Core Concepts of Intercultural Communication to the Series 30 Days - Movie Review Example

Lecturer 30 Days Introduction 30 Days refers to a reality TV show which was created, produced and hosted by Spurlock Morgan. It alsostars Morgan. The 18-episode documentary has 3 seasons and was shown on the famous US FX cable networks. Whereas season one was premiered on 15th/06/2005, seasons two and three were premiered on 26th/07/2006 and 3rd/06/2008. In each of these episodes, Morgan took a total of 30 days to fix himself into a certain type of lifestyle which he was not familiar with. Thus, he was able to understand issues about the plights of the immigrants, prisoners, Muslims, minimum wage earners and others. This paper discusses about Muslims and America; Immigration; and Gun Nation as some of the most outstanding episodes in this documentary. First Season Muslims and America The major issue of concern brought about in this episode is the concept of religious intolerance in the United States of America (USA). The experiences of David Stacy, a 33 year-old staunch Christian believer from West Virginia in the Muslim homes demonstrates how there is a great mistrust between the followers of Christianity and Islam. From Dave’s conversations with his Muslim hosts, it is clear that he has a lot of prejudices against the followers of Islamic religion. This implies that he has a negative attitude about them, but will only try to pretend to adopt their lifestyle and customs for the sake of seeking much information about them. Just like the rest of Christian dominated American community, Dave associates Muslims to evils such as terrorism. He believes that they are very radical people who are propagating extremist ideologies such as violence and terrorism. Therefore, he links them to the infamous September 11 attack which led to a massive government reaction towards the Muslims. On the other hand, the conversation that Dave had with his hosts during the dinner time demonstrates that the Muslims also do not trust their Christian counterparts. As much as they are blamed for their subversive and extremist acts, the Muslims also believe that Christians are not truly religious, but have resorted to evil and immoral lifestyles such as drug abuse and sexual immorality. In conclusion, I would like to point out that this episode clearly sheds more light about the level of religious intolerance in the USA. Since they subscribe to different religious beliefs, the Christians and Muslims are in a direct opposition of one another. This is a kind of antagonism which has been brought to the society because of religious doctrines. However, everyone should borrow a leaf from Dave and accept to live together regardless of their religious differences. Religion is part of human life since it provides spiritual nourishment. No one is justified to use it as a divisive factor in the society (Larry et al 137). Instead, the Americans should be like Dave who beat all the odds and accepted to live with Muslims without any problem. Once they can shed off their reductionist perceptions, they can learn to embrace, tolerate, appreciate and live with one another. This is the best way through the society can attain the required harmony. Second Season Immigration The major issue presented in this episode is the controversies surrounding illegal immigration. According to the encounters of Minuteman, illegal immigrants do leave their countries because of the persistent challenges that they face there. Unfortunately, even if they believe that their relocation would positively impact on their lives, it does not happen because they later face numerous problems in their host country. For instance, after emigrating from Cuba, Minutemen could not enjoy the blissful life he had been expecting to get in USA. Meaning, he could not get a good job, higher wages and proper housing. This is the same scenario that characterizes the lives of immigrants especially the illegal ones. Despite the fact the protagonist is in a direct opposition of illegal immigration, he readily accepts to spend 30 days in illegal immigrant homes. From here, he is able to gather all the information about them. While they might seem to be having justifiable reasons for relocating to USA, their actions still raise more questions than answers. For instance, if they are hard working as they claim, why don’t they go back and build their mother nations? In fact, there is no point of organizing demonstrations in protest of unfair treatment of illegal immigrants in a foreign country. If they feel unappreciated, they should readily go back to their respective countries in which their contributions would be rewarded (Larry et al 131). Conclusively, Immigration is an insightful documentary which sheds more light on the issue of illegal immigration. For a very long time, there has been an influx of illegal immigrants in USA. Although they leave Mexico, Cuba, Africa and Asia to come to USA, they end up losing hope because they fail to achieve their goals. A part from failing to get job opportunities, they end up leading a very unpleasant life. Therefore, as many people argue, there is no point of leaving one’s country and immigrating to another. An illegal immigrant does not have a free access to education, employment and economic empowerment. Therefore, they should cease from it since it has got nothing substantial to offer. It only brings depressions and agonies. Third Season Gun Nation In this episode, Pia Lalli, gun-control supporter who had suffered a blow from gun possession when his friend was indiscriminately shot takes 30 days to stay with a pro-gun family, receives a gun training and accepts to work in the gun store so as to have the experiences of selling guns to those are interested in acquiring it. Although it disturbs, he has to endure for the entire period since he had made the commitments to do so. The major point of discussion in the Gun Nation is gun control in USA. Ever since the rise in insecurity in the country, many Americans have resorted to gun possession. To them, it is these guns which can help them to individually safeguard their security. However, to the critics, gun possession should be stringently regulated since it has been used to cause more insecurity in the country. As stated in this documentary, a total of 6 million Americans are gun holders. Whereas they should be using these gadgets for safeguarding their security, it is unfortunate that a good number of them have abused this privilege by compromising other people’s security. In fact, 30,000 people lose their lives to gun violence every year. This shows how some people have been misusing the guns. Whereas people like Ken Ekermeyer and Zack advocate for gun possession, others are quite skeptical about it. Instead, they oppose it for being behind the rampant increase in cases of violence in the country. In the recent past, several people have been shot in the streets, schools, colleges and stadia across the country. Indeed, this documentary is up to the context because it discusses about an issue which has sparked a very hot debate in the country. With increased childhood shootings in schools, the Obama Government has had to come up with stricter measures to regulate gun possession amongst Americans. To the proponents of gun-control, this is aimed at promoting security. However, to critics, gun possession should not be restricted since it will be a direct violation of individual liberties guaranteed by the constitution. However, as the documentary, presents, gun possession is a very controversial issue which should be carefully handled in order not to compromise national security. Works Cited Larry, A. Samovar, et al. Communication between Cultures 8th Ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2012. Read More