30 Days

It’s good to be back, time has gotten away from me lately, as my employer has decided that running for President needs to come second to my real job sometimes. Hopefully we can keep that to a minimum, going forward. A lot’s happened since last post: Bush commuted the sentence of his crony Scooter Libby, the Pope said that all other forms of Christianity were flawed and Kevin Andrews revoked the visa of a suspected home-grown terrorist accomplice – despite precious little evidence. I’ll try and get to all that if time allows this week, because my most pressing concern right now is tell you all about 30 Days.

Remember Super Size Me from back in 2004? It was a documentary created by (and starring) Morgan Spurlock. Essentially, he ate exclusively McDonalds for 30 days – until his doctor made him stop. He gained 11kg during that time and it took him 14 months to fully recover from the experiment. The movie single handedly cured me of a growing ‘medium quarter pounder meal’ addiction, and for that I will be forever grateful. To his credit though, Morgan has not rested on his fast-food fighting laurels, continuing to push back at big corporations and consumerism – most notably in his upcoming movie What Would Jesus Buy? In the meantime though, he has churned out two (6 episode) seasons of a reality TV show called 30 days.

The concept is simple but powerful: force two people with opposing views on a controversial issue, and make them live together for 30 days. It’s an exercise in seeing another’s point of view; in walking a mile in someone else’s shoes – to borrow a cliché. It might sound a bit thin – until you watch an episode; they are compelling. Season 1 includes episodes on Muslims in America, a devout Christian living with a gay man, some power guzzling new Yorkers living on an hippy eco-friendly community and most jarringly Spurlock and his fiancé living on minimum wage for a month. Suffice to say, they struggle.

Season 2 is even better, tackling some of the most often talked about questions of our age. A pro-choice woman lives with a pro-life minister who runs a refuge home for mothers. The behaviour of some of the pro-lifers is truly amazing (and not in a good way). There’s also an episode about immigration, new age therapies and outsourcing. An atheist lives with a Christian family but as in season 1, the most confronting episode stars Spurlock himself. He goes to jail for 30 days, including 72 hours in solitary confinement. The conditions were atrocious, even in a medium security facility – and it made me realise that prisoners are a forgotten and silent population.

In short, go rent it, download it, or leave a comment and I’ll post you a copy. The show encapsulates a basic premise of our society that is so often overlooked: empathy. If you can see an issue from both sides you are far more likely to take a moderate position and to be less adversarial. It an idea that is enjoying a mini-resurgence in American politics, after 6 years of Bush led divisiveness – and one that we need more of here at home. Empathy for refugee seekers, for terror suspects held without evidence, for our poorest citizens and even for us oppressed atheists. Season 3 is due later in the year, so get onboard.