Food Inc. (Review)

Food Inc. (Review)

[no text]

Critic Daniel Trilling reviewed Robert Kenner's documentary Food Inc., also noting its limited success at inciting social reform and comparing it to Upton Sinclair's famous muckraker novel The Jungle. Trilling states that Kenner, “when faced with the dilemma of whether to arouse disgust or empathy, it tries to do both, falling flat in the process”. Trilling agrees with Murray and Heumann that the sequences in Food Inc. showcasing footage of cramped animals in unnatural factory housing with emotionally charged voice-over narration pales in comparison with the austere shots of the German factory farms in the previously released Our Daily Bread or the “abject horror” conveyed in Supersize Me. Trilling describes Kenner's style as “Michael Moore lite”, in that he attempts to generate an emotional response from the audience with exaggerated, one-sided portrayals of victims and villains. Trilling argues that Kenner does not commit to Moore's partisan approach wholeheartedly but is instead too polite and patient, and that this compromise detracts from the film's overall impact. He concludes that Kenner's closing message on the effects of America's subsidized industrial food factories on Mexican farmers struggles to hold the interest of his largely American audience.

Trilling, Daniel. "Food Inc." Sight & Sound 20.3 (2010): 63. International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

[no text]

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/ehost/detail?sid=50c8ca65-1efb-45c9-9b53-c0260de3032b%40sessionmgr4002&vid=2&hid=4107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ibh&AN=48300646