new old postings

boy this post was a fun one to track down. . . finally got it on the blog though. . .

With this show, 30 Days, I was already on the look-out for some agenda setting. Morgan Spurlock, the maker of Supersize Me, was the host of the documentary. In it we followed Frank, a legalized immigrant and minuteman, as he agrees to live with a family of illegal immigrants living in the country he works so hard to defend.
I could tell right away that there was very good casting, as Frank was already able to speak Spanish fluently, he was able to communicate with his host family and was able to understand a lot of their customs. There is a strong theme of family in this documentary as we see the mother and how she saves money for her childrens’ Christmas presents and how the daughter is trying to get admitted into college. Frank is finally persuaded to take a trip to Mexico to visit their extended family. Finally being able to see the dilapidated house that they came from makes Frank all the more aware of what a difficult road they have to follow and how much work they have already put in.
I was surprised at just how bad the family’s conditions were in Mexico but at the same time I agree with Frank that I just can’t approve of their coming into the country illegally. I still believe that we have to be able to take care of American’s needs first before we can worry about all the people coming in and illegally taking our jobs. One of the things in the documentary that hit home for me and helped solidify my position is that Frank was coming from the same place but that he was able to become a citizen legally. Another point for me was when the younger daughter was finally able to get into college. This bothered me very much as a college student myself, that she was able to get in without anyone noticing that she’s not even a citizen of this country. Also, she’s most likely receiving aid that could have gone to other Americans.
Overall I did think that this was a good documentary, it did gave illegal immigrants a face and a voice. Now I feel that I can at least sympathize with them, even if I can’t agree with what they’re doing. I think I would give this a B- because I think that it should have followed more families.