30 Days

Given the sheer brilliance and immediate importance of Super Size Me, I was eager to see Morgan Spurlock's next project, the unscripted documentary series "30 Days." Within a few minutes into the first episode, it becomes clear that he is going to use the same structure as he used in his feature documentary, but it also becomes clear that there are a great many subjects and issues in the country and in the world that could use the old Spurlock treatment, if not to solve them, to at least call people's attention to them.

In that way, I would say that the series is already a success. Sadly, I doubt his documentary (or even the far superior book - and upcoming, almost surely inferior movie - Fast Food Nation) has had the impact that he had hoped for and America (and our health) really need, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

The basis of this series is that each week someone is taken out of their daily lives and placed into the lives of someone else, someone either polarly different from them, or who leads a lifestyle that is morally, politically, religiously, or some way abhorrent or unacceptable for whatever reason.

The Binge Drinking Mom, for example, was abhorred by her daughter's kamikaze-style partying, as was the straight guy by all of the gays that he was surrounded by for a month, and the Christian found himself unwilling and unable to follow many of the customs of the Muslims with whom he lived in his episode. Many of the episodes are astonishing in their ability to illuminate the plight of some of the people in this country, such as the first episode, about our nation's ridiculous minimum wage, as well as to really change and heal uninformed and prejudicial feelings and beliefs, such as the episode where the straight man lives with a gay man for a month. There are true differences and real friendships made, not some contrived piece of claptrap staged for the passing cameras.

Then again, some episodes reveal something of a lack of ideas, or at least a failed experiment. The Binge Drinking Mom episode, for example, is stunning in its pointlessness and absurdity, almost as if it belonged in a different series. There is absolutely no sense of realism or positive change anywhere in the episode. If anything, it is the mother whose weakness should be focused on, given the pathetically wan behavior she exhibits when confronted with her daughter's belligerent behavior. She hangs her head in submission as her daughter puts her hand in her face to shut her up about her partying as she answers her ringing cell phone and complains to one of her friends about her pain-in-the-ass mom.

Had mom calmly reached over (as mine surely would have done), taken the phone out of her daughter's hand, snapped it in half and laid the pieces onto the table, and then laid down the law, she would have gotten her daughter's attention, at least for the remainder of the time that they spent at the table. Instead, the mother's ensuing drinking experiment comes off as a tired plea of desperation which neither the daughter nor the audience can ever take seriously.

Nevertheless, the series as a whole has a lot of good points to make about everything from drinking to religion to sexual orientation, and it is lucky in that it has a pretty open-ended premise. As long as there are problems in America, theoretically it could go on forever. Although given the problem of the diminishing American attention span, much of America, myself included (although not for lack of interest), may soon be on the lookout for what Morgan's got up his other sleeve.

The phrase "reality show" has been stretched so far that it would snap even if it were taffy. Whether it's pseudo-documentary style trash or endurance competitions that seem like game shows on steroids,it seems like there are very few true "reality" programs. Sometimes,these reality shows can have something constructive or vaguely positive about them(I'm thinking of "Nanny 911","Super NAny","Project MAkeoever:Home Edition" as examples)or actually seem like they are following the trek of a realistic situation,or as close as they can get to having one(The Restaurant or Tommy Lee Go to College come to mind),but rarely does a reality show--in my mind--aim to AND create positive results,showing opposite sides of an issue or opposite lifestyles and portray them with some respect,instead of merely breeding conflict. "30 Days" does that,and for the most part,it's effective.

Host Morgan Spurlock,whose Supersize Me from 2004 was a surprise break-out hit of a documentary, employs the same type of tactic here as he did in his film. Using a month's time to introduce someone to a different philosophy and/or culture. Whether it's the white American Christian trying to live as a Muslim,a macho Marine living in a Gay neighborhood and house,a member of the Minutemen group(a group of border citizens who try to stem illegal immigrants at the U.S./Mexico border)living with a family of illegal immigrants from Mexico,an Atheist living with Christians,an American working in India where call-centers train natives to "sound more American"(as per outsourcing) and a pro-choice woman living and working at a pro-life birth and counseling center. I know there are other shows,I haven't sen all of them,but I've sen enough of this series' episodes to say that I am quite impressed with this show and its aims.

