARN SIGNS.

WE HAD TO WAIT AND SEE.

HOW DO THEY START TEACHING THE CHILD TO SIGN?

DOES THE CHILD JUST WATCH AND WHATEVER? I DON'T KNOW.

I MEAN, IT WAS A PROBLEM.

WE WERE TRYING TO TEACH THIS CHIMP SIGN LANGUAGE,

AND NOBODY IN THE HOUSE REALLY WAS FLUENT IN SIGN LANGUAGE.

WE WOULD MOLD HIS HAND INTO

THE SIGN FOR "DRINK," WHICH IS THIS,

AND THEN GIVE HIM THE BOTTLE TO DRINK.

IT JUST HAPPENED.

Stephanie: IT WAS JUST AMAZING,

AND I THOUGHT, PIECE OF CAKE.

I WAS ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED.

HE PICKED UP QUITE A FEW SIGNS AFTER THAT RATHER QUICKLY.

"EAT," "ME,"

"NIM" WERE PART OF HIS FIRST SIGNS.

"HUG" WAS ANOTHER ONE.

AND IT WAS AS IF THEN, OK, WE'RE OFF NOW.

WE JUST GOT TO BUILD UP THE VOCABULARY.

AS MUCH AS WE WERE MOLDING HIM,

WE WERE MOLDING THESE DAMN HANDS AND ALL THIS STUFF,

HE WAS STARTING TO MOLD US.

HE KNEW EVERY DYNAMIC

THAT WAS IN THE ROOM INSTANTLY.

Jenny Lee: HE KNEW WHEN YOU WERE UPSET,

WHATEVER HAD HAPPENED IN--WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, 13- 14-YEAR-OLD'S LIFE.

AND HE WOULD COME OVER,

AND HE WOULD JUST COME AND SIT WITH YOU

AND HUG YOU AND THEN JUST KISS THE TEARS AWAY.

AND IT WAS AMAZING, YOU KNOW. JUST UNCONDITIONAL.

Stephanie: HE WAS MY LIFELINE, HE WAS MY BUDDY,

AND HE WAS BRINGING SOMETHING OUT IN ME,

A FREEDOM TO DEFY EXPECTATION AND AUTHORITY.

HIS GREATEST FOCUS OF DEFIANCE WAS AGAINST WER.

HE WOULD, YOU KNOW, KIND OF PULL BOOKS OFF THE SHELVES,

AND WER LIKED HIS BOOKS A CERTAIN WAY.

WHEN HE SAW WER COMING, HE WOULD REALLY DO IT.

IT WAS VERY FOCUSED. IT WAS INTENTIONAL.

"FUCK YOU, I'M TOUCHING THESE."