misterchimpy

I thought this was a great episode, if only for the human aspect of it, especially the way Spurlock himself was affected by his incarceration. The political points were much weaker, on the one hand, Spurlock passionately argues for more rehabilitation and social services, on the other hand, he also makes the point himself that it isn't an environment that people are incented to return to. And the fact that the 2 inmates he followed were both arrested again not long after release(despite in one case being in the rehab program) doesn't help his case.

Also, as Stephen Colbert pointed out when Spurlock was on the Colbert Report a few weeks ago, he probably got much better treatment than the typical inmate because he had a camera crew following him around! Still overall, I thought it was a pretty fair and balanced view of the prison system...

Anyway, I hope FX brings this back for another season...

Bill Needle

So Spurlock discovered prison is hard? Boo-hoo. It's supposed to be.

Roto

Maybe you should watch it. It's an interesting show.

I'm watching it now and there is a lot about who is in jail, drug addicts and mentally ill people, and also how overpopulated it is. Looked like he was sleeping under the sink his first night.

Ayre

Lemme guess .... You didn't watch it and you based your response on what you thought it was going to be like.

You know, that liberal crap is all the same. Damn hippies and their touchy feely spotted owl stuff.

Great episode, of a great docu-series. Spurlock is a little obvious, but cleverly redirects focus from the issues, to the people. What results is a subdued look at what "real" life is like, instead of the over-the-top sensational TV world.

jeffkjoe

Yeah, after watching that episode, I'm really sorry to read what became of George and Travis afterwards.

Michael T Hudson

The show was pretty good. I think that Morgan is a bit too optimistic about people. I was also a little suprised he talked about getting busted for stealing from the Dept. Store.

misterchimpy

I thought it was really interesting that if anything, the existing system was shown to be more or less adequate. There were of plenty of rehab opportunities available over in the 'good' prison, and there didn't seem to be any substantial barriers to the prisoners going over there. And if they didn't want to do anything, they could sit and rot over on the 'bad' side. The only real issue with the 'good side' imo, was a seeming overreliance on mushy liberal rehab theory(lots of support groups). Not sure how valuable the vocational training is, but if those guys had any brains, they would all learn to be auto mechanics. Then they could steal legally!!!!

atari2600

i like 30 days and i really enjoyed this episode, but they really do a good job in making you feel bad for these inmates.

uh, hello - they are criminals and did bad things. and of course you are so happy for them to finally get out and be free again and change the world....

2 weeks later they committ another crime and get arrested again.

give me a break.

atari2600

oh and the 72 hours of solidary confinement...holy crap that would suck!! morgan was going crazy and i cant blame him. that place would make you nuts.

Ayre

I think the issue is that although the rehab facility was there, nobody (including the inmate) was concerned with whether or not an individual was rehabilitated before being released. He pointed out that Travis was leaving before he had finished rehabilitation.

One re-occuring theme seems to be that everyone has and agenda. The instutional supply wholesalers, government officials and inmates all wanted different things and none seem to care whether the actual outcome of rehabilition would work. It was another day for the workers, another dollar for the wholesalers and opportunity to get out for Travis.

He also said that it is as if the system wanted the criminals back to perpetuate and feed the prison sytem. The reference to 50% of the inmates being held on a drug related charge was clearly stated to show that prison overcrowding can be primarily attributed to law enforcement (post Nancy Reagan) and that nobody seems to give a damn whether or not these drug addicts rehabilitated.

Bill Needle

You mean Spurlock showed prison wasn't as horrible as imagined and in fact presented opportunities to some inmates not available in the outside world? And that besides, every inmate serving time was guilty and deserved to be there? Nope, didn't think so.

gotrice487

I think this was an excellent episode. I felt a geniune connection with hoping that George and Travis would change their ways. When I saw the updates on them, I felt my heart sink and not too many TV shows or movies can do that to me!

MrChaos

Interesting episode indeed, but I do agree that Spurlock painted a picture that we should feel bad for these people. Umm.. no one is making them do drugs...

Roto

Especially since his girlfriend didn't know about it. That was pretty amusing. Bloomingjail

Roto

It's hard to blame him for thinking that way when he lived with them for several weeks and apparently everyone treated him decently. He almost definitely would have had a worse experience without the cameras there, but I probably would've still felt the same way about Travis. He was going through heroin withdrawals. That's pretty close to being forced to do drugs. Sure, nobody forced him to start, but it's too late now.

Tracer Bullet

I think his point wasn't that these people don't have responsibility for their actions, but rather questioning if incarceration truly is the best way to help these people.

I would argue that locking up nonviolent drug addicts for no other crime than possession is a criminal act.

GradVT06

I saw this episode, and work in the city of Richmond, and a short distance from Henrico county where the jail and the rehab place were. I recently started watching 30 days episodes and will probably purchase it. I like the documentary approach he takes. Recently, in college sociology courses, crime/punishment/jails etc were discussed a lot, and what treatments were offered, costs of operation, and other things Morgan talked about.

Now personally, I could care less how bad conditions are there. I don't care how bored they are, how often they are alone, or how bad the conditions are. If people break the law and go to jail, good riddance. When you're out, take advantage of it and don't break the law again. All the two guys had to do was stay out of trouble. Being constant offenders, I don't care if they never the see the light of day and spend the rest of their lives there. I don't want them on the street where I go to work, park, leave my car, go to business meetings, etc.

I know that's getting a little preachy and political, but just a response to Morgan's experience and his ideas about the criminal justic system and jails.