I would like to recommend a series I happened upon. What interested me was the reporter, Lisa Ling, I have always thought she did a good job of human interest pieces. Although I am no longer an avid fan of Oprah, I did discover this new series on the Oprah Winfrey network called “Our America”, and it is fascinating, and well done IMO.
If you are looking for something interesting and though provoking and honest I suggest this series. So far each episode has been interesting and I have actually gained information about each topic. I don’t agree with everything on each show, but have found there isn’t a great deal of pushing an agenda, at least so far in the episodes I have watched. The best so far was “The state of Sex Offenders”, which generated no sympathy from me, but presented some thought-provoking questions. If anyone is watching some new entertainment or documentaries, please feel free to share. I am always on the look out for some good viewing. Documentaries, FYI I am not into the Horror Genre, nor anything to do with animal cruelty, I can’t bear to watch such things; it stays with me far too long, and I am more than aware.
Online:http://www.oprah.com/own-our-america-lisa-ling/our-america-lisa-ling.html
On television: 10:00 p.m. on OWN
From season One I have watched
| State of Sex Offenders | March 1, 2011 | Lisa Ling explores the challenges of living life on a list of registered sex offenders as she meets with ex-cons in Florida. “They’re America’s pariahs, pushed into the shadows,” she says. Or, as one man living in a swampy campground with other offenders calls it, “the leper colony.” Ling also meets a real-estate agent who finds more substantial housing for offenders who can afford it; and follows authorities as they arrest an ex-con accused of failing to register an address change. |
Season 2:
| 8 | 2.1 | Amateur Porn | October 16, 2011 | Lisa Ling begins Season 2 by exploring homemade sex films on the Internet, and how the widespread availability of online pornography has affected Americans’ sex lives and relationships. |
| 13 | 2.6 | Incarceration Generation | November 20, 2011 | Exploring the rate at which black men are incarcerated, and ways to reduce it. |
Season 4
| № | # | Title | Original Airdate | Description | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 4.1 | Shades of Kink | January 22, 2013 | Lisa Ling goes beyond Fifty Shades of Grey to explore the real world of BDSM: bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sado-masochism. |
| 27 | 4.2 | Generation XXL | January 29, 2013 | In a report about childhood obesity, Lisa Ling meets families who are struggling to help their children lose weight in order to survive. | 404,000[25] |
| 28 | 4.3 | The Secret Lives of Seniors | February 5, 2013 | Ling tries to help her own father navigate the challenges of aging while also exploring a graying American population who are speed dating, having sex and breaking track records, among other things. |
About Lisa Ling: She joined The View on August 2, 1999 after beating out a reported 12,000 hopefuls who had auditioned to replace Debbie Matenopoulos,[10] but left the show after three and a half years towards the end of 2002 to go back to international reporting. She was responsible for proposing segments like investing for women, and, according to Ling, her goal was to say one thing each day that would make people think, whether it made them cheer or made them throw things at their TV. She drew both fire and praise for her comments after the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which she said, “What happened to the United States was a catastrophic event and the worst terrorist attack in human history. Yet maybe before we seek revenge, we should ask the question – why should anyone want to make such an attack on the U.S.?”[11]
More at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Ling
Thanks Kat… I will check it out.
“FYI I am not into the Horror Genre, nor anything to do with animal cruelty”
I totally agree, Katmoon. I am especially repulsed by non-documentary films that actually hurt animals who have been cast as unwilling and suffering “actors” in the name of realism. There actually seems to be much less of this in the movies nowadays–largely due to the efforts of the American Humane Association. I can’t even stand to watch old western movies where trip-wires were used to make horses stumble and fall. Shameful. Some documentary films sometimes depict animals being killed as a protest against such treatment. And then there are documentary atrocities like “The Faces of Death” films. The thought that people would actually enjoy watching such movies gets me sick. The deliberate hurting of innocent and uncomprehending beings for amusement or to make some kind of artistic or philosophic point is the greatest evil that I know of.
Horror movies–I can enjoy many of these (such as John Carpenter’s “The Thing”), but I am repulsed by what is now known as “torture porn,” such as the “Saw” series. I don’t like to watch people getting tortured, even if it’s “pretend.” On the other hand, sometimes the extreme violence is stylized to the point where it’s just ludicrous. Whether this “comical” violence might be socially dangerous is another question.
I hear you Oowawa, when I found out the things that were done in movies to animals, I was sick to my stomach, and the documentaries aren’t going to help make me more against it, so there is no point into letting iages into my mind that I can’t get rid of. And those damned torture horror films have gotta go, it just gives the sickos out there more ideas IMO. Now when you speak of “The Thing”, I really see that as more of a Sci fi genre, which I love, and it doesn’t make me sick. It is done by imagination, which we know scares most of us far worse than the real thing. Comical violence is how my grandmother viewqed the Three Stooges, so I was never allowed to watch it, but ferd loves the foolishiness, and I see these ina different time and more slap stick than truly violent. The film, “the Bridesmaids”, had a big following of people who thought it was funny, I actually thought it was depressing and a sad social commentary onwomen altogether, I guess either I am too old to appreciate this type of humor, or i just don’t get it!