Message: The message of this film is a denouncement of the current food availability in grocery stores. The animals are mistreated; the food is diseased; seed companies are abusing farmers. The film is trying to make people into smart food consumers - to question where there food comes from and purchase organic food from local farmers.
Techniques: The documentary sets up a binary between corporations and local farmers and puts a divide between them. The corporation tries to sue the farmer for reusing patented seeds; the corporation forces the local farmer to shove a ton of chickens into a small, windowless building. The corporation makes all of the food from farmers become diseased due to the money carrot dangled in front of the struggling farmers. We see the farmers and the interviews with them and their struggles; the corporations are invisible, abstract entities.
Points of View: As mentioned in the techniques, the documentary mostly stays with one point of view. It attempts to be objective, but the film moves into a category of being pro-organic food by humanizing the farmer and demonizing the corporation. The documentary attempts to lead consumers to make the correct choice, but the consumer does not have an option as to what choice that will be.
Reality: While I do find the conditions of animals in the film disgusting, the unfortunate reality is that this is not a feasible situation. If we went to organic-only farming, the price of food would skyrocket, marking a big difference between income levels. We also would not have enough food to feed everyone as this type of farming takes up more land and more manpower than corporate farming. The percent of people working in agriculture is so little that it would force a huge shift in our working economy. Should we work to change regulations? Absolutely, but we have to realize that food will be more scarce and more expensive. I don't think too many people would appreciate having to give up their animal products.
Influence: This documentary made me want to change my eating habits; it hit me where I am my most vulnerable: animals. They showed deformed chickens, cows and pigs. It broke my heart. When I see a pig that can't walk because it does not have enough room to move or enough leg muscles to hold up its massive, meaty body.
Documentary Activity: With documentaries, images are more important than words. People notice images more and they stay in people's minds better than words said. An important activity students can do when viewing a documentary is analyzing these images. The teacher needs to only use a 5-10 minute clip. The students will make three columns: one for images shown, one for words said and one for meaning reached. The purpose of this is to see when the images and the words do not match up (for example, a corporate executive talking about the responsibility of their corporation while images of destruction are shown). This activity is especially useful for studying the idea of imagery in novels, film production or the use of visuals in a speech class.
Great analysis; I watched this doc a few months back, and I, too, couldn't help but notice the pro-farmer pro-organic bias. But it didn't bother me at all, because I'm so liberal. :) It's the same with Moore docs, I recognize his totally leftward slant, but I like it because I agree with it. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat I think needs to happen (and I'll admit right away that this is totally unrealistic and absurdly idealistic) is for our civilization to just stop eating livestock meat altogether. The amount of water it takes to make one pound of beef can make 50 pounds of fruits & vegetables; and 70% of the grain grown in our country is used strictly for feeding livestock. If everyone magically stopped growing and consuming livestock, then BAM - no more food shortages. A whole society of healthy, well-fed vegetarians. But this will never happen, because meat tastes really good, and I'm a huge hypocrite for even suggesting it, because I eat meat.
Nonetheless, great choice for your analysis. :)