Documentary Movie Reviews

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The Weight of the Nation (2012)

Rate: 10
Viewed: 3/26

WeightNation
3/26: Remember Fatso?

That was a mild example. Back in the day, I rarely saw anyone who was obese, but today, they're everywhere. Some publications say the rate is about 40%. Yeah, right...it's more like 70% which includes those who are overweight. Again, they're everywhere.

The Weight of the Nation tries to be thorough as it can be about the epidemic. Remember the four-part documentary came out in 2012. There's not a single sign of the obesity crisis abating, but it's rather growing at an alarming rate. And these people want to know the magic formula? *laughing* It ain't that hard. By the way, I wonder how many participants in the documentary have since passed away.

I first read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser in 2001 that pinpointed the causes and how we got this far. It's simple: there are too many fast food restaurants that keep pumping the pleasurable but junk ingredients into their products in order for the consumers to come back again and again. I doubt most know how to cook, and it's not even a hard thing to do. They just want to be lazy, hence the lack of exercise along with preference in heavy screen time.

Morgan Spurlock tried to have a go at it through Super Size Me, but that wasn't scientifically rigorous. It's only a sample of one instead of many people. Plus, he had preexisting issues, most especially alcohol abuse, which explains his early death at the age of 53 a few years ago. Therefore, The Weight of the Nation is better by giving a honest insight into how the problem started and the feasible ways to combat it.

All in all, the United States doesn't care about the obesity problem as long as the corporations and politicians, among others, continue to rake in money to the tune of billions while the fat people are dying en masse, often at an early age.