frizzantik
Bluelight Crew
tv: 30 Days - Created by the director of Super Size Me
I just caught the first episode of "30 dyas" which follows people as they change their living habits for 30 days, similar to how in Super Size Me the director ate only McDonalds for 30 days
The first episode was about living on minimum wage and i thought it was pretty cool. I'm hoping the series continues to be as good
here's a review
I just caught the first episode of "30 dyas" which follows people as they change their living habits for 30 days, similar to how in Super Size Me the director ate only McDonalds for 30 days
The first episode was about living on minimum wage and i thought it was pretty cool. I'm hoping the series continues to be as good
here's a review
'30 Days' to better reality TV
Alexandra Jamieson & Morgan Spurlock unpack in the '30 Days' premiere.
30 Days
Wednesday at 10pm, FX.
3 Stars
In a better world, Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" and not "Fear Factor" would be what we call "reality TV."
But since "30 Days" has a message and a purpose, it doesn't fit the current definition of reality TV at all. So don't worry, kids. "Fear Factor" is safe.
The premise of "30 Days," which Spurlock sold in the wake of "Supersize Me," his hit McDonald's documentary, is to have people experience different lives. The third episode, for instance, puts a Christian into a Muslim home for a month.
For the premiere, Spurlock films himself and his fiancé, Alexandra Jamieson, leaving their New York apartment to live for a month on minimum-wage jobs in Columbus, Ohio.
There's some humor in the experience, and in other hands, it could be played for laughs. But Spurlock has something more sobering in mind: a first-hand taste of the way millions of real-life people really live.
Now, yes, there's an unavoidable element of discomfort here, the same one we feel when rich white folks walk through, say, a poor African village. We know that after 30 days, Morgan and Alex will return to their regular, comfortable life.
But that doesn't negate the message from their experience, which is that not having enough money simply grinds you down.
Things that people of even modest means take for granted, like paying bills, buying food when they're hungry or taking a bus to work, became major daily decisions, producing tension and anxiety.
When Morgan and Alex borrow a niece and nephew for a few days, they realize that doing anything with kids, or just feeding them, shatters their down-to-the-penny budget. Morgan suffers a minor wrist injury and can't take a day off from work to wait for the doctor at the free clinic.
So he goes to a regular doctor, who examines him, gives him an Ace bandage and charges $551 - about 12 days' wages.
To make the rent, Morgan takes a second minimum-wage job. Now he's gone 18 hours a day. He's tired all the time. It batters his relationship with Alex.
Spurlock's conclusion from all this is fairly straightforward: The minimum wage must be raised and more basic life services must be provided to those who can't afford them.
In his view, the richest country in the world is mistreating its lowest economic class - people who are perfectly willing to work, but can't make a living doing it - by paying no attention to their existence or frustration.
If all this sounds a little Michael Moore-ish, that's fair to say, though "30 Days" has less flamboyance. More to the point, it's likely to suffer the same fate as Moore's work: The people who really need to see it won't.
Still, it's a valuable document - and "valuable" isn't an adjective often attached to reality TV.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/318930p-272739c.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/318930p-272739c.htmlAlexandra Jamieson & Morgan Spurlock unpack in the '30 Days' premiere.
30 Days
Wednesday at 10pm, FX.
3 Stars
In a better world, Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" and not "Fear Factor" would be what we call "reality TV."
But since "30 Days" has a message and a purpose, it doesn't fit the current definition of reality TV at all. So don't worry, kids. "Fear Factor" is safe.
The premise of "30 Days," which Spurlock sold in the wake of "Supersize Me," his hit McDonald's documentary, is to have people experience different lives. The third episode, for instance, puts a Christian into a Muslim home for a month.
For the premiere, Spurlock films himself and his fiancé, Alexandra Jamieson, leaving their New York apartment to live for a month on minimum-wage jobs in Columbus, Ohio.
There's some humor in the experience, and in other hands, it could be played for laughs. But Spurlock has something more sobering in mind: a first-hand taste of the way millions of real-life people really live.
Now, yes, there's an unavoidable element of discomfort here, the same one we feel when rich white folks walk through, say, a poor African village. We know that after 30 days, Morgan and Alex will return to their regular, comfortable life.
But that doesn't negate the message from their experience, which is that not having enough money simply grinds you down.
Things that people of even modest means take for granted, like paying bills, buying food when they're hungry or taking a bus to work, became major daily decisions, producing tension and anxiety.
When Morgan and Alex borrow a niece and nephew for a few days, they realize that doing anything with kids, or just feeding them, shatters their down-to-the-penny budget. Morgan suffers a minor wrist injury and can't take a day off from work to wait for the doctor at the free clinic.
So he goes to a regular doctor, who examines him, gives him an Ace bandage and charges $551 - about 12 days' wages.
To make the rent, Morgan takes a second minimum-wage job. Now he's gone 18 hours a day. He's tired all the time. It batters his relationship with Alex.
Spurlock's conclusion from all this is fairly straightforward: The minimum wage must be raised and more basic life services must be provided to those who can't afford them.
In his view, the richest country in the world is mistreating its lowest economic class - people who are perfectly willing to work, but can't make a living doing it - by paying no attention to their existence or frustration.
If all this sounds a little Michael Moore-ish, that's fair to say, though "30 Days" has less flamboyance. More to the point, it's likely to suffer the same fate as Moore's work: The people who really need to see it won't.
Still, it's a valuable document - and "valuable" isn't an adjective often attached to reality TV.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/318930p-272739c.html
