Intern Insights

Social Justice in Film
By Zachary Hacker

As most may know, the Office of Peace, Justice, and Integrity of Creation here in the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse has a fantastic selection of documentaries and films in line with its mission. A film can be a tremendous teaching tool, and can present whole hosts of new ideas and new perspectives previously foreign to the viewer. Staying up on the problems of the world is the best way to effectively promote change, as knowledge is power. Now more than ever, these learning tools are essential to evoking peace, justice, and integrity within creation, and they also are entertaining and empowering. The three films reviewed below, Capitalism: A Love Story, Food Inc., and What the Bleep Do We Know are each a commentary on, and a method to, promoting the aforementioned Peace, Justice, and Integrity of Creation. Capitalism looks through a political lens, Food Inc. through a personal lens, and What the Bleep through a scientific lens. Each film successfully integrates morality into its focuses and result in a strong cohesive message of empowerment and responsibility that can help to better the world as we know it.

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY
In Michael Moore’s most bipartisan film to date, he crafts a relentless attack on capitalism and its immoral principles that have orchestrated this financial and housing crisis we currently have in America. Despite his outrageously inflammatory persona, guaranteed to get a rise from the most stoic crowd, Moore’s recently released film Capitalism: A Love Story ventures away from the controversial, and emphasizes intrinsic human rights: rights of the working class backbone of this country.

Interviewing a number of priests, Moore comes to the conclusion that capitalism is inherently immoral, obscene and in direct contrast with every major religious tradition, and contrary to Jesus himself. Christianity teaches that “blessed are the poor, and woe to the rich,” which makes it difficult to understand how the United States as a country has become run more like a corporation. Capitalism: A Love Story sets up a perfect juxtaposition of the people with everything and the people with nothing. Including footage from Congress and interviews with politicians, Moore illustrates how fear has become the propaganda of big business, used to oppress the workers, while the richest one percent thrives even in these tough times.

The film presents a variety of primary sources, ranging from the times of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s all the way up to this year. It presents the case for an upheaval of the allegedly evil institutions that rule our country with their bottomless money pits, and disregard for any conventional morality. Overwhelmingly profound messages abound from beginning to end, and many questions are asked: how will future civilizations view our society, and isn’t it time we become deservedly angry at the manipulative wealthy class?

Despite criticism that his movies rarely present any solutions, Moore’s muckraking journalism is ended with multiple positive stories, and motivational interviews that show the average American what others just like them, in tumultuous situations, have done to effect change. Stories of modern day sit-ins and communities supporting evicted neighbors leave a strong sense of power in the viewer, as everyday people are able to effect real change in their communities and their lives. Capitalism: A Love Story preaches the importance of equality and justice, while emphasizing the average person’s power and importance.

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FOOD INC.
There are few things more intimate than food. Every human being trusts in food for nourishment, health, and life. However, the American industrial food industry has developed into one egregious problem, violating the intimate act we make, three times a day, of allowing food into our bodies.

Recently out on DVD, Food Inc. explores the crimes of big business in our food system; and provides an inspired, thoughtful critique through the eyes of those personally affected by the food business’ horrific acts: farmers, meat packers, entrepreneurs, and consumers.

The documentary hits on numerous key points that are presented through personal accounts, stories, and rare footage and interviews that incriminate the various aspects of our food system’s big business and their lobbyists. The enduring points that the film succeeds in making mainly revolve around three central ideas. The industrial food sector violates the integrity of animals by treating them as merely a product, and not a living creature. The food industry doesn’t care about its effects on human health, the global economy, the environment, or the implications it sets up for the society as a whole. Also, Food Inc. focuses on the mistreatment and even persecution of farmers by big corporations. The ending message is a powerful one: each individual can change this unjust system. Every item you purchase is a vote for what you want to consume, and each individual has control over the market.

The film is must-see for anyone who cares at all for what they eat, their own health, the society we live in, the integrity of animals, or finds it weird that we don’t know where our food actually comes from. To fully understand the magnitude of the blatant problems in our system, the stories told in Food Inc. must be heard. Every viewer is sure to walk away from the TV set with a newly invigorated sense of conscience, and will most likely never eat in the same way again, but fully be able to appreciate each meal as the blessing that it is.

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WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW?
The self proclaimed “sleeper hit” of 2004, What the Bleep Do We Know? seems to be more relevant now than at the time of its release five years ago. In a time when our country is permeated with problems, and solutions come slowly, many people deservedly feel out of control in their lives. With houses being foreclosed upon, bank accounts drying up, and jobs being few and far between, it’s become truly daunting to try and recover from any slight hardship nowadays.

Fittingly, this film revolves around quantum physics and its relationship to spirituality; and it proves to be truly empowering. Throughout, it emphasizes and provides scientific proof for direct power over our own lives, the potential of thought, and the importance of our conscious lives.

Taken from the perspective of a deaf photographer who is having trouble coping with trauma in her life, the film explores themes of what God is, how humans are interconnected, how thoughts and beliefs work, how to deal with addictions, and how the entire universe as we see it is a construction of our conscious beliefs and thoughts. A perfect summary of what the movie proves comes from its own tagline: We Create Our Own Reality.

Following the experience, the audience’s eyes are opened wide to an entirely new way of thinking, showcasing how powerful we truly are. Not only is the film truly empowering spiritually, but presents a perfect marriage between science and religion, which are too frequently seen as contradictions of each other. What the Bleep is an entirely new way of thinking that tastefully avoids conflict and fanaticism, and instead turns its focus on thoughtful spirituality, which combines elements of meditation, prayer, reflection, and open minded, positive thinking.

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