Most people will recognize the name Morgan Spurlock from the famous documentary he made last year – SuperSize Me. He’s also the author of Don’t Eat this Book (a play on Abbie Hoffman’s famous Steal this Book, which I once owned a copy of) and now, the creator of a new television program on FX called 30 Days.
Morgan has been using the Internet to great effect to push his offerings, particularly his 30 Days program and he is to be commended for it. Morgan actually will comment at some of the blogs speaking on the subject of the show, post about it on his own blog, and help to drum up a committed community around the subjects and media. This is exactly how the Internet and specifically the blogosphere can be used for effective promotion and interest-generation in a new product or idea. Great work, Morgan.
I usually shy away from political commentary here at SEOmoz, but I’d like to say that if you have access to the FX channel and are open minded, it is very important to watch this program. In particular, the last episode featured a South Virginia conservative Christian man who went for 30 days to eat, live, sleep and experience Muslim life in America – in Dearborn, Michigan. Just some of the amazing things I and my friends learned while watching the episode include:
- Islam is a branch of the same religious family as Judaism and Christianity. All three, in fact, worship the same God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus & Mohammed.
- Jihad does not mean “holy war”. Rather, it means the struggle to become a better person – its use was never meant for violence, simply the “struggle to be more perfect in God’s eyes”. This is more similiar to the Jewish idea of “Mitzvah” than to the Christian idea of “Crusade”.
- 20 million Muslims are currently practicing in the United States – nearly 1 out of every 15 Americans.
- In Islam (the religion that Muslims follow), Jesus was believed to be a spiritual son of God, similiar but distinct from how Christians view him.
I cannot recommend this program enough. It was a life changing experience just watching it. If fear springs from ignorance, then this show is a great way to conquer your fears. I never thought television could be so worthwhile.
