I saw Fast Food Nation on friday, a fictionalisation of Eric Schlosser’s book of the same name. It’s quite an unusual movie, partly because of its documentary origins, but it works. The writers have chosen to put stories to the issues that the original book dealt with, instead of hitting their audience with a string of facts.
The film deals with the meat industry in the US, and although the plight of the animals doesn’t go unmentioned, the real point here is the cost in human lives that the supermarket price doesn’t include. From exploited immigrant labour, the dead end jobs for suburban teenagers, or the customers who don’t know what they’re buying, it’s a fairly damning verdict, highlighting once again the consequences of greed in just one specific industry.
I recommend it if you can catch it now or on DVD, but a word of warning, especially to vegetarians and animal lovers – the last scenes are in an industrial slaughterhouse, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in a cinema look away.
Read more:
- A response to the movie, sponsored by the meat industry – Best Food Nation
- Audio interview with writer Eric Schlosser, from the New York Times
just watched Fast Food Nation, it’s an impactful flick 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.