30 DAYS
Posted on June 16, 2005
I sat down tonight to enjoy the new FX mini-series called 30 Days. The same guy that did Super Size me (Spurlock), I actually was totally wrong in the way I thought I was going to react to this show. I had originally thought that this show was going to be just another lame duck FX creation like COPS, Fear Factor or NipTuck.
Pleasantly though, I think it was actually well done. After having a conversation today with one of my professors (J. Haig) about what the responsibility of a documentary film maker truly is, I realized that this show embodies what I think the goal of a documentary film maker should be!
Let me explain: Granted, this is a show that had a ton of funding I'm sure based soley on Spurlock's prior movie/book, but it seems to me that he was actually striving to achieve social betterment via raising social awareness. I might be totally crazy, but I'd reather live in my little bubble.
The first episode, which aired Wed 15th at 10 p.m., dealt with minimum wage as a non-livable wage. Spurlock and his fiancee move to Columbus, Ohio to live and work for one month, at the standard minimum wage (set federally at $5.15) What is interesting, however, is that they take one week's paycheck each (totalling $250 I think) to start their life. After this, they go ahead and find an apartment, jobs and begin to "live"
Witnessing the conflict between the two of them and seeing how their love for each other kind of held them through, was kinda corny - but heart warming at the same time. There was a lot of reused B-Roll (esp entering the dingy apartment), not to mention the outrageous action of them taking a full box of stuff with them when they left. My opinion, they should have re-donated it! It's not like they don't have the money (in the beginning of the show, we see Spurlocks fiancee putting on earrings and saying "these earrings cost more than my college education")
At any rate, I hope to watch the rest of the season and possibly capture and make a personal copy on DVD of the whole season. We will see!
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