’30 Days’ Sends a Hunter to Live with Animal Rights Activists

At first glance, one might equate the FX show ’30 Days’ with similar set-ups on reality television like ‘Wife Swap’. The purpose is clear from the get-go: to help people with radically different ideologies come to an understanding about each other, and even if they don’t ultimately agree, they’re expected to gain some sense of a middle ground. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. What sets this show apart is that it deals with real issues, and keeps the made-for-TV manufactured drama to a minimum.

This episode, entitled ‘Animal Rights’, puts hunter George Snedeker into the home of Melissa Karpel, an events coordinator for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

“A deer, cow, a chicken… their sole purpose is to feed us,” George says before leaving his North Carolina home for Los Angeles. George’s intention going into this wasn’t to gain some cloud-piercing revelation that would change his life, or even to convince the animal rights activists to agree with his views. All he wanted, he said, was to understand why these people can be ‘so extreme’.

Melissa certainly holds views about animals that are opposite those of George. She firmly believes that animals do not belong to humans for food, clothing, experiments or entertainment. Melissa stated early on that all she wanted was to show George what it’s like to live with a family who happen to be vegans and animal rights activists, but it became clear that she was truly hoping to help George see the light.

Forcing George to dress up in a chicken costume as part of a KFC protest probably wasn’t the best way to get started, and indeed, it set the mood for the week that followed, which was full of angry, emotional arguments between George and Melissa.

Once George started working at an animal sanctuary, he also clashed with director Lorri Bauston, but after his day-to-day work with the animals, George did begin to understand the extent to which animals are mistreated on factory farms. This face-to-face interaction with abused animals is far more effective for the skeptical George than taking part in shouting, overly dramatic protests. Lorri’s insensitive comparison of killing chickens to the Holocaust, however, threatened to derail the progress.

Similarly, when George visited the office of Dr. Aysha Akhtar to learn about animal testing, Dr. Akhtar’s rational explanation of the extremely low rates at which animal testing were even helpful for humans and display of alternatives seemed to make more of an impression on George, who was impressed that he “finally got to talk to somebody that had something besides a rant.”

Seeing the treatment of cows at a dairy farm and the plight of many domestic animals in shelters did help George see the animal rights cause from a different angle. By the end of the episode, George was willingly explaining to strangers in a supermarket how calves on factory farms are crammed into tight spaces unable to turn around. George declared his surprise at the fact that, despite being ‘hard-headed’, he felt that he had been truly affected by what he had learned. George probably won’t stop hunting or eating meat, but he’ll likely think twice about how animals were treated before they end up on his plate.

Ultimately, PETA’s black-and-white views and shove-it-down-your-throat delivery of their message didn’t exactly enhance Melissa’s message. If anything, it damages many efforts to improve the lives of animals because it automatically puts people with differing views on the offensive. Putting PETA activists together with an avid hunter makes for good TV, but the message may have been more effective if PETA were left out of it.

Initially, when the episode first started, I thought that perhaps the producers of ’30 Days’ intended for Melissa to learn that she may want to soften the presentation of her views in order to make a bigger impact, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case. I think that what this episode illustrates by the end, however, is that educating people about the reality of the way animals are treated before they’re on our plates, made into our belts and shoes – or after we drop them off at the pound – is far more effective than stunts and scare tactics.

It’s a shame that the idea of more humane processes for meat and dairy weren’t explored further in this episode, because that’s where I think a true middle ground lies. Humans – as natural omnivores and the presiding predators on the planet – will not be likely to forgo using animals for food and clothing any time soon. However, needless suffering could certainly be eliminated.

In our quest for greater convenience, we have allowed millions of animals to be beaten, electrocuted, blinded, skinned alive, chemically manipulated, crammed into tiny spaces, thrown around like inanimate objects and generally treated like they cannot feel at all. Increased sensitivity to the pain and suffering of animals – and their right to be treated in a way that respects their place on the planet – is the only way to compromise, as George the hunter was able to acknowledge for himself after 30 days.

You can view the episode online at Hulu or just watch here:

Link [Hulu] + [FX]

Morgan Spurlock Hits the West Virginia Coal Mines for ’30 Days’

Coal has certainly taken a beating lately, reputation-wise. Websites like Coal-is-Dirty.com highlight all of the problems with using coal as an energy source, not the least of which is the astounding amount of pollution it produces – which not only harms the environment, but is a serious health hazard as well. That doesn’t mean that the coal industry is going anywhere for the time being, though. As gas prices rise, a lot of people who are more concerned about their wallets than global warming are wondering why we can’t just increase use of the abundance of coal located right here in the USA. Currently, half of the electricity in the United States is powered by coal.

For his cable television show, 30 Days, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock returned to his home state of West Virginia to explore what it’s really like to be part of the coal industry – specifically, to experience daily life as a coal miner. Watch it below and check out our commentary afterward.

On his first day, Spurlock was overwhelmed by the difficulty of shoveling coal onto a moving belt. Sweating profusely and covered in soot, he commented, “I’d like to think that what I’m shoveling here is powering the electricity for a children’s hospital, but in reality, what I’m shoveling here is probably powering some guy masturbating in front of his computer.”

His trainer on the belt said, “All you need to be a coal miner is a weak mind and a strong back. That’s all you need.” That doesn’t mean it doesn’t take skill, though: there are a million things that can go wrong at any point in the day. Coal mining is definitely hard work, and dangerous work at that: probably not worth the average $65,000 annual salary miners make.

The miners are painfully aware of how much West Virginia and the nation depend upon them. That hasn’t stopped many of them from discouraging their children from working in the mines, though. They want them to go to college instead, and avoid falling into the trap of working in a coal mine. These men are all too aware of the fact that every day, they risk never seeing the outside of the mine again.

With this episode, Spurlock has provided a great opportunity to hear what coal miners really think about the industry as well. One miner commented that it’s about time to start using other sources of energy, and that coal miners aren’t stupid – they just can’t pass up the high pay in an area that doesn’t provide any other opportunities. “You’ve got to do something to raise a family.”

The show raises the important point that coal is destined to be a thing of the past as the world looks toward cleaner sources of energy. Wouldn’t it be great to provide these coal miners with safer jobs that won’t give them cancer or leave their families without a husband and father? Imagine if new, renewable energy industries set up shop in places like West Virginia to give these people a new life – a life without coal. In the meantime, more restrictions need to be in place to protect miners and the environment. It may take a long time, but we can only hope that the future holds better things for these people and the rest of the nation.

30 Days airs on FX Tuesdays at 10pm.

Link [Hulu]