The "fish-out-of-water" concept for a television reality show is such a delicate endeavor:basically,it seems like a set-up for either showing up the participant or showcasing the group the participant has joined as being rubes,fanatics or a combination of both. But this show takes great pains to explain and document both sides of the issue,with Spurlock interviewing members of both sides and giving those involved(And in some cases,those allied with both sides)as much time as possible in front of the camera to vent misgivings,discoveries and feelings. Very similar to other reality programs,but--as alluded before--it's the outcomes and the intent of this show is what pleases me.

To those who don't believe reality shows can be used to evoke interest,educate and make attempts to build bridges as opposed to burning them,I would point them to this show and hope that more people(as well as FX network)give this a chance.

When Morgan explains the differences between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, he really gets Judaism wrong. I understand that he was making a quick and, admittedly flippant, contrast for the purposes of the show. However, he describes the Jews as believing in one true God and "still waiting for His son, the messiah, to save them." "Mainstream" Judaism does not believe in the messiah being the son of God, but rather descended from King David. The Jewish messiah is to be a leader and herald in a time of return to Israel for all Jews and other specific criteria, none of which are divine powers. Another problem with Morgan's statement is that Jews are not waiting to be saved. Salvation or being saved is a Christian belief. Jews do not believe there is a need to be saved in the way Christians believe. There are many responsibilities and burdens we carry in this world, but, for a Jew, Salvation is not one of them. Please notes that when I says Jews believe or do not believe, I am referring the Jewish belief system that most practicing Jews follow. Obviously individuals have their own ideas.

'i think you should do a 30 days on me, Katie Philippi cause i keep trying to go 30 days without candy (something i have been addicted to since i was a kid) and i'm on my 4 try and i haven't gone over 4 days w/o candy. Trust me this would sell. Just the other day i was jumping on my friends back so i can have a tootsie roll but she wanted me to stick with this but i couldn't. It scares me how addicted to candy I am. I don't think i have gone over 4 days without candy. The amazing thing is i'm not fat over it either! my email is blazebaby4567@yahoo.com. i think you should really think about this cause it would sell for sure'

Following on from his month long experiment involving eating McDonalds and seeing his body breaking down, Morgan Spurlock hosts this documentary series that places people into different worlds and situations to gain a better understanding or awareness of what it is like. The subjects include an out-of-shape man undergoing anti-aging treatments, a straight man living in a homosexual area and a Christian living in a Muslim family. To kick it all off Morgan and his fiancé spend 30 days trying to live on minimum wage and survive.

Although the concept isn't actually as new as some people seem to think it is (nobody else ever saw BBC's "Living with the Enemy"?) the idea is still a good one and the potential is right there. The concept of taking people and getting them to walk a mile in someone else's shoes is clever and it allows Spurlock to highlight important issues. In reality the results are mixed with some of the shows being impacting and serious affairs while others are a bit like the experimenting on bodies a la "Super Size Me". The difference between the two extremes can be seen in the first two episodes. The first episode is exceptional documentary film making. Looking at the realities of minimum wage living had me open mouthed and disgusted – I knew that my take home pay is a lot, lot higher than $6 (£4) per hour but never appreciated what that actually meant in reality. However the second show is more of a physical experiment and, although interesting, is not as compelling an issue to pick up and run with. And so the series continued with this inconsistency – with the next show forcing a man to look at the Muslims he doesn't like despite not knowing any, and then later shows including a mother binge drinking for a month.

Spurlock is a great host but not all those involved in the series are that engaging. It helps therefore that each episode is broken down with the same approach Super Size had – the experiment itself makes up part, with animated sections etc filling in the background to the issues (for example in the Muslim episode we get basic background to the religion to supplement Dave's learning experience). Each episode is different but really it doesn't really matter where each ends (some make it to the end, some bail out half way) because what matters is the journey. In this regard not all episodes are as good as others but generally they are mostly interesting and worth a look, with at least one of them (the minimum wage) being worth hunting down.

Overall then, an interesting series that is worth seeing despite the mixed successes of the series as a whole. Some of the episodes are so-so but mostly it is interesting stuff that is worth a look. At "worst" it is gimmicky experimentation that is interesting but at its best it is confrontational and insightful. If there will be a second series it would be interesting to see the subject range opened up because series 1 did rather reflect the liberal views of Spurlock.