McMahonFilmAnnotation7

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, Joe Cross, 2010
 * 1. Title, director and release year?**

The argument of this documentary is that the way that we, the human race, treat our bodies is both unhealthy and unsustainable. The film focuses on an Australian man, Joe Cross. Who explains how obesity is becoming as big of a problem in Australia as it is in America. Therefore, this obesity epidemic is spreading across the globe with other countries sure to be on the way. At the beginning of the film, we see a very different, healthy Joe near the end of his sixty day fast eating nothing by juiced organic fruits and vegetables. A few minutes later, the Joe of the past is revealed. The title of the movie accurately describes his condition. Joe is extremely obese, has a rare skin condition which has to be treated with heavy steroid use, and is well on his way to the morgue if he doesn’t start living healthier. I don’t know how or why, but Joe decides that only drinking his green juices for sixty days is his best bet to weight loss. In a sense, this does make sense. When obese people try to lose weight, one of the first things that they do is to exercise more. However, their bodies are not designed for this type of activity, so a lot of physiological problems set in very quickly. Since these obese people then don’t want to eat any healthier, they go back to their old habits. Joe was once one of these people. This time, he is determined to change his lifestyle forever and to encourage others to join him. On the streets of New York City, Joe hands out some of his health concoctions to the casual passer-bys. Most of the people could stomach the juice, but some of them simply spit it right out. When Joe began to interview people on the streets about their eating habits, many told him that, truthfully, they barely ate any fruits or vegetables at all. One lady even agreed to go on the special fruit diet for ten days with Joe. Much like Joe’s first experience, she became very sick early on in her detoxification. Over time, some of her health problems, such as migraines, disappeared entirely. Now, there is no way of knowing how much of this was due to the juice and how much was due to a sort of placebo effect, but she did report feeling much better, having more energy, and happier after only ten days. The same kind of results that Joe was experiencing. Later in the film, Joe encountered a trucker, not a particularly healthy profession as one just sits in a truck all day long, named Phil who was morbidly obese at well over 300 pounds. After initially declining Joe’s offer for help, Phil called and said that he was ready to try for a change. Although it was hard to believe, Phil used to be an athlete, a champion swimmer. He was tired of people calling him big and tired of feeling the way that he did. After a few days, Phil also hit that same slump in energy that both people had experienced before, but quickly afterwards began to feel better and become more active. The pounds literally began to fly off. We are talking over 20 pounds a week. Phil felt so well, that he kept on the diet for the full 60 days just like Joe and the transformation was incredible. He was literally unrecognizable. It is also worth nothing that his skin condition, very similar to Joe’s, went away almost entirely. In order to spread the message of health, Phil quit his job as a trucker and started a business renting juicers to people to try and change their lives just as the juicer had done to him. Let’s not forget about Joe. Over the sixty days, Joe lost an incredible amount of weight around 100lbs. His skin condition lessened as well to the point of almost no medication. However, when he tried to tell people around the country about the wonders of eating healthy, they didn’t want to hear it. People said that they knew that they needed to eat and live healthy, but that they didn’t care. Those younger said that they still had time where the older ones either said that they were happy dying fat or that it was too late anyways.
 * 2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?**

The movie follows Joe, and in some cases Phil, on their journeys towards health. Both of them serve as the narrator for some amount of time which serves as a good conveyer for a sense of community. This isn’t one man’s problem, this is all of our problem. Seeing the transformation of these two people was an incredibly emotional experience and to hear their testimonials at the end was truly inspiring. However, there seemed to be little scientific evidence to back up this lifestyle choice of juicing. One doctor was asked if it was healthy and they said that it probably was. I’m not sure that I would feel fully comfortable jumping into such a habit after watching this movie.
 * 3. How is the argument or narrative made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal?**

This film focused on the cultural and educational aspects of health. The way that we, as a race, view food, fat, and health is examined closely while the way that we are taught about food is also examined. People know that they are supposed to eat healthy, but what these fruits and vegetables do is left a mystery. The food pyramid is also still skewed, but people still follow it blindly assuming that this obedience will eventually lead to longevity.
 * 4. What sustainability problems does the film draw out?**
 * Political? Legal? Economic? Technological? Media and Informational?**
 * Organizational? Educational? Behavioral? Cultural? Ecological?**

The part of the film that I found most compelling was the interviews with random people about eating well. One man who had just had a heart attack was telling Joe about how his incident didn’t change the way that he lived at all. Having a heart attack didn’t change his life outlook. He still ate fatty foods and said that he might as well die happy eating what he loves. A girl, who was sixteen, was interviewed and asked why she didn’t eat well. She responded with, “I’m sixteen.” The very idea that youth combats all of the toxins put into the body has become engrained into our culture. Or, young people think that they will always have time to change their ways. However, when older couples were interviewed, it was found that many of them went out to eat fast food the overwhelming majority of the time and almost never cooked in.
 * 5. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?**

To put it simply, the lack of supporting scientific evidence. If the cultural aspects were more focused on, this issue wouldn’t have been so big. For a movie on health, I would have liked more specialists and scientific evidence to go along with Joe and Phil’s transformation.
 * 6. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?**

This film best targets the obese. It shows how easy it is to change and that it is never too late as in the case of Phil. Being healthy is possible, but it may take a complete lifestyle change. However, this change will be for the better as the quality of life will increase.
 * 7. What audiences does the film best address? Why?**

An in depth study on the composition of the juices, health aspects on these juices, human physiological response, immunology response, and toxic levels measured. There simply wasn’t enough evidence put into the quantification of this study.
 * 8. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?**

Joe and Phil recommend the diet that they went on: juice for 60 days made from fresh fruits and vegetables. However, it is important to note that even drinking the juice on or twice a week is beneficial for health. Small lifestyle changes can be made with big results. Eat in more, watch what you eat, cut out empty calories and weight loss is easily obtained. Along with this weight loss comes happiness and an increase in quality of life. People just need to stick with the program for a little and wait for their bodies to adjust.
 * 9. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective.**

I wanted to investigate one of the glaring points in this film: there was no real information about the benefits of green smoothies. So, I went out and found a source that went through all of the accosiated benefits. While there probably won’t be any hard data, it seems like all of these outcomes are more than likely. I am seriously trying this sort of diet for a while now. http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/green-smoothies/green-smoothie-health-benefits/ After some discussion, I found out that maybe the green juices are not near as healthy as green smoothies which retain all of the pulp and nutrients. Therefore, they are less of a shock to your body initially and fill you up more. This article goes into some detail on the issues of juice vs. smoothies. http://www.healthyeatingstartshere.com/meal-planning/green-smoothie-benefits
 * 10. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.)**