Living with the Enemy (Australian TV series)

Living with the Enemy is a documentary series aired on SBS Australia throughout September and October 2014.

Plot

Living with the Enemy is a provocative six-part documentary series exploring the fault lines of social cohesion in Australia. Each episode explores a different topic dividing Australian opinion by asking people to live with others whose lifestyles and beliefs directly contradict their own. The cases for and against are argued in the voices of the people involved, in their homes and at their places of work . Each pairing has never met each other before they spend ten days together. Five days in one world, then five days in the other. By the end of the ten days each side will have argued their case via a series of immersive situations. Hoping they find a greater understanding of one another.^[1]

Episodes

^[2]

Episode 1 : Same-Sex Marriage
The road to acceptance has not been easy for the Australian gay community but despite strong opposition to their cause, gay Australians have fought for and won the same rights as everyone else, except for one... the right to get married.

Featuring conservative Anglican minister David Ould from Macquarie Fields and atheist couple from Melbourne, Gregory Storer and Michael Barnett.

Episode 2 : Detention Centres
In the last twenty years sixty thousand ‘boat people’ have arrived in Australia. How we deal with them when they get here continues to polarize public opinion.

Featuring Morteza, a 30-year-old, former ‘boat person’ who landed on Christmas Island after fleeing Iran and Jenni from Queensland who says they should not be allowed to stay in Australia.

Episode 3 : Immigration
Twenty thousand black Sudanese refugees have recently arrived in Australia, some after years, even decades, in refugee camps and as the community has grown so has the discrimination and racism.

Featuring Nick Folkes, a Sydney father-of-two, who openly says Australia needs to turn its immigration policy on its head and Sudanese-born Abraham Nouk.

Episode 4 : Islam
Since September 11, 2001, no group in Australia has generated as much fear and mistrust as the Islamic community. Is that fear and mistrust well-placed? Or, are the majority being condemned by the actions of the few?

Features Ben who was born and raised in Bankstown and has seen his world change as Arab Muslims have stamped their cultural identity on his home suburb and Ahmed and Lydia are a devout Muslim couple living in western Sydney.

Episode 5 : Marijuana
For fifty years marijuana has been Australia’s most popular illegal drug; seven million of us have tried it, more than two-and-a-half million smoke it every day and one in every two people arrested for using drugs in Australia is arrested for using it.

Features Michael, Australia’s biggest public advocate for legalising Marijuana and Kerryn, a former drug user who is now a passionate school drug and alcohol awareness educator and published author on the topic.

Episode 6 : Hunting
There are nearly one million hunters in Australia and between them they own nearly three-and-a-half million guns. Are hunters "blood-thirsty, serial killing, gun nuts"? Or, are they outdoors people with a deep, abiding love for the bush who help keep wildlife in check and eradicate pests?

Features Felicity, a vegan and an animal liberationist and Steve who owns nearly three hundred guns and believes animals have a right to life and humans have the right to shoot them.

Notes

In episode 4, "Counter-Jihadist" Ben lived with devout Muslim couple Lydia and Ahmed, and was supposed to host them in his home. But he stormed out only three days into the 10-day experiment, saying that "moderate Muslims" do not exist.^[3]

DVD release

The DVD will be released on 8 October 2014.^[4]

References

External links

• http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/living-with-the-enemy