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Life & Arts

'Fast Food' digs up dirty secrets

Fictional story reveals what viewers may not want to know about their burger combos

by ELI JABBE
The Daily Cougar

Fast food is an option that has been popular in America for decades. 

The ease of ordering a meal on the go has made places like McDonald--s popular, allowing the fast food industry to thrive. There has been some suspicion, however, of what is going on behind the scenes. 

Eric Schlosser investigated the fast food industry--s inner working in his 2001 New York Times bestseller Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. 

Now the book has been adapted into a film with a fictional story.

The plot of Fast Food Nation recalls the acclaimed Crash because it also features an ensemble of characters who are involved in the fast food industry in different ways. The focus constantly shifts from one person to another. 

The protagonist, Don Henderson (Greg Kinnear), is an executive at Mickey--s, the fictional restaurant seemingly based on McDonald--s. 

When he gets word that UMP, the meat-packing company that supplies Mickey--s, has been using unsavory methods, Don decides to visit UMP to investigate, but he--s deceived by the head of the company, who only shows him the clean parts of the factory. 

It is only when Don asks around that he uncovers the truth: nauseating facts such as cow manure being included in the meat. 

The naivete in Don--s eyes when he finds out these horrible facts will remind viewers of Ethan Hawke--s character in Training Day. 

Hawke also appears in Fast Food Nation as Pete, the uncle of a Mickey--s worker, who is disgusted with how the company has expanded in the small city where the film is set. 

The film--s focus fluctuates between characters such as the Mexican immigrants who work at UMP--s plant and American high school students employed by Mickey--s. 

Wilmer Valderrama of That 70--s Show stands out in his role as Raul, a UMP worker who is at the center of a factory accident.

The film excels in its analysis of not only the foulness of the meat-packing plant, but also the corruption of the industry and how workers-- mindsets change as time goes on. 

Fast Food Nation is a brutally honest look at the fast-food industry that could make viewers think twice about stopping for a quick cheeseburger combo after the film. 

As Pete says, "The facts aren--t always friendly."

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