I love a good documentary. When I watch a documentary, I want my head to explode and my heart to feel. I want to finish the documentary knowing something I did not know before. Here are ten documentaries on Netflix (in no particular order) in which I would recommend.

1. "Blackfish"

This heart wrenching documentary concerns the captivity of Tilikum, an orca involved in the death of three individuals, and the consequences of keeping orcas in captivity. This documentary reports that whales kept in captivity have experienced extreme stress and argues with SeaWorld's claim that the lifespan of orcas in captivity is longer than that of orcas in the wild. This film underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals.

2. "Fed Up"

"Fed Up" shows how the first dietary guidelines issued by the U.S. government 30 years ago overlooked the role of dietary sugar in increasing risks of obesity, diabetes, and associated ill-health outcomes, particularly in children. Since these guidelines effectively condoned unlimited addition of sugar to foods consumed by children, sugar consumption has greatly increased, obesity has skyrocketed, and generations of children have grown up far fatter than their parents. These children face impaired health and shorter lifespans as a result.

3. "Rich Hill"

The film chronicles challenges, hopes, and dreams of three young residents — Andrew, Harley and Appachey — of a rural American town. Andrew's father has moved the family multiple times and his mother may suffer from agoraphobia. Harley lives with his grandmother in a trailer because his mother is in prison. Appachey was abandoned by his father at age 6 and lives with his mother and siblings. He chooses not to take medication for a number of conditions, including bipolar disorder, ADD, OCD, and ODD.

4. "The Imposter"

This chilling documentary features a man named Frederic Bourdin, who turned out to have a long record of impersonating various children, real or imaginary, embellished his claim to be Nicholas Barclay by alleging that he had been kidnapped for purposes of sexual abuse by Mexican, European, and U.S. military personnel and transported from Texas to Spain. His impersonation fooled several officials in Spain and the U.S., and he was apparently accepted by many of Barclay's family members, even though he was seven years older than Barclay, spoke with a French accent, and had brown eyes and dark hair rather than Barclay's blue eyes and blonde hair. The impersonation was eventually unearthed as a result of the suspicions of a private investigator, Charles (Charlie) Parker, and an FBI agent, Nancy Fisher. Bourdin subsequently made a full confession, and in the film he elaborates on the various stages in his impersonation.

5. "Hot Girls Wanted"

This documentary explores the word of young-adult pornography. The film follows several 18-19 year old pornographic actresses, and their stories of getting into the business, their experiences within, and many of them wanting out.

6. "The Hunting Ground"

This documentary film is about the incidence of sexual assault on college campuses in the United States and, what its creators say is a failure of college administrations to deal with it adequately.

7. "Life in a Day"

A documentary where people all around the world were asked to document their day on July 24th, 2010. 80,000 clips amounting to 4,500 hours were submitted from 192 countries, eventually being put together in a 90 minutes film to show what it is like to live a single day in today’s world. The succession of simple yet deep moments will give you an unprecedented look into just how different or similar your life, struggles, and aspirations are from the rest of the planet. It’s moving, and extremely beautiful.

8. "Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory"

Alive Inside shares the stories of people suffering from Alzheimer's and the healing effects music therapy has had on them. The film also looks at the history of the human-music connection, and how the arts can be used as a healing method.

9. "Twinsters"

Twinsters is a documentary about a young Asian American actress, Samantha Futerman (also co-director), who is contacted over the internet by a young French-Asian woman, Anaïs Bordier, who has been shown a video of Samantha on the internet — and cannot believe their remarkably similar physical appearance. After initial perplexity and uncertainty, Samantha and Anaïs are soon embroiled in excited correspondence and travel to meet one another in their respective countries.

10. "Bully"

A documentary film about bullying in United States schools. The documentary follows students from public schools in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma during the 2009–10 school year; it also follows the students' families. The film's particular focus is on the deaths of Tyler Long and Ty Smalley, victims of bullying who committed suicide. The film describes in great detail how the average American student cannot defend himself or herself against ridicule.

This is just a short list of the many informative documentaries out there. So, make the decision to watch a documentary. Trust me, what follows will not disappoint.