Wednesday, November 19 - Pay Tv

The Age

Thursday November 13, 2008

brad newsome

Dubai: Miracle or Mirage

National Geographic, 1pm

HAVE you ever sat down to tuck into what looks like a rich, meaty dish, only to get a mouthful of fat and feathers? It's a bit like watching this doco. The program is being promoted as some sort of investigation of the atrocious conditions endured by Dubai's subcontinental guest workers, but it devotes no more than a few minutes to the subject. It makes a quick mention of long hours, poor wages, dangerous working conditions and overcrowded dormitories - and the fact that Human Rights Watch considers the workers "deportable forced labour" - then it hurries on to the next big property development. The doco also alights briefly on Dubai's sex trade, but makes no mention of the large numbers of women who have been trafficked into sexual slavery in the country. Yes, this doco is the real mirage. The rest of it? A catalogue of the emirate's big prestige projects (the Burj al-Arab Hotel, the Burj Dubai skyscraper and so on), interviews with the royals who run the country and the foreigners who run state enterprises, and vignettes of the lifestyles of various Canadian expats. Terribly disappointing.

Tribal Wives

BBC Knowledge, 8.30pm

LIKE The Secret Millionaire (Lifestyle, Saturday, 2pm), this series is a fine example of how noble and moving reality TV can be when it's done with real heart and soul. Tonight's tribal wife is 28-year-old Lana, a Scottish air hostess and recovering alcoholic who is consumed by self-loathing despite the fact that she has been sober for several years. She's off to spend a month living among the Afar, a nomadic cattle-herding tribe in Ethiopia. She's immediately touched and humbled by the unconditional acceptance that the tribesfolk offer, but she soon becomes disturbed by the dark side of the seemingly happy tribe. As Lana becomes closer to the tribal women, they reveal that their husbands show them little affection and routinely beat them with sticks. Worse are the women's revelations about how they've been disfigured by genital mutilation. Having been stitched up so tightly after being mutilated as children, when they first go into labour they have their vaginas cut open with a knife so the baby can come out. Tonight's episode ends up being more harrowing than heartwarming. But that's reality for you.

Worth a look

Cricket: World Series Classics

(Fox Sports 2, 10pm)

Man Vs Wild

(Discovery, 9.30pm)

Biography: Bret Michaels

(Bio, 9.30pm)

© 2008 The Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home