Here at the University of Exeter, I am enjoying the luxury known by some students as ‘Reading Week’. However, although this entails a whole seven days worth free from university contact hours, the actual purpose of this mini-holiday is for me to catch up with the mountain of coursework that is due in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately having a whole week to work towards deadlines translates to having a whole week to procrastinate. As I am sure you know, procrastination can take many (and almost any) form – from reading travel books (already dreaming about summer?), to experimenting with baking, to colouring.
Personally, my favourite procrastination past-time is watching documentaries. They can keep you occupied for the perfect length of time, you can learn something fascinating (which can be used to annoy impress people in your seminars) and best of all – it enables you to pretend to yourself that this is a worthwhile occupation, and of course, necessary to give you a break from intense work.
So, in case you too need a moment of productive procrastination, here is a list of my recommendations:
1. The Ultimate – Louis Theroux
Louis is my absolute go-to guy in these times of need. His BBC Two Specials are a great place to start and can all be found on Netflix. You will for sure get addicted, as you learn the almost unbelievable truth about groups in society, from American neo-Nazis to paedophiles who have served their prison sentences but are held against their will under US law in mental hospitals. As you have probably guessed, Louis’ episodes often focus on quite serious subjects, however you will also find them amusing at times, and there are more light-hearted ones available too.
2. The Loveable – Reggie Yates’ Extreme Russia
Before I watched this series, I knew embarassingly little about modern day Russia. Watching Reggie attempt to participate in Russian society was eye-opening, and both the episodes on the far-right in society, and the common attitudes to homosexuality were both shocking yet fascinating. Although I was dubious about Reggie as a documentary presenter (memories of Smile on CBBC are still fresh) I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by how well he handled the role.
3.The Heartstrings – Blackfish
A stunning and emotional film, this documentary aims to educate public audiences worldwide about SeaWorld and follows the story of the orca Tilikum, who has killed three trainers. Hugely successful and influential, it has resulted in SeaWorld’s loss of $25.4 million, declining attendance to its parks and, most recently, a ban on its captive orca breeding.
4. The Thrilling – Serial
Okay so I’m cheating here – Serial is technically a podcast, not a documentary. But its twelve episodes follow the true story of a teenage boy called Adnan, imprisoned for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, and the attempts made by lawyers and students to uncover the truth of whether he is truly guilty. Serial has been downloaded over 68 million times and provides a fascinating insight into how misleading evidence and the cases made in court can be.
5. The Reliable – Transgender Kids
I couldn’t resist including Louis again… while the previous series I included date to around 2003, this documentary was created this year and is incredibly relevent to the current issues surrounding those who are transgender.