Analysis of the Film
Analysis of the Film The documentary film Genetically Modified Food, Panacea or Poison depicts a negative impact of genetically modified food on human health. It raises many significant questions that bother a contemporary society. The director explores all the consequences of this kind of food according to ethical, environmental, economic, and health issues. In such a way, the primary purpose of the film is to inform people about a horrible influence of genetically modified products.
The initial concern of the plot refers to the examination of artificially created food. In other words, this documentary demonstrates precise reasons for inappropriate usage of the products related to a genetic engineering. It is quite evident that the director does not support the spread of genetically modified food due to several important reasons. First of all, he claims that it is not beneficial as it negatively affects the environment and human health at the same time. These are the main reasons for being against food modification. However, the American government contributes to the development of genetic food engineering as the process brings high incomes. Additionally, the officials claim that these products are not dangerous. Of course, this position seems to be rather controversial. That is why people make considerable efforts to learn the truth shown in this documentary.
One of the most essential goals of the film is to define whether genetically modified food is safe or not. The question of safety takes the first place as it concerns human health and future generations. It makes the film credible even behind its background. Many experiments show that corporations just hide the truth because they cannot assure customers that these products are scientifically beneficial. According to Dr. Peggy Lemaux, it is impossible to guarantee the safety of food. The problem relates to the field of science, but authorities attempt to hide the results of its negative influence on human genes. In this case, the participants of the documentary emphasize that namely, huge companies are responsible for the development of genetically modified products and their spread. The speakers mention different factors, and it becomes obvious that it is a worldwide problem. However, people are still unaware of its harm and continue buying these foods.
Exterior and interior influences found inside and outside the film are shown through detailed explanations of different experts. For instance, a Co-Director of Food First, Peter Rosset states that it is more than just an ordinary policy to develop genetically modified food. He indicates that many protests have conducted in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe. Unfortunately, it is hard to oppose such a large corporation as Monsanto which manipulates agriculture in the United States of America. Additionally, a farmer, Percy Schmeiser also explains that he has encountered the consequences of genetically engineered crops that cause the environmental harm to his farm. This fact proves that Monsanto contaminates the farms by making plant genetically modified. Moreover, Schmeiser says that many plants and animals surrounded in the vicinity of his farm have died because of a high norm of chemicals. It is one of the most important factors that reveals a dangerous impact of modification.
The documentary displays its intentions and concerns through the representations of the experts’ views and true facts mentioned by the interviewers. The director of the film makes considerable efforts to show that scientists manage to manipulate DNA while producing the so-called disease-resistant crops. The point is that the primary concern is to determine a harmful effect of this innovation which destroys human health. It means that people invisibly become the participants of global nutritional experiments even against their will. Nevertheless, people want to be informed what happen around the world when the question is about genetically modified food. As Dr. Peggy Lemaux mentions, genetic modification affects human bodies completely. It may change the information contained inside each person individually. “Over thousands of years, farmers have been in the process of changing the genetic information within certain crop varieties”. Moreover, genetic engineers may mix people’s and animals’ genes together as they conduct horrible experiments. The worst fact is human genes are even in corn and rice today. As a result, scientists can simply destroy the gene code and the evolution itself. All these facts make the documentary objective, and therefore, it is necessary to observe the problem thoroughly. Undoubtedly, the audience understands that the plot is meaningful as the director focuses on human health.
The likability of the documentary is portrayed through numerous facts referred to a harmful interference of scientists to agriculture. The more credible issues the audience learns, the more fearful one may feel due to the development of the so-called new technologies. Nobody knows about the effects of pesticides while saving crops but it is evident that insects die immediately. In this case, consumers start concerning about the level of danger and harm of genetically modified food. These contribute to the creation of a serious tone as people including ordinary consumers and farmers worry about the contamination and products they eat every day. It is obvious that all these concerns refer not just to Americans but people all over the world. Nowadays, it is a global problem that makes many European countries struggle against genetic engineering. Unfortunately, Monsanto controls the seed supply everywhere by dictating and implementing own policy. Additionally, the United States of America has devoted about seventy-five million acres of farmland to genetically modified crops. This record just explains that there are no particular regulations that may control the safety of food. Even though it is a primary concern about the safe products, nobody cares about the toxic reactions and the development of horrible diseases.
Emotional and logical appeals play a vital role in the documentary. The point is that the interviewers and their worries are extremely impressive. For instance, Percy Schmeiser’s narrative story is full of emotions as he has encountered many agricultural problems. Of course, his sincerity makes the audience experience sympathy for him as a farmer who takes care of his crops and all other people as ordinary consumers. Additionally, such film techniques as images, sounds, music, and camera angles play an important role. They help the director to represent his intentions to portray the primary purpose. Moreover, the use of images related to different pictures and posters and narrative stories may have a deep impact on the emotional state of the audience. Then, the represented facts and the experts’ views proved by these facts are convincing as they open a horrible truth about the use of genetically modified food.
In conclusion, the documentary film Genetically Modified Food, Panacea or Poison informs the audience about the negative consequences of the food modification. The primary mission the entire plot is to open true facts being able to analyze the causes and effects of genetic engineering. Thanks to the given information based on the speakers’ interviews and their attitude towards the development of scientific methods, the documentary is created in a persuasive way. All the facts not only describe but define a global problem as a primary concern.
