Documentary Analysis: Dangerous Knowledge

The documentary “Fed Up” provides some important and disturbing details of the food industry. The 1977 heart disease and diet study known as the McGovern Report warned that the obesity rate was increasing rapidly due to American diets in fatty meats, saturated fats, cholesterol, and sugar. The food industry vehemently denied these claims, but the American people still demanded lower fat food products. The food manufacturers found that the fat removal made the food bland and unpalatable so to address this they replaced the fat content with sugar. Both the documentary and the Harvard Nutrition Source discuss the role sugar has in health conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. They both link the consumption of sugar as the causality for

Obesity, heart disease and diabetes are all serious conditions that are caused by an increased intake of sugar. In the documentary Sugar Coated, it mentions Japan and how over there, they are taking drastic measures to ensure that their nation does not have to be burdened by the diseases sugar can lead to. Before Japan was introduced to a high sugar diet, they were much healthier than Americans. Now, Japan has to combat many years of high sugar diets that is newly occurring and could potentially ruin their economy due to sugar intake. Although one may think they have a well balanced diet, there are many ways that sugar can be disguised by wording through seemingly healthy food items, such as granola bars, fruit juices and yogurts. Another problem

Stephanie Soechtig, is an award-winning film-maker, and director and producer of the nonfiction documentary Fed Up. She began producing documentaries for network news programs such as Primetime Live and 20/20, while also working for Good Morning America during the 2000 presidential elections and the O’Reilly Factor. In 2008, Soechtig partnered with Michael and Michelle Walrath to start Atlas Films, which provided inspiration and education to consumers on the most controversial topics. So far, Soechtig has been awarded the “Best Documentary Feature” for Tapped (2009), “People’s Choice Award” for Under the Gun (2016), and Fortune Magazine named Soechtig as being one of the “Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink” (Biography). In 2014, Soechtig’s “Grand Jury Prize” nominated film Fed Up (2014), narrated by TV Journalist Katie Couric, was created in hopes of unveiling the hidden secrets of the food industry by using statistical analysis and research expert’s testimonies to inform viewers of the direct impact that the food industry has on the health of our nation’s most vulnerable population—children. Soechtig and Couric present the argument that the roles of our government along with the interests and processing methods of food industries are ultimately responsible for the increasing rates of childhood obesity in the United States.

Why We Fight released to the viewing public in 2005. One of several documentaries by director Eugene Jarecki. Narrator Walter Huston did not uniquely stand out from the cast yet held a neutral position. Music selection on the other hand, stood out boldly from the plot. As the issues of war and freedom intensified so did the music. If people mourned the deaths of others soft spoken emotional music evoked feeling. The film adds to the propaganda exampled by the subject matter. Fluency of the film immediately stood out to me. Jarecki’s attention to detail, diverse mediums, and personal opinion as well as entertainment of the viewer were well taken care of in this film with the exception of fluency. The film’s purpose is to question the viewer about the preemptive community of the American

The Holding Ground documentary was powerful and highly effective in showing the struggle of the Dudley Street and the Roxbury neighborhood and their struggle to in effect take back their neighborhoods. The people in the video were passionate about their community and faced many obstacles like illegal dumping and arson for profit as well as a committee of people who had no idea about the community making decisions without having anyone in the community representing them. In the documentary, Robert Holmes, Jr a Trustee at the Riley Foundation discussed how the board was having a community meeting. He originally thought that Che Madyun was sent in as an agitator. He then realized that she was just passion about her community and had valid points.

In a world that is currently dominated by computers, it’s hard to imagine what it was like before they were invented. Though computers only began having a major influence in the last 60 years, the idea for them was first conceived almost 200 years ago. This technology would not have been possible without the work of Ada Lovelace, who is considered one of the pioneers in the field of computer programming. She had a vision of the possible benefits and capabilities of a computing machine. Even though she would never see her vision become a reality, her legacy and work had a lasting impact on the future of technology. However, during her lifetime she experienced multiple setbacks in pursuing her education

As a victim of sexual assault, this documentary was far from easy to watch. Not only did I relive the terrors of my own personal experience, but I was also able to capture the emotions behind the experiences of each victim that told their story throughout the documentary. The Hunting Ground was a true eye opener in regards to what truly goes on behind closed doors and how relentlessly one could turn their back on the situation. The Hunting Ground follows the stories of undergraduate rape survivors and their journey to justice. The documentary also sheds light upon the victim’s Universities and Colleges and how their school’s Sexual Misconduct and Violence policies had deeply failed them.

