I went into this documentary fairly open-minded about the things it would present to me concerning the Iraq War on Terror and the Bush administration. But I can honestly say that after watching this documentary, the only thing I really understood was that the war could've been handled better financially and internationally and that Bush made some awful decisions with his administration. I didn't get specifics nor did I really understand a lot of the jargin tossed here and there.
There are documentaries that spell things out for people, and then there are documentaries that assume you're already fairly educated in the topic and will understand what's going on without a basic course in what they're talking about. This documentary, I felt, was at the latter of the two. I really, REALLY wanted to understand what they were talking about but found myself really struggling. It doesn't help that I'm terrible at politics and find myself mostly bored. And it also didn't help that the documentary was about 75% talking heads and 25% B-roll/stock footage of the military shooting weapons, looking haggard, and of other random footage concerning politics and war. Talking head documentaries can be terribly fascinating, but I am so sad to say that I wasn't really into it at all.
The things that stood out to me, though, were when it mentioned that they tried to get specific members of the Bush administration to comment, and they were "unavailable", which worked more in favor for the documentary than it did hurt it. When I see someone not comment on something in a documentary and they make note, it stands out to me as they were either too high and mighty to talk or they didn't want to accidentally get caught saying things that would incriminate themselves or something of that sort. I also remember the amazing lingering shots that they had where you'd see their expressions at the very beginning of the film, expressing the seriousness of the situation they were about to discuss, and then at the very end, sealing the deal and their argument that, yes, the Bush administration could've easily handled things better and could've done things differently.
Overall, the documentary was very well made and pieced together, I just lacked the attention or interest to be fully invested and I wish it had more to it than talking heads and B-roll. You political people out there, go ahead and watch it! Those of you who are like me, maybe you should watch something that spells out politics so simply that George Washington would face-palm himself, and I have no shame in needing those kinds of documentaries, but I will strive to improve myself and try and understand. Maybe one day, I'll try watching it again with a "The Bush Administration/Iraq War for Dummies" book in front of me.
Someday.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Forks Over Knives
Before watching this documentary, I was somewhat of a food activist. I had watched things like "Food, Inc." "Ingredients", "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" and, of course, "Supersize Me" and they have all given me amazing insights on the world of food. I take food and health very seriously because many Americans fall into the trap of buying fast food because it's fast and easy and it doesn't cost a lot of money. Sometimes I'll fall into the trap, but since watching many of these documentaries, I'm very wary of anything processed and high in sugar/fat.
This documentary wasn't just an argument against processed foods: it was an argument on foods that have been labeled healthy in the Western hemisphere. All of a sudden, after 2 hours of watching this film, I'm having second thoughts on the consumption of milk, the eating of animal bi-products, and the health benefits of a vegan lifestyle. It wasn't just a heavy-graphics/charts type of documentary that bombards you with facts; there were interviews with specialists, people who've switched to the whole foods lifestyle, and even the director himself tried it out to validate the truth of what was being presented! I felt that what worked especially was the study done by a nutritionist/scientist in China about theWestern diet's effects on the human body. Many food staples in the diet can be linked to cancer, coronary disease, and other such problems. Another fact that had me convinced was the correlation between cow milk consumption and Osteoporosis: America has the highest percentage of people with Osteoporosis and yet we are the country who drinks the most amount of milk from animals! How does that add up?
All of the interviews were also working in favor for the documentary. The personal accounts from those people who switched to the whole foods diet were extraordinary. Not only did their health problems stop when they switched, they started to reverse! People could go off their medications, they could start doing things that they couldn't before and they felt more energetic and rested. Even a professional kick-boxer was on the diet and proved that you didn't need an obscene amount of red meat to keep muscles strong and healthy.
"Forks over Knives" was a subtle but convincing documentary of how eating right will do more for you body than getting a bypass: yes, it is a huge lifestyle change but when someone gets a bypass, what are the chances that they'll eat healthier? When you experience a brush with death, I feel that a lot of people would be convinced to try out the diet if they knew that it would help reverse diabetes, high cholesterol, and all of those awful effects of overeating.
I didn't notice much as far as flaws with the documentary. I feel like everyone should give it a shot and see for themselves the benefits of such a lifestyle.
This documentary wasn't just an argument against processed foods: it was an argument on foods that have been labeled healthy in the Western hemisphere. All of a sudden, after 2 hours of watching this film, I'm having second thoughts on the consumption of milk, the eating of animal bi-products, and the health benefits of a vegan lifestyle. It wasn't just a heavy-graphics/charts type of documentary that bombards you with facts; there were interviews with specialists, people who've switched to the whole foods lifestyle, and even the director himself tried it out to validate the truth of what was being presented! I felt that what worked especially was the study done by a nutritionist/scientist in China about theWestern diet's effects on the human body. Many food staples in the diet can be linked to cancer, coronary disease, and other such problems. Another fact that had me convinced was the correlation between cow milk consumption and Osteoporosis: America has the highest percentage of people with Osteoporosis and yet we are the country who drinks the most amount of milk from animals! How does that add up?
All of the interviews were also working in favor for the documentary. The personal accounts from those people who switched to the whole foods diet were extraordinary. Not only did their health problems stop when they switched, they started to reverse! People could go off their medications, they could start doing things that they couldn't before and they felt more energetic and rested. Even a professional kick-boxer was on the diet and proved that you didn't need an obscene amount of red meat to keep muscles strong and healthy.
"Forks over Knives" was a subtle but convincing documentary of how eating right will do more for you body than getting a bypass: yes, it is a huge lifestyle change but when someone gets a bypass, what are the chances that they'll eat healthier? When you experience a brush with death, I feel that a lot of people would be convinced to try out the diet if they knew that it would help reverse diabetes, high cholesterol, and all of those awful effects of overeating.
I didn't notice much as far as flaws with the documentary. I feel like everyone should give it a shot and see for themselves the benefits of such a lifestyle.
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