The Voyage of the Mimi

Ok guys this may be getting kind of obscure but has anyone seen this mini-series?  It’s about these seven people that go out researching whales and eventually get shipwrecked.  The idea was that they would educate kids about science, whales and how to be a sailor by telling a narrative and weaving in bits of knowledge.  But that was only the first half of each episode.  The second half was a dull, tedious and very poorly presented science lesson hosted by the “actors” from the series (most of them never really did anything else except the girl who plays Rachel and this fellow named Benjamin Affleck (Changing Lanes) who ended up doing one or two other movies).

The ironic thing is the fiction part of the episode did a better job conveying the science than the actual teach-at-you part.  And that’s because the show is actually written pretty well.  It doesn’t feel contrived the way they bring up shit like how to make fresh water from salt water or that a whale’s fluke is like a fingerprint.  Plus a lot of what they’re saying is genuinely interesting.

The characters are all diverse enough and surprisingly fleshed out too.  There’s Anne, the head scientist, Ramon, the Latino other big scientist, Sally Ruth, the deaf sailor, Rachel, the bratty teenage girl that knows about sailing, Arthur, the black student, Captain Granville, the salty ol’ skipper of the Mimi and C.T., the Captain’s grandson. 

There’s a little bit of racism with how they handle Arthur though.  He arrives on the Mimi with a fuckin’ boombox that’s playing some sort of funky rock tune.  Later he gets a package from home that includes a tape with city sounds on it.  The letter that comes with it says it should help Arthur get to sleep at night.  The subtle message that all black people are from a big city is oddly contrary to the don’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover vibe that the series has. 

Captain Granville is kinda funny because he’s an asshole.  But of course he’s an asshole with a heart of gold just underneath the Cosby sweater that he wears.  He dislikes everyone at first and has such a dismissive tone about him.  It begs the question: why would this guy agree to rent out his boat for a scientific expedition if he hates people?  Maybe the Cap’n was strapped for cash and needed the money.  Maybe he thought it was a good way to meet women.  Whatever, his icy exterior begins to melt after the first couple of episodes and we see that he’s not so bad after all.

Even though this was meant for late elementary and middle school students it doesn’t feel childish.  With the first half of each episode they manage to teach you things without doing it in a ham handed way.  And I’m sure a lot of the whale stuff is still relevant.  Hell, aside from the outdated technology they use all of the science shit should still be true too. 

I ended up skipping almost all of the second halves though because they‘re way too dry.  It’s almost the exact opposite of what they pulled off in the first halves.  The part about purifying water by freezing it was cool though.  Who the fuck knew?  I don’t think that fact is common knowledge and I pride myself on knowing some common knowledge.  Maybe I should stop doing that.

They made a sequel called The Second Voyage of the Mimi but only Captain Granville and C.T. returned.  I tried to watch the first episode but it just wasn’t the same without those other characters.  No Ramon Arthur or Sally Ruth?  Count me out (I don’t give a shit about Ann and Rachel is annoying as all hell).

Mimi is a strange animal which makes it tough to say check it out.  But I guess I do recommend this educational mini-series from the 80’s.  You just might learn something, like that you’re into educational mini-series’ from the 80’s.