On Friday my Father and I watched Fast Food Nation, a recent delivery from Netflix. This movie very much held my attention for the first 80 mintues. The last 39 were iffy, but then my movie threshhold only tends to last for 80 minutes anyway. Hence my preference for children's movies. Anyway, this movie was good. I've recently come to recognize the brilliance of Richard Linklater. Whether it's because he's a good director or he picks good topics for movies (or a combination of the two), his movies are intense and thought-provoking. Fast Food Nation is a fictional adaptation of Eric Shlosser's investigative book of the same name. It chronicles the effect that fast food production has on immigrant laborers, family ranchers, and the quality of our food. A lot of the information has been covered to some degree in this blog. However, the movie will sell it in a way that I never could. It doesn't pull punches. There were a number of times when I had to close my eyes in horror, fearing to watch something horrible happen to a factory worker or animal. And horrible things did happen. As they do happen every day in real life. The movie also shows what happens when good people fail to educate themselves, when bad people fail to care, when good people get educated but feel constrained into doing the wrong thing anyway. Which is why I beg you, dear readers, to get educated, to keep caring, to not let yourself get convinced that doing wrong is the only way to survive in this world.
4 comments:
uh oh, another one to i-gotta-see-this list...ummm...u are piling up my list! *grin* thanks for the review...and thank you for your comment on that snippy thing at my blog :)
wish u a great weekend!
Oi. I watched this movie for the first time last night, rented it from blockbuster...what a waste! It was just pure P.E.T.A propaganda. I am extremely against P.E.T.A and those who stand for it. I read the book years ago and they do not compare...AT ALL. It is a huge waste of time and has no point. It is just trying to show us how fast food is bad for us...and if you didn't know that already then just keep eating cows. Humans are omnivores so we are SUPPOSED to eat veggies, fruits, AND MEATS! Also, think about it. Back in the days of the caveman we hunted, and killed, and skinned, and chopped, and prepared, and cooked our own MEAT. I am sorry but showing me how a cow is slaughtered means nothing because that's just how it goes. And for all you P.E.T.A assholes. Many of your founders wear leather, and eat breath mints. Also, P.E.T.A euthanized over 2,000 animals that they "rescued" last year. AND...they set fire to planets and factories where animals are slaughtered...KILLING HUMAN BEINGS! Do not get me wrong, I love animals, BUT in my opinion a person's life is worth 4938539485 times more valuable then a cow's. Also...follow P.E.T.A members, next time you go to starbucks please remember what you mix in your coffee. Thanks. :)
To Anonymous: Anyone who posts as "Anonymous" must have the courage of their convictions. Forgive the sarcasm, but I think I should be admired for my restraint in not resorting to name calling, as angry as you comment made me.
First of all, PETA is not the only major player when it comes to animal rights. I am not a member of PETA and PETA was not affiliated with the production of this movie, though I do believe they encouraged its members to go view it. Also, I am not aware of PETA actually being responsible for any human deaths, as all of their guerilla attacks on factories and laboratories is done during closing hours. If you have a source which says otherwise, please feel free to share it.
Second, animal cruelty was only one of the issues addressed in the movie. Far more of a focus was the blatant disregard for human rights and safety. Small ranchers are pushed out of business, contaminated food is sent to our restaurants and consumed by small children, and illegal immigrants are brought in to work under hazardous conditions. These workers have no chance of fighting the dangerous conditions, as their unlawful status makes them far more vulnerable than these evil corporations. If you care to read more, you can check out an earlier post I wrote about this issue.
Finally, your arguments against the immorality of eating animals veer between irrelevant and ill-thought-out. PETA's faults as an organization or the faults of its individual members have nothing to do with the validity of the cause. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a plagiarist and philanderer. Do you think we should repeal civil rights legislation? If what our hominid ancestors did is the ruler for what modern society should do, that is even more reason to forbid factory farming. As you point out, cro-magnon hunted, prepared, and ate meat; they also made the most of every kill. Modern day humans only eat meat, thereby sparing themselves the sight of the messy process by which their meat is produced. We have eliminated any respect for the animal, seeing it as a unit of production rather than a living being who suffers. The slaughter of cows on these killing floors is most definitely *not* "just how it goes." In many cases, the animals are insufficiently stunned and are still alive during the initial slaughtering. "Fast Food Nation," actually spared you the most horrific aspects of the killing floor. Besides, animals which are factory raised and then sent to this style of processing plant are usually pumped full of hormones and antibiotics. I doubt our cavemen ancestors would find that appetizing.
And, since you are so fond of living as the cavemen do: do you live in a cave or a house? Do you use your own feet as your exclusive form of transportation or do you take cars, busses and subways? Do you kill only what you need to survive or do you buy leather furniture and eat only good cuts of meat? I'm guessing when you look at your lifestyle, you only "live like a caveman" insofar as it justifies your selfish and immoral choices.
just watched Fast Food Nation, it's impactful to say the least... earlier today i passed up a sausage mcmuffin because of it. Evidently it is worth passing up fast food for more than health reasons.
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