More 4’s 30 Days is an excellent series of documentaries presented by Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame.
There was an excellent edition which looked at Morgan and his girlfriend trying to live on the US minimum wage for 30 days. It was shocking generally, and it highlighted the need for the NHS. As one watched the programme, one felt a greater understanding for the poor in the US.
Last night’s programme did not provide a similar level of understanding for the viewer. The man who was living as a Muslim for 30 days did not appear to know the basics (that Jesus and Abraham are prophets of Islam) or that a Muslim woman must not be allowed in a room alone with a man other than her husband.
Unfortunately, the program didn’t break any ground on other fronts either. The family seemed normal and friendly, as you would expect, and the program seemed to be trying to lead you to be surprised that they weren’t budding suicide bombers. Maybe the US is full of people who don’t know much about other religions and cultures but I would like to think that there was nothing to learn from that programme for English viewers.
November 12th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
I’ve seen the whole series.
The show runs out of ideas as it goes on. The first few episodes are the best, in my view.
The last episode is particularly dissapointing (about a mother’s alcoholic daughter and her attempts to ‘convince’ her daughter to get help by drinking like that herself).
November 13th, 2005 at 1:31 am
Crikey that sounds awful!
I do enjoy left-wing documentaries. Viewers must remember when watching them, though, that there is an agenda. The recent news that Michael Moore’s a Haliburton shareholder goes nicely with his list of the coalition of the willing in Farenheit 9-11 which notably missed out the UK, Spain and Italy!