College Life

10 Netflix Documentaries You NEED To Watch

Just because you have some free time doesn’t mean you should stay in bed all day while you stuff your face with pumpkin pie and watch reruns of “The Bachelor”. During the school year, you work hard, studying for tests and completing projects. Don’t let your budding mind turn into mash when you have some downtime! You can relax on your couch and dive into important issues and fascinating subjects. Educate yourself on institutional racism, discover a fashion icon and go inside the world of the amateur porn industry through these ten great Netflix documentaries.

1. 13th

The 13th Amendment in the constitution refers to the abolishment of slavery. Director Ava DuVernay examines how African Americans are still enslaved, but instead of on plantations, they are disproportionately incarcerated. One out of four African American men will serve prison time at one point or another in their lives. 13th explores America’s history with racial inequality and how the prison industrial complex affects people of color.

 

2. Amanda Knox

American college student Amanda Knox was living a carefree life studying abroad in Perugia, Italy until a November morning in 2007 when her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, was found brutally slaughtered in the house they shared. Knox spent almost four years in an Italian prison before being acquitted. Knox shares her side of the story in this chilling documentary.

3. Super Size Me

How many French fries and McDoubles does it take to make a hilarious but terrifying film on the effects of fast food on the human body? Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock uses himself as a human guinea pig and eats McDonald’s three times a day for a month to show the detrimental effects of frequently consuming fast food.

 

4. Super High Me

Comedian Doug Benson goes a similar route to Spurlock’s Super Size Me. But instead of gorging himself on McDonald’s for a month, Benson decides to take a more herbal approach. Benson documents 30 days of excessively smoking marijuana and then living 30 days marijuana free to compare the effects of the two.

 

5. Iris

She wears huge round glasses that covers half her face, has flamboyant style and continues to haggle with fashion buyers and advise models at the age of 95. Iris Apfel is a New Yorker style icon, fashion and interior designer and a business woman who believes personal style is about knowing yourself and maintaining a sense of humor. “More is less & less is a bore” is one of Apfel’s famous quotes.

 

6. The True Cost

Forever 21, H&M and Zara are popular fashion chains for women to purchase trendy clothing for an inexpensive cost. But, how much are sweatshop workers in underdeveloped countries being paid to make these clothes?  The True Cost explores the relationship of consumer pressure for low cost high fashion and the meager wages and dangerous working conditions of sweatshop workers who produce these goods.

 

7. Audrie & Daisy

Two teenage girls from different cities pass out intoxicated at a high school party and while unconscious are sexually assaulted by boys they call friends. In the aftermath, the girls find photos and videos of their assault on the internet and are cyber bullied on social media and ostracized in their towns. Audrie & Daisy tells the young women’s stories, side by side, detailing the horrors, shame and infuriating backlash that sexual assault survivors receive when they seek justice.

See Also

 

8. Trapped

Trapped goes to the front lines of reproductive rights. Hundreds of regulations were passed restricting access to abortion in America. Reproductive rights advocates refer to these as “TRAP” laws, or Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. Trapped follows the clinic workers, lawyers and women on the battle to keep abortion legal and safe.

 

9. Jesus Camp

Pint sized preachers spend their summer immersed in an extremist evangelical Christian camp called Kids on Fires to help strengthen and intensify their faith.

 

10. Hot Girls Wanted

Parks and Recreation’s Rashida Jones produced the 2015 Sundance Festival breakout hit. Hot Girls Wanted provides a look at the realities of the professional amateur porn world and the steady stream of the 18-to-19-year old girls entering it.

Featured photo source: www.favim.com
Jillian Holness

Jillian Holness is a junior magazine journalism major with minors in fashion and entrepreneurship. Jillian has had her work published in various student media platforms on campus, such as Kent Wired, Uhuru, A Magazine, Her Campus Kent State and her friend Angel's feminist zine, Eleanor. Jillian hopes to start her own magazine someday that intertwines with her passion for social justice, love of fashion and interests in photography.

Recent Posts

Demisexual: The Newest Sexual Orientation

Demisexual (adj./noun): A word used to describe your sexuality; somebody who only has sex with someone who they have both…

9 hours ago

10 Cheap Things To Do At The University of Central Florida

Let's face it, if you're a college student at the University of Central Florida like me, then you are probably…

13 hours ago

15 Things I Learned From Freshman Year Of College

Anyone who has survived their freshman year of college can probably remember how nervous and excited they were during orientation…

16 hours ago

10 Reasons Why You Should Transfer To Another College

Sometimes things in life don't go as we had hoped for - and that's okay! If you are stuck in…

16 hours ago

To The Mother Who’s No Longer In My Life

I'm 18 and days away from moving into college for my first year. I graduated high school with the most…

21 hours ago

An Open Letter to The Right Person At The Wrong Time

As a college student, many girls and guys can relate to leaving senior year of high school in a relationship…

1 day ago