When Michael Moore made Fahrenheit 9/11, many people went to see the movie, thinking that it must be a piece of genuine artistic ingenuity. Strangely enough, one’s appreciation for Moore’s art seemed to correlate with how they voted in 2004. Regardless, for a few months, it was considered politically assertive to casually drop a quote from Moore’s montage of righteous Bush-bashing into conversation. Moore’s biting piece of cinematic commentary, however, slipped out of view as some of his claims started to sound more foolish. It wasn’t that Democrats didn’t question the Bush administration’s motives. Rather, they didn’t want a chubby, abrasive, middle-aged white guy, with his obnoxiously clever rhetorical smugness, to be their ambassador to the undecided masses. Nevertheless, Moore had gotten the bowling ball rolling on the pop-documentary genre. Super-Size Me was hailed as the movie to watch and own when one was no longer content with having only one documentary in his DVD collection. Showcasing the facets of the American existence that were pathetically banal, debase, or corrupt was all the rage, and while it was entertaining for a while, the irony has begun to set in. Anyone can champion a cause protesting the self-interest of others, and can even benefit from it themselves. However, there is a point where the insults become hypocritical and convoluted. Such is the case with the film currently in the works called Fast Food Nation being produced by Participant Productions, a company that hails itself as “changing the world, one story at a time.” Participant was the brains, or rather, the money, behind other relatively popular documentaries that made it to the big screen, such as Murderball, Good Night and Good Luck, and the upcoming North Country. Their cast lists include everyone from the unknown Joe-Schomoes of Hollywood to George Clooney, Charlize Theron, and a whole other gaggle of Academy Award winners. Participant Productions is a corporation protesting the biggest players in corporate America in an increasingly fictionalized manner. Cornering the market on socially conscious filmmaking seems to be an effort at making, “compelling entertainment that will inspire audiences to get involved in the issue that effect us all.” Anyone who has seen trailers for North Country isn’t fazed by the plot line anymore than in a film that is actually based on decent subject matter. North Country is a compelling fictionalized historical account of mine workers rights and gender discrimination. Fast Food Nation has been kept under wraps in an attempt to make the film a bigger seller to the types who like to feel that they are learning from their movie-going experience. It is supposed to be a clever work of investigative filmmaking. However, these documentaries are washing up alongside North Country in the realm of thought-provoking, but very original. Participant Productions is a company founded and headed by Jeff Skoll, the former eBay extraordinaire. Participant’s co-conspirators include Warner Brothers, and THINKFilm, along with other corporate enterprises laughing all the way to the bank with the popularity of their testaments to the inherent flaws of American culture. The new craze of filmmaking inspired by social concerns has expanded the pockets of a bunch of corporations that are simply making Hollywood movies under the clever, if not somewhat transparent, guise of civic conscience. There is nothing wrong with playing watchdog to the heavy-handed interests in the United States’ political and economic arena, but for a company to laud itself as the giver of enlightenment against the backdrop of dismally corrupt businesses is illogical. Fast Food Nation will not be an undercover glimpse into the exploitation of Americans, although its star actress Catalina Sandino Moreno might win an Oscar. This movie, along with its fellow members of the self-proclaimed revolutionary genre, is far gone from the realms of artistic realism. Rather, these firms are selling a new commercial ideal that flies in the face of the supposed basis for its own creation. If this medium catches on, we know at the very least that the irony will be super-sized.
