Movie Reviews from the Dark

 Greetings again from the darkness. Filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig and journalist Katie Couric, who brought us the 2014 documentary Fed Up about childhood obesity, re-team to deliver a “20/20” type presentation billed as a “balanced look at the gun debate”.  It’s a polarizing topic and we hear from the families of victims, experts in the field, and gun rights advocates.  Supplemented by some startling statistics, it seems incomprehensible that some common ground has yet to be found.

The opening credits play over a video timeline of gun law highlights and news clips of shooting events such as Martin Luther King, Jr, Bobby Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. It then hits us with the first mind-numbing stat … during the run time of the film, 22 people will be shot in America, and 6 will die. It’s at this point where we realize the “balanced” approach is really not likely since it’s an emotional debate as much as (or more) than an intellectual one. It’s the stricter gun law faction vs. Second amendment purists.

There is simply no comparison to the personal stories of parents who have had a child killed at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut or at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Regardless of where you stand on gun rights, these stories are heart-breaking and devastating. There is also a segment with Gabby Giffords, who is still recovering from her 2011 gunshot wounds, and along with her husband astronaut Mark Kelly, has joined the fight for gun control laws. ( sidenote: It did seem odd that Kelly’s rip of the Cub Scouts made the final cut).

Much of the film is spent on the issues of background checks and the infamous Gun Show loophole. It’s here that we begin to understand the strength of the NRA. Founded in 1871, the NRA was originally designed to fine-tune the “aim” of those wishing to shoot firearms. It is now a political powerhouse and one of the most pervasive lobbyists in Washington, DC. The film is quite fair in distinguishing between the NRA senior executives, and the rank-and-file members who are fed a steady dose of propaganda that borders on fear-mongering. Though most NRA members stand in favor of background checks to prevent felons, terrorists, and the underage from obtaining fire arms, the NRA continues to preach that ‘they are going to take away your guns’ and that ‘it takes a good guy with a gun to defeat a bad guy with a gun’.

It doesn’t seem that the filmmakers set out to change anyone’s mind on the topic, but rather to highlight the importance of some type of compromise or common ground in light of the 32,000 people who die in America from gunshots each year. And seriously, does it make sense that there are more gun stores in the U.S. than McDonalds and Starbucks combined? The most honest and direct moment of the film comes when one of the parents of a victim states, “we don’t want your sorry’s or prayers … we want your action.”

watch the trailer:

 Greetings again from the darkness. Changing traditional thinking is not easy, but filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig gives it her best shot. The main theme here is that the obesity crisis is getting worse because we are not looking at the problem correctly.

All calories are not created equal, so Energy Balance (calories in equal calories burned) is a flawed theory. This messes with our eat less and exercise more mantra. The real bad guy here is sugar – in all forms. We learn that the food industry is adding all types of sugar to all types of foods (as much as 80% of grocery store items). We know the dangers of corn syrup, and soda certainly gets some blame, but we get “tricked” with many other foods … especially those in school cafeterias.

Narrated by (Producer) Katie Couric, the film gets a boost from such well known types as Bill Clinton, Tom Harkin and Michael Pollan. The film doesn’t let Michelle Obama off the hook. It explains how her initial “Let’s Move” campaign was designed to help us eat better, but has been repositioned by the food industry lobbyists to promote exercise for kids, rather than proper diet. More detail on this would have been welcome.

There is no shortage of other experts or sobering statistics. One of the most fascinating was 40 out of 43 lab rats preferred sugar water to cocaine. The point is that a powerful sugar addiction can happen quickly and it causes our bodies to crave the foods that make us fat. Those same foods will not have daily requirements of sugar listed, because if they did, most servings would be over 100%.

So while the food industry is the clear target, the burden falls to each of us to better understand the negative impact of sugar. The Type 2 Diabetes statistics are stunning. Break your soda habit and learn what makes up the food you are eating. Don’t wait for the government to save you.

watch the trailer: