EricSchlosser Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When Eric Schlosser's nonfiction book Fast Food Nation was released, Schlosser's journalistic skills and passionate-yet-well-structured arguments made it a best-seller; perhaps it stung a bit when Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me made it to theaters hot on the heels of Fast Food Nation -- stealing a certain amount of Schlosser's thunder and owing a very strong debt to Schlosser's work. Fast-forward a few years and Fast Food Nation gets to come to the big screen -- not as a documentary, but instead as fiction. Directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and Schlosser, Fast Food Nation follows a group of characters -- workers, suppliers, executives, patrons -- through the fast-food economy. The stories and characters occasionally intersect and often diverge; as some at Cannes said at Fast Food Nation's debut, think of it as Traffic with meat.

Not only will Fox Searchlight release their movie version of Fast Food Nation (about the workings of a fast food chained called Mickey's) later this year, but that book's author, Eric Schlosser, is also soon to release Chew on This: Everything You Didn't Want to Know about Fast Food, a similarly themed (but you probably guessed that) book aimed at teachers and students. McDonald's however, isn't running scared. Oh no. Instead, they're exchanging war-like internal memos, and promising a "full-scale media campaign" in responses to the upcoming media assault. Among the tactics reportedly being considered are a "truth squad" (Maybe they'll carry around a giant, inflatable fry.), a "campaign to tell the real story" ("Massive amounts of fat are good for you!" "Animals totally love factory farms!") and, most tantalizingly, efforts to "discredit the message and the messenger." Oooooh. I can't wait for that one -- do you think Happy Meals boxes will start featuring pictures of Richard Linklater's face with a big, red "X" through it?

No release date has been set for Fast Food Nation, dammit, but it's expected out some time in 2006.