Fat Head

Of course not - that would be Fight Club. But in spite of its low budget and cornball humor, "Fat Head" is a movie that could make a difference. Plus, it's funny. My teenage daughter and I were laughing all the way through.

I get the impression that making Fat Head as a reply to the "Super Size Me" crowd was decided upon as a way to set the stage for the actual information Naughton is trying to impart. That being said, I have to disagree with the reviewers who say that S.S.M. isn't science, and Fat Head isn't a rebuttal; In S.S.M., Spurlock comes up with his hypothesis (eating nothing but fast food is bad for you), devises a test, follows specific test procedures, and publishes his results and findings. Naughton looked at his test procedures, results, and findings, and found specific faults and inconsistencies, which Fat Head addresses. Sounds like what they taught me in high school science class!

More importantly, Fat Head brings out some REALLY important information for the people who are trying to be healthy and failing. I've been trying to get people to read Gary Taube's "Good Calories, Bad Calories" (frequently referenced in Fat Head), which is of critical importance to our nation's health, but is...a bit dry. The fact that a lot of people HAVE read it is a tribute to its impact. Naughton takes that information and puts it in a nice, tasty, biodegradable paper wrapper and serves it up in a clown suit. Just the way we like it.

I can't say that I like that our society needs information packaged this way, but "edutainment" is the most effective way to disseminate information. Fat Head is well-researched, well-documented, funny, and imparts a critical message. Edutainment at its best.