(USA, 92 min.)
Dir. Stephanie Soechtig, Writ. Mark Monroe, Stephanie
Soechtig
Narrated by: Katie Couric
The root of America’s obesity epidemic, Fed Up says, lies in all the hidden sugar that’s been added to food products over the past few decades. Something seems off in this angry film that clearly aspires to prompt viewers to take to the streets like Howard Beale, but there’s nothing new in the information, nor anything inspiring in the delivery, so Fed Up isn’t likely to deter audiences from finishing their two-litre pop whilst they exit the theatre. No spoonful of sugar leaves the medicine untouched.
Director Stephanie Soechtig certainly makes a tightly
constructed argument that America’s obesity epidemic is a disaster with deep
roots. Fed Up posits that many
products offering healthy alternatives, such as low calorie or reduced fat
options, are just as bad for eaters as are options of full fattiness and
flavour. The added sugar the industry uses to subsidize the palatability of
these food things creates a larger problem, for dieters assume they’re eating
healthy when in fact their diet essentially remains unchanged. The argument
offers statistics, talking heads, and snazzy visuals to further its
persuasiveness. Processed food is bad and kids are fatter than ever.
Fed Up, however,
doesn’t really add to the roster of documentaries that have already tackled the
systemic backwardness of America’s food industry. 2008’s Food, Inc., for example, creates a far more compelling and
intuitive analysis of the troubling fact that America makes it far easier and
far cheaper to eat an unhealthy diet than a healthy one. The questions of
unhealthy lunches at American schools, likewise, receive a much better
investigation in last year’s A Place at
the Table, which itself struggles to shake a stale flavour. It doesn’t
help, either, that many of these food docs feature the same experts offering
the same advice. The facts and figures of Fed
Up are relatively common knowledge to informed people, although the odd
tidbit tossed about in the film might prove enlightening.
Fed Up also spends
far too much time lecturing the audience and pointing the finger at Corporate
America than it does offering alternatives and ideas for healthy options. The
ending of the film tacks on some simple solutions, but the majority of the film
highlights well-tread subjects such as the unhealthiness of the fast food
industry or the saturation of sugar in children’s diets. The film similarly
manipulates the role that exercise plays in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The film puts Michelle Obama and her immaculately sculpted arms in the
crosshairs for changing the conversations from food choices to exercise. Her
change in tune, while reflective of the problematic incestuousness between corporations
and politicians, doesn’t overlook the fact that exercise is just as important
to health as smart eating.
Fed Up simplifies
the argument that one will gain weight if one does not burn the calories one
ingests. There is truth to the idea that exercise isn't the whole answer, and
the film makes a valid claim that a focus on exercise shifts the blame to the
individual, but Fed Up overlooks the
fact that exercise plays a role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle that goes
beyond balancing the calorie count.
Amidst the finger-pointing of Fed Up are select case studies of overweight children that make for
awkward examples. The film follows a handful of youths who try to improve their
health by making themselves are of the food they eat while increasing their
rate of daily exercise. Their stories are punctuated by elements of the greater
system that influences the way they eat.
There is a greater and perhaps more effective opportunity to
be had in interrogating the individuals’ approach to healthy eating, but
director Stephanie Soechtig often opts for the emotionally compelling snippets
of kids expressing their frustration with their weight. Fed Up doesn’t ask these kids why they choose a cheeseburger and
fries for lunch when a healthy option is available (albeit one far less
palatable than the greasy offerings that overwhelm high school cafeterias).
Similarly, Fed Up presents one mom in
a Sophie’s Choice-type dilemma as she
tearfully explains how hard it is to choose between her son’s health and her predilection
for chocolate bars. The film is emotionally exploitative at every opportunity.
Therein lies much of the problem of Fed Up. Soechtig has all the evidence to make a case for healthy
eating, but the delivery seems intent on getting audiences riled up to take
action. The title alone suggests that Fed
Up values emotional reactions over intellectual ones and the difference
between the two is akin to the sugar rush one gets while perusing the grocery
aisles: it might make for an immediate reaction, but the film is unlikely to
encourage the long-term thoughtfulness that brings about tangible change.
Rating: ★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Fed Up is now playing in theatres.
(Fun fact: When I went to get the embed code for this
trailer, the trailer was preceded by a Caramilk ad…)
What did you think of
Fed Up?
