TV: Thirty Days

The idea behind Morgan Spurlock’s new show 30 Days is to examine life in other people’s shoes. If you haven’t heard Spurlock’s name before, perhaps you have heard of his award-winning documentary Super Size Me, in which he lived on an all McDonald’s diet for (you guessed it) thirty days. In the same tradition of using himself as a guinea pig, the premier episode of 30 Days finds the filmmaker attempting to live on minimum wage for thirty days with his girlfriend Alex.

Spurlock begins his adventure the day after the Academy Awards, moving to Columbus, Ohio, with only a handful of cash and a couple backpacks full of clothing. He accepts every job he can find, often spending up to eighteen hours a day working and traveling to work. His girlfriend also works, but neither of them ever make much more than $7 an hour (actually nearly two dollars more than minimum wage, but always for jobs they found on the street). Spurlock finds how generous people can be when a free store in Columbus provides them with furniture, household necessities, and more for absolutely no cost. He also sees how challenging life can be when his brother’s children visit for a few days and costs rise dramatically.

At times he gets a little melodramatic (after all, many people really living on minimum wage do get some government assistance), and in some ways he already had in mind what point he wanted to make before the experiment even began, but that point is certainly made: the federal minimum wage is just not realistic anymore. And his passion for the project also works in his favor. When he complains about the ridiculous hospital fees he and his girlfriend have to pay (both are uninsured, and both have to go to the emergency room), I knew from personal experience how frustrating that process can be—should it really cost $500 just to walk into an emergency room?

I’m interested to see how the rest of the series—in which other people perform different tasks for thirty days—shapes up, because part of what made the first episode so appealing is Spurlock’s own charisma and dedication to the project. Yet the idea of forcing people to get out of their comfort zone—in future episodes, a conservative Christian lives as a Muslim, and a former military man moves in with a gay roommate—offers the learning experience reality TV often claims to be without the sleazy hook-ups and double dealings. No one wins anything in this show, expect for greater understanding. That’s enough to encourage me to turn in again (FX Wednesdays at 10pm).

Final Score: 4 Cents