Sweet summertime. It’s supposed to be sunny and relaxing during the day and warm with clear skies at night. However, if you experience the weather as I do in my part of the country, you probably find yourself stuck inside on the couch, watching the television, for at least half of those summer nights; have to love the rain.
My proposal: instead of watching MTV’s Road Rules or the Real World, or watching a movie that you have seen 500 times before, expand your horizons and watch a reality show that is unscripted and explores authentic “societal differences that Americans face today” (FX Website; “30 days”). During the summer months, Wednesdays at 10pm, FX presents their original reality TV series “30 days.” Morgan Spurlock, the creator of the series, who is best known for his movie “Super size Me” for which he received an Oscar nomination, “places an individual in a living environment that is antithetical to their upbringing, beliefs, religion, or profession.” It is his as well as his crew’s hope that this show will reach numerous people from all demographics. While airing in the United States on FX and used on the Oprah show, it has also been publicized in 15 countries.
The episode “Immigration” is the story of a minuteman, Francesco Jorge (known now as Frank George), who will be moving in with a family of illegal aliens. Walter Lippman states: “the people who change their names....mean to change themselves, and the attitude of strangers toward them.” I found this true for Frank. It seemed to me that he felt more American with an American sounding name, rather than the one he had when he entered this country. Frank, although he is an immigrant from Cuba, believes he is a very patriotic man and that illegal aliens are “a plague to our country.” . Frank also feels that if they can not enter this country legally, as he and his family did, it will lead to strife in the United States and the only right illegal aliens have is to be deported back to their home countries.
In order to fully understand the feeling of being an illegal alien, Frank had to leave behind his Id, work as a day laborer and share a very small apartment with the family. He spent 30 days with the Gonzalez family, all of which are illegal aliens except the two youngest children who were born in the United States. It helps tremendously that Frank is fluent in Spanish as many of the conversations that he has with the parents are in Spanish. His days are spent eating, talking, and working with the family. There are days when he goes to work and sees the “dirty” jobs that Rigoberto does because no one else will. He also sees the work that Patty does separating recycling for $5 total. It was Patty who broke the ice for Frank, but his trip to Mexico to see Rigoberto’s family and the place they fled really put things into perspective for him.
Armida, the oldest daughter played a very integral role in the show. She was a well educated young lady with high hopes to reach the “American dream.” She often got into debates with Frank, but in the end, Frank said that he learned something from her, as she did from him. The two were even able to put aside their differences and Armida taught him how to play golf. Although he gets into many different arguments with the family about his work as a minuteman and the stance he has on illegal aliens, they win a place in his heart and he finds that he can call them friends.
While some may argue that the gatekeepers manipulated certain aspects of the show, I believe that everything shown was fact and very, very real. The struggle for Frank was to overcome the preconceived stereotypes and pictures he had in his mind, changing any version of the places he went or the experience that he not have adequately conveyed the message. Sure the gatekeepers cut out certain parts of the 30 days that he actually spent, but isn’t that what all documentaries do to make you see the “true” picture in the allotted time!? The filmmakers do a great job of getting their point across in the 1 hour they have to air the show.
This episode of “30 days” brought out my emotions in a number of different ways. I was at times angry, sad, happy, and confused; in fact, at one point, I cried thinking of my own grandparents who are immigrants. I believe that any good movie or show should have the ability to do these things. So as you are sitting around in your house on those rainy summer nights, be sure to watch this gripping, edge-of-your-seat series.
2 comments:
Well done answering the gatekeeper issue and the critics and adding some transparency to Spurlock efforts. It is what it is-- no smoke or mirrors. He wants to challenge the rhetoric and the stereotypes. Nicely done.
I really like the Lippmann quote you used about the people who change their names. It fits Frank George very well. I was thinking something along the same lines of Lippman whenever we watched the episode of 30 days in class and we learned that Frank was an immigrant himself and changed his name. If he's so proud of being Cuban as well as a legal immigrant what need was there to change his name?
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