Anyone ever watch "30 Days" on FX?

[Avalux]

I had never seen it; watched three episodes today (they aired them back-to-back). Martin Spurlock, the guy who ate nothing but McDonalds for thirty days created it.

First episode - white Christian man from West Virginia goes to live with a Muslim family. He has to dress in traditional clothing, grow a beard, go to mosque - do everything they do. By the end, his beliefs about Islam had changed dramatically. Second - Martin and his wife leave their home with nothing but clothes and set out to live on minimum wage for 30 days. They get jobs, rent a tiny apartment, share a bus pass and struggle to survive. Third - a Minuteman dude rabidly against illegal immigration goes to live with a family from Mexico in LA - shares a one-bedroom apartment with a family of seven. The two youngest children were born here but the others were not. The experience changed him quite a bit although he is still a Minuteman.

Anyway - I really like the program and I absolutely love the idea of taking someone out of their environment and making them walk a mile in someone else's shoes, so to speak. A great study about how ignorance is the basis for a lot of misconceptions about race, religion, etc. and once a person has a personal experience, those misconceptions can be changed.

It would be a different world if people would make the effort to try to understand those who are different than them, wouldn't it?

[Haole Girl]

1. I was going to watch it until their commercials for it became

so annoying while watching re-runs of The Practice. It does sound interesting. I might have to break my vow I made after the 50th time that loud-mouthed girl screamed 100 decibels too loudly, in the stupid commercial for it, and sneak a peek. Thanks for the review.

[Avalux]

3. You're welcome - and I highly recommend watching.

I found it accidentally; apparently the entire first season is out on DVD, so I may rent it to check out the episodes I missed. :hi:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

2. We watched too....They were great...

But the daughter on the immigrant episode made no sense. Her idea of being a good citizen is that she makes good grades. Whoopteefreakindo. And I loved the muslims the guy hung out with. It was fun to see that. I NEEDED to see that.
Duckie

[Avalux]

4. She was a bit unrealistic, however -

I completely understand her drive to go to college and have a better life than her parents. The Muslim family episode was my favorite - I needed to see that too. :hi:

[Suich]

5. There was an episode last season about a

homophobic man from the mid-West who went to live with a gay guy in San Francisco that was excellent. The mid-West guy completely changed his mind about gays.

:hi:

[Kire]

6. Just as long as I don't have to live with a Republican family.

Any time I spend five minutes with them, I get a headache.

[democracyindanger]

7. Fantastic show

The 1st season premiere had Spurlock and his fiance living on minimum wage in Ohio. It was brutal. They had to count every penny, and when they got sick and hurt they had to go to the emergency room for their health care.

My fear is that lack of exposure is going to kill the series.

[Avalux]

8. I hear ya.

FX is an obscure channel - of course some of the better shows are on channels like that because the major networks aren't willing to take a chance.