This week’s Core Friday was not a lecture, but a documentary named The Pluto Files, which was coordinated by one of Core’s co-coordinator, Tom Hothem. The purpose documentary was that Pluto lacked a well-defined criteria to determine if it was or was not a planet. The documentary followed Neil Tyson as he traveled to different states in finding out the truth and views about Pluto being a planet and not a planet. There were many controversies about this topic when it was concluded that Pluto would no longer be considered a planet. This issue relates to how we must evaluate the Drake Equation in the Quantitative Essay. It connects because both lack a well-defined criteria that allow us to determine what is and what is not. It makes us question

Every year, millions of students across America attend a college or university hoping to further their education and prepare for the futures. The purpose of higher education is to create prepared minds and to help the students reach their full potential. However, the documentary Declining by Degrees, produced by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in 2005, questions and challenges the post-secondary education system. The documentary exposes the problems of modern day post-secondary institutes that are hindering the process of education for students. Despite the secrecy of it all, higher education is jeopardizing student’s learning because of issues within the education system surrounding research driven professors and grade inflation.

The documentary Fixed: The Science Fiction of Human Enhancement explores the topic of biotechnology, human enhancements and transhumanism. Transhumanism, as defined in the movie, is a “movement that advocates for people to use technology to enhance the body and mind.” Individuals such as Hugh Herr and James Hughes support this, with varying views of how transhumanism should be used in society. The documentary also attempts to discuss ableism, or social discrimination in favor of able-bodied people, in terms of plastic surgery and media. Cressida Heyes, a philosopher of University of Alberta, advocates plastic surgery to be normalized for “average” people even though it was originally intended for people who needed facial reconstruction surgery due to accidents, injuries or burns (Fixed: The Science Fiction of Human Enhancement).

“Religulous” Being told as a Christian that I’m going to be watching an atheist movie for the next three days really frustrated me, but within the first five minutes of watching this documentary I became extremely focused and interested in what Bill Maher was trying to prove by making this movie. Throughout this documentary, Bill Maher travels around the world interviewing a wide range of religious leaders and followers. During these interviews, Bill questions the different religions on a jokingly matter. “Maher, who grew up Catholic (with a Jewish mother), loathes religion. This film doesn't make it clear why he hates it so, aside from some comments about how Catholicism ‘wasn't relevant’ to his life as a child.

The Hunting Ground is an expose on sexual assaults complaints in colleges in the United States and attempts by these learning institutions to silence. The documentary, which was first released in January 2015 at the Sundance Film, captures a number of sexual assault survivors from various campuses as they narrate their gruesome experiences at the hands of rapist and their efforts to pursue their education in tranquility whilst finding justice. At the heart of the documentary’s premise is that campuses have become happy hunting grounds for potential rapists and that there are many unsuspecting students who are falling prey to sexual predators. Most of the sexual predators are members of fraternities and are individuals who victims know very well from classes or night parties. The documentary also argues that university administrations are more worried about lowering reported incidences of sexual assault than they are about helping rape victims find justice and recover from trauma.

The general consensus in the academic world is that knowledge is power that can solve humanity’s problems. Sometimes, it is clouded by greed, or it lights the way for a better humanity. Scientists experiment to prove new theories, artists sculpt to express emotion and theologians study to provide interpretations of biblical stories. Therein lies the problem, while society is always searching for knowledge, to date there is no singular “foolproof” method of obtaining it. In the movie “The Theory of Everything,” Stephen Hawking has a “eureka” moment when pulling a sweater over his head and seeing flames through the material. In this case, it seemed that serendipity played a role in his search for truth. This led me to wonder, to what extent is the discovery of knowledge a matter of serendipity that can then go on to solve problems? While an exploration of whether knowledge is produced only to solve problems in the Natural Sciences may be more obvious, its application to Mathematics and Indigenous Knowledge may draw some interesting observations.

As I delved deeper into its facets, I was forced to challenge what I had previously thought to be the infallible blocks of logic when I happened upon topics like Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem. I threw out my prejudice of math created by dull high school busywork. Instead it was freakishly hard, unfairly complex, and too much fun to stop.. I was overjoyed to learn that there was so much creativity in the building blocks of mathematics that schools would skip over. I had to know, I felt a devilish desire to learn, and I sated it with a schedule from

Mathematics has contributed to the alteration of technology over many years. The most noticeable mathematical technology is the evolution of the abacus to the many variations of the calculator. Some people argue that the changes in technology have been for the better while others argue they have been for the worse. While this paper does not address specifically technology, this paper rather addresses influential persons in philosophy to the field of mathematics. In order to understand the impact of mathematics, this paper will delve into the three philosophers of the past who have contributed to this academic. In this paper, I will cover the views of three philosophers of mathematics encompassing their