Our America With Lisa Ling TV Poster Image

Our America With Lisa Ling

age 15+
(i)

 

Docuseries is both sympathetic and informative.
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What parents need to know

Positive messages

The series offers viewers an interesting and sympathetic glimpse at the wide-array of beliefs, experiences, and points of view held by Americans across the country.

Positive role models

The people featured here range from community leaders to criminals. Ling’s approach to each subject is both professional and non-exploitative. Sometimes she appears to be personally affected by what she is seeing.

Violence

Violent events like domestic violence, sexual abuse, and car accidents are discussed. Yelling, screaming, and angry protests are sometimes visible.

Sex

Specific episodes deal with issues related to mail-order marriages, homosexuality, and transgendered communities.

Language

Words like “hell” are audible and visible in visual graphics.

Consumerism
Not applicable
Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Issues like drug addiction are discussed.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this informative documentary series explores some mature subjects, including sexual abuse, mail-order marriages, and drug addiction. While most teens should be able to handle it, parents may want to watch with them and talk about the issues that are relevant to them.

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What's the story?

OUR AMERICA WITH LISA LING is an investigative series that looks at some of the most controversial and provocative social issues in America today. Host and journalist Lisa Ling travels around the country to learn more about subjects like faith healing, transgendered communities, and drug addiction. People touched by these issues offer first-hand accounts about their experiences. Ling also shares how her point of view on each subject is impacted by what she sees and who she speaks with.

Is it any good?

QUALITY

The insightful documentary series highlights the wide-array of beliefs and experiences held by different communities in American society. It offers a respectful look at these communities by focusing on the people that live within them, and by allowing them to offer their viewpoint about their lives and their choices.

The accounts offered here are both heart warming and heart wrenching. Ling sometimes gets emotional about who she meets and what she sees, which occasionally makes her reporting feel a little slanted. But the overall series offers an interesting and non-exploitative way of learning more about the United States, and the diverse population that lives in it.

Families can talk about...

  • Families can talk about documentaries. What is the purpose behind a documentary? Are documentaries supposed to be completely objective? Why or why not? Are they supposed to be entertaining or educational? What is the difference between the work of a journalist and the work of a documentarian?

  • Does this show document anything surprising? Do you feel like you have a greater awareness or empathy for some of the people featured on the show? What role does the media have in strengthening or weakening human connections?

TV details

Premiere date:February 5, 2011
Cast:Lisa Ling
Network:OWN
Genre:Reality TV
Character strengths:Compassion, Empathy
TV rating:NR

This review of Our America With Lisa Ling was written by

Melissa Camacho
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

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Adult Written byprobi March 30, 2011
age 17+

God doesn't hate homosexuals!

I watched the one called Pray the Gay Away. I was so angry that Lisa Ling said something about God not loving a gay boy that has turned to Christianity! God DOES love everyone! He loves the sinner but hates the sin. He is so Holy so cannot look upon sin. If Lisa Ling would READ THE BIBLE she wouldn't be making such ridiculous statements!!! Another liberal mindset to deal with! Homosexuality is a sin BUT no more of a sin than lying, cheating or stealing. Sin is sin....PERIOD. God loves the worst sinner and we are all sinners. That is why He sent Jesus Christ (who was sinless) to die on the cross for us in order to make a way for us to repent and come to Him in Heaven when the body dies. Is it SO HARD to just tell the truth without making stupid statements such as the one Lisa made? That's no way to make a gay person feel any better about themselves! I am not gay but I have gay friends that I love dearly.
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