SBS's three-part series Go Back to Where You Came From is mostly reality TV, but also part documentary. The concept is to take six Australians on a journey through a refugee experience, in reverse.
The six volunteers are mostly opposed to 'boat people', and one openly admits that she is racist, especially against Africans. The volunteers' views are mostly stereotypical.
While on the surface they appear to be six characters in search of a reality TV show, it's possible that they represent the 'average person' by whom we, the viewer, can become engaged. The viewer experiences an edited version of what the volunteers go through, without the yucky bits.
The show raises numerous interesting issues, which makes it worth viewing. It's not perfect: maybe the producers thought some more action was needed to complement the stories shared by the refugees, but the sinking boat stunt in the first episode simply feels like cheap TV. The Malaysian immigration raid captured on camera in the second episode fits into the stories better, as the volunteers, like us, are spectators.
The highlight for me is to hear the stories of the refugees themselves, and see how these stories impact the volunteers. Meeting the people you do not like or whom you fear makes it harder to maintain strongly negative views against them. One of the volunteers says he has to 'think about' what he has seen and heard after visiting Villawood Detention Centre before commenting on camera. Reflecting upon an experience and discerning a response is a good method for developing wisdom and tolerance.
There is a certain contrived nature to series, and although the volunteers are on a 'mystery tour', veteran Australian actor Colin Friels provides voiceover commentary, while the series' host, Dr David Corlett, a researcher and writer, escorts them through each stage, like Virgil with Dante, as they glimpse the Purgatorio and Inferno that is the experience of refugees.
In this sense, it is not truly free range 'reality TV', because we know that although their experiences will be confronting, and maybe life-changing, they are going through a planned voyage.
As the series is restricted to three one-hour episodes, time permits limited exposure to the complexities of the plight of refugees. It presents only two 'types' of refugees: resettled Africans, and 'boat people' from Iraq.
Reality is more complex, but these two groups