It's a shocking title, and - especially for new parents - gut-wrenching subject matter. My Toxic Baby (tonight at 8 p.m., Global) is a personal, introspective look at the chemical-laden environment we live in today, something filmmaker Min Sook Lee hardly thought about until Song Ji, her daughter, was born.
It's not a traditional documentary; the film wanders through Lee's experiences as a new mom and the navel-gazing is extensive and often tiring. And there is little here that tuned-in parents won't already know about the evils of lead-based paint, PVC toys, bisphenol A and so on. But when Lee hires an expert to test her home and her child's toys, clothes and bathtub for lead, the results will surprise you.
However, the film takes an odd turn when, in Lee's quest to decontaminate her home, she becomes fascinated with "elimination communication" - figuring out when your infant needs to go to the bathroom, then holding the child over the toilet. It's a great way to keep kids out of environmentally unfriendly diapers, (though, since disposables go in the green bin I don't know why she is so worried) and we meet several mothers who are successful with EC and complain about North Americans who don't understand what they are doing. We also watch many babies peeing on grass.
At that point, I wondered how we got so far away from the lead-based paint on Lee's kitchen cupboards.
More real-life stories
I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant (Wednesday, 8 p.m. on TLC). Yes, another season of women who don't pay attention to their bodies and spill their life stories for our amusement, and perhaps scorn. Apparently, we'll hear from a woman who didn't know she was pregnant, twice. The Hour (Monday, 11 p.m. on CBC). Actor and activist Michael J. Fox appears for an interview with host George Stroumboulopoulos as a new season of the late-night talk show begins. Fox is promoting the opening of a new Parkinson's research foundation in Canada.