Junk Food - A.

JUNK FOOD

            THE PICTURE

           

            The scene may be set in a fast food restaurant.

            On the left hand of the picture, there is a mutant waitress whose head is a hamburger. She has a bun-shaped face stuffed with ground meat, onions rings, tomatoes and cheese.

She looks angry, aggressive, unfriendly. She scares us. She is wearing a pink blouse and an apron. She is carrying a tray with four hamburgers on it, which look also mean.

            Below the tray, we can see a dish full of sausages with bugs on them.

            On the right hand/side of the picture, a costumer is greedily eating a hot dog. His face looks like a sliced hot dog. He looks moldy and sick. His eyes look scary and frightening. He is standing in front of French fries infested with worms.

            Effects : The picture is disgusting as bot characters are off-putting.

But it is satirical and funny at the same time. The artist’s goal is obvious : he wants to prevent us from eating fast junk food. He denounces the fact that fast food can damage people’s health.

He wants to sensitize people about the damaging effects unhealthy food can have on our bodies. He wants people to be aware of …

            In a way, the artist achieves his goal / target / aim / purpose.

Junk food : junk food is food that is unhealthy, that lacks proteins, vitamins, that contains high levels of fat and sugar, that has little or no nutritional value and requires no preparation. It’s not well balanced.

            THE TRAILER 

            This video is a trailer / teaser. Its purpose is to make potential customers want to see the film. It informs the audience about the film. Il is composed of several scenes cut together to suggest the plot and the genre of the movie.

            The movie Fast Food Nation deals with the fast food industry. The film director seems to be rather critical because the scenes, the images are shocking and negative.

            Analysis : this is the trailer of a film entitled “Fast Food Nation”, by Richard Linklader. It opens with a scene in Mickey’s fast food restaurant where a family is having lunch.

            We then see undocumented Mexican workers who have crossed the border to the USA to work in a slaughterhouse and earn higher wages. The next scene takes place in the restaurant’s kitchen, where we can see a cook dropping a patty and putting it back on the grill.

            The, the film director shows us two executives talking about some toxic product they’ve discovered in the meat in an office.

We meet one of the two executives again in a laboratory where he is tasting a new artificial flavor meant to make meat tasty, savoury.

            By means of shocking and negative images, repetitive music, sound effects, key-words as well as catch phrases (slogans) the film director shows a critical attitude to fast food industry and marketing. His aim is to warn people against the dangers of fast food / or garbage food.

            Technical effects :

            Close ups are used on the meat because it’s the problem. There also are close ups on the executives, showing their concern.

            Medium shots : on the people and their activities to show the atmosphere.

            Long shots are used to show the settings : that is to say the kitchen, fast food restaurant.

            The music is very repetitive to show that fast food is always the same. It never changes, it is standardized. The sound effects make us react.

            THE TEXT : JUNK FOOD HEAVEN

            The picture shows a conventional supermarket with shelves loaded with boxes of cereals.

She is pushing a caddy (US).

She is pushing a trolley (GB).

She seems to have a problem choosing the right sort of cereals. The supermarket is a symbol of plenty in the US society.

The supermarket is often associated with junk food.

            Analysis :

            This is an extract from Bill Bryson’s autobiography entitled : Notes from a big country, published in 1998. It’s about junk food and American eating habits.

            Nil Bryson and his wife have move to America after spending two years in England. They used to live in England, but now they live in America. The scene takes place out of a supermarket. Bill is fond of junk food whereas his wife wants him to eat healthy food.

            Introduction : line 1 – line 10

            Products in the supermarket : line 11 – line 36

            The argument : line 37 – to the end.

Junk food : chocolate fillings, Cookie Crisp, chocolate chips cookies, Peanut Butter, crunch, cinnamon Mini Buns, Count Chocula, marshmallows, Cookie blast oat meal, breakfast pizza, root beer buttons, toaster strudels.

Healthy food : broccoli, mushrooms, melon, cereals, Ryvita, milk, pancakes, cheese, bacon, oat meal.

            His wife is not used to buy that kind of food as she is British. Bill is dying for American food as he fed up with British habits / he can’t stand (bear) British food anymore.

He is longing to eat the American kind of food. He seized two packets : “I grabbed one of each of the cereals”.

He ran to the trolley and sprinted with them back. 

            He may exaggerate when using words such as “paradise” and “heaven”. There is a paradox / discrepancy between the words he uses.

His tone is rather satirical. That’s why we shouldn’t take him too seriously.

            The following quotations emphasize the discrepancy between the narrator’s words and his thinking :

            - “The rich, unrivalled possibilities for greasiness and goo that American diet offers”.

            - “I wanted food that squirts and plops”.

            First, his wife is asking him questions. Then she objects to his choices. Eventually she gives him orders. She is becoming bossy. The special tone of voice with which she addresses her husband shows that she disapproves of his behavior in the supermarket.

            The fact that he “pants” shows his bustling search for US food.

The wife is bossy and sarcastic, she resents his attraction for junk food / the lure of junk food on him.