This morning I watched Fast Food Nation. This film was released in 2006, and is an adaptation of the book by the same name. The book, from what I understand, was an expose on the fast food and meat-packing industries. The film was a character driven drama that drew from the books themes.
Portions were filmed in an actual meat packing plant and showed graphic images of cows being slaughtered and processed. In modern day America, we don’t often see where our food comes from. It is somewhat humbling and disturbing.
The story unfolds via the perspective of many different participants in this process. We have the sharp dressed fast food corporation executive; the disgruntled teenagers that work in the restaurants; the cruel meat-packing plant supervisor; the exploited illegal alien employees of the meat-packing plant; the idealistic activist college students. All the characters are multi-dimensional, and realistic. Everyone’s perspectives and opinions are treated fairly.
I think that the issues of treating illegal migrant workers poorly and the issues of animal cruelty are important. At the same time, I am not going to convert to vegetarianism because of this film. I think that organization such as PETA are often misguided and overly militant. At the same time, these issues should not be ignored.
