Naive experiment or exploitation of the homeless?
Program sends well-meaning mentors into Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
MARSHA LEDERMAN
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
March 5, 2008 at 4:14 AM EST
VANCOUVER — What to make of a "documentary" that sends four established Vancouverites onto the streets and pairs them up with homeless people, giving them 10 months to mentor their less-fortunate partners and turn their lives around?
Is it a reality television rip-off, naive in its intent and discomfiting in its use of desperate lives to create good television?
Or is it a serious attempt to showcase a growing crisis and bring it to a national, mainstream audience?
The piece of television in question, Devil Plays Hardball, will air on The Passionate Eye on CBC Newsworld Sunday night (and be screened at a forum in Vancouver tonight).
Read the rest here
2 comments:
The problem I had with the doc is that it seemed to be presented as a poorly written game show: (time was running out: what would our mentors do??!!)I felt the mentors were lovely people. And I felt the homeless people needed many more supports (medical,psychological, financial) than the present system offers--or dreams of offering.And I guess the ongoing question I have now is what can I do to help besides dropping money into caps and cans and wishing the person well? Sophie Joe
It did leave me wondering what the point was as well. The issue that there is very little support out there came through to some extent and I think it is important for those of us who do not need those supports to come to terms with this fact. What to do though? We desperately need to resist the temptation to despair and get out on the streets and make some noise. Participate in one of the Saturday Stands to start. Write letters, call MP's. I think there is a movement beginning in Vancouver and I hope people will join.Teresa
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