There are very few films that really change people’s lives. Many artists set out to change the world but they maybe spend a year being celebrated in the Oscar race, get a lot of standing ovations and tearful receptions but then the Oscar race ends, everyone goes home, and as Jeremy Renner says in The Hurt Locker, “good night. Thanks for playing.”
But the documentary category has produced some of the best films in the Oscar period in the past five years. The tone has shifted from a purist’s point of view, to tell a story objectively, to an activist’s point of view. And now, you will find almost exclusively activist documentaries that are also well made and critically acclaimed and all of that. This year, two documentaries stand out as life-changers (I still have to see Which Way Home, but I suspect it is very telling also about the cruel and divisive subject of immigration) but I watched Food, Inc. the other day and that movie has changed my life.
There is no doubt that The Cove is the most celebrated documentary this year — and indeed, it has accomplished what it set out to do – to make the world aware of the killing of dolphins in Japan. It isn’t just the subject matter and the activism that has drawn attention – it is also the style of the filmmaking. It is more like Man on Wire, which wasn’t activist at all, but rather a suspenseful thriller.
The Cove is a whole movement. And so is Food, Inc. What is most fascinating about Food, Inc. is not the revelation that the truly unbelievable methods of storing and killing livestock is one of the most shameful practices in the world today. That on its own has simply turned me into a vegetarian unless I know where the meat or poultry is coming from. It’s really as simple as that. I put off watching Food, Inc. because I knew it would be painful to watch, and I knew that once I did see it, I couldn’t unsee it.
It is really impossible to get between humans and their meat, however, so I wouldn’t even try. Most of us prefer it all cleaned up, sliced and diced and sold cut-rate in the supermarket. It makes me shudder to think about, but there it is.
But what is worth really pushing hard on people is this idea of the corporate dominance in agriculture, specifically the company Monsanto.  Everyone in America should know about Monsanto Рwhat politicians they have bought off and what they are doing to the American farmer. Secondly, there is a movement underway to prevent anyone from showing a picture of slaughter houses or writing anything negative about them for fear of being sued for slander. Again, every American who believes in free speech needs to be aware of this.
Maybe no one really cares about what goes on in the food industry but you have to admire a film like Food, Inc. for taking it on. This is your real David and Goliath story of 2009.
I expect The Cove will win Best Documentary, however. One never knows what the doc branch will do – an Academy member has to have seen all five films in order to vote on them so publicity hardly ever matters. But when the Academy nominates a tiny film like Food, Inc. or even Which Way Home, it makes me feel like my decade-long investment in the Oscar race hasn’t been a total waste of time. The Oscars are mostly an ego-feeding orgy of indulgence — but the Doc race has the power to shed light on little-known subjects. So I am grateful for it.
You can find out more about Food, Inc. on their website.
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