I watched it online, only because of this thread. Well, that was an hour that I will never get back.
Having spend several years living in this area, I can tell you now, that this is not a true representation of a cross sections of the residents. From what I recall, you had:
The single aboriginal male living in the bush with his dogs.
The young homeless girl, and the single mother.
And lastly the family.
I think the man living in the bush came out looking like a loser. He is not typical in the area.
The single mother & the young girl, well, it wasn't too bad. It showed that there is support available for people who need it, and I've never heard of the school that the young girl was going to, so after looking it up, that's a good thing too, as it is somewhere that those that don't 'fit' into a normal school can go & get a bit of an education, and do something with themselves if they are only willing to give it a go. I also know that one of the high schools used to have a daycare facility so that some of the single mothers could keep up their schooling.
And the family! OMG! A train wreck! This isn't typical either. It would have been more uplifting to show a more normal family, but of course, that isn't good entertainment. People want to see all of the drama etc, & then they think that this is how all families behave, which is most definitely NOT the case.
I think it would have been good to show a more normal family, working & not getting benefits. If they are low income earners, then it would have still fitted into their title of 'Struggle Street', but would have been more realistic of the area.
I'm happy for them to show the bad, but show the good too, because there are a lot of normal, good people in the area, just getting on with their lives, they are not druggies, or loonies, or criminals, just ordinary, everyday people.
