30 Days
- Wade
Ever seen Super Size Me? You should, if you haven't. For those who aren't aware, Morgan Spurlock takes a look at the fast food industry and the obesity epidemic in the U.S. in a unique way: by pledging to eat McDonald's food for three meals a day. For 30 straight days. The documentary follows his physical (and, at times, emotional) breakdown as his body slowly succumbs to grease and "beef." It's entertaining, very well-done, and persuasive enough to make you question eating fast food again-- at least for a while.
Spurlock has parlayed his success into a weekly show on F/X called "30 Days." In it, he puts himself and/or others into completely different lifestyles for a month and documents the results. The first episode featured Spurlock and his fiancee Alex each ditching their routines and getting hired on as minimum-wage workers in Ohio. From only being able to afford an apartment in a crime-filled neighborhood to relying on charity for furnishings to not visiting the doctor because of the inevitable bills, you get an amazing insight into life when you're truly living check-to-check.
I missed last week's episode, but last night "30 Days" took a Christian friend of Spurlock's and planted him into a Muslim community in Dearborn, Michigan. The episode detailed the uncannily large amount of discrimination he faced, a deeper look into Muslim customs, and his own struggles of balancing his faith with the faith he was emulating.
The show completely sucks me in and leaves me anticipating the next episode. (Forget that little fact about me missing it last week.) Upcoming shows will take a homophobe and put him smack-dab in the middle of San Francisco, take two consumption-driven yuppies and put them in a place with no electricity, and take a mom who's concerned about her daughter's drinking and make her binge drink for a month. (That last one sounds particularly interesting, in that the daughter can see how foolish she looks when intoxicated, while the mother can attempt to feel some of the social pressures that young people feel about alcohol consumption.)
Yep, I'm a shill. Only when I think it's worth your time, though, and I feel strongly about this show. Morgan Spurlock-- he's like Michael Moore, except more relevant and less embarrassing. :)
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