New Attitudes Toward Refugees and Asylum Seekers

            The purpose of the documentary is to eliminate the negative attitudes towards refugees and asylum seekers. These attitudes are often a result of ignorance and sensationalist media coverage. The directors have carefully selected participants with various opinions on the matter in an attempt to represent a cross section of society. In this way, the widest possible audience can relate to the social experiment. The opening sequence acts to reveal the social contexts of the participants through the use of vignettes as well as introduce the purpose of the social experiment. Discovery in this program can be seen through the participants, namely Raquel and Darren. The viewer sees Raquel Moore, who, whilst walking through her neighbourhood with a number of African people in the background, says "I guess I am racist. I just don't like African people." We become aware of how her social context has influenced her views. Her lack of education and family's racist beliefs have shaped the way she sees herself and others. The viewer also discovers Darren, who believes "anyone without the proper documentation should be immediately expatriated" The six participants are then shown as a group in a high angle shot to suggest their lack of control in becoming involved in the "social experiment.".
             Darren is a business man who lives in Adelaide. At the beginning of the TV series he states that he is in favour of legitimate refugees and against asylum seekers who arrive on boat to Australia. Editing of the series and a careful selection of scenes to portray Darren in a way that suggests he is heartless towards the plight of asylum seekers. In Australia, he visits Wasme, an Iraqi asylum seeker who came to Australia by boat. In the scene when he talks to Wasme, it is evident that Darren expects Wasme to justify his arrival by boat. Darren's method of questioning is aggressive, almost like an interrogation.