‘The Game Changers:’ New Angle, Same Slimy Strategy
‘The Game Changers’ claims green is the new gold. But will anyone actually believe it?
No more meat.
Ever.
At least that’s the message of the insanely pro-vegan documentary, ‘The Game Changers,’ an 80-minute public service announcement directed by James Cameron if you can believe it.
I can hear you rolling your eyes now ( unless you’re vegetarian). You feel like you’ve heard this before, right? “Just a bunch more loudmouth vegans cramming their dogma down the throats of unsuspecting carnivores,” again. Well, maybe so. But instead of taking the usual “end cruelty to animals” angle, ‘The Game Changers’ tries something new.
For the entire flick, GC highlights several elite athletes who just happen to be herbivores. And incredibly proud of it.
In fact, the athletes featured in the film credit their success to the avoidance of all animal foods. From Olympic cyclist, Dotsie Baush, to Olympic weightlifter, Kendrick Farris, and everything in between, GC presents an aggressive expose that leads you to believe that if you stopped eating meat, you just might win a gold medal too.
When you think about it, that’s a pretty good idea: find great athletes who are also vegan. Show them doing athlete things. Literally, “plant the seed.” Easy-peasy.
Yet something feels off. A lot of things actually. And this is coming from someone who is totally pro-vegan and have been for a while. But I’m also pro-truth, and at times GC feels more like propaganda than gospel. Here’s how.
Flipping The Script
GC is littered with compelling data. But it feels like it has an agenda that’s more grounded in cinema than reality.
Don’t get me wrong, documentaries have agendas. But there’s a difference between letting the story speak for itself, and punching viewers in the throat with it. The entire time I felt like I was being sold salads and bean burritos by the barrel full.
Dirty. That’s the best word to describe it. I felt dirty watching it. Like my friends were lying to strangers to make a quick buck, and I was in on it.
Hunting The Hunters
With that said, I absolutely loved Damien Mander, former Australian Royal Navy Clearance Diver and Special Operations Military Sniper who now serves as Founder and CEO of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation. Talk about what I want to be when I grow up. The guy who actually hunts the hunters — legit!
The scene near the end of the flick, where Mander talks about being a hypocrite for eating one animal right after saving another one; whew. Bring me a tissue. And screw the athletes. I could’ve watched that dude the entire time.
Studies Show
GC references a lot of “studies” that claim meat is the cause of everything from cancer to global thermonuclear war. It gets old quick. If you already have all the right answers, why bash the other guy? Are we purveyors fo truth, or politicians?
Instead, leave good enough alone. It’s fine to note a single study, but the continued demonization of the meat industry makes me question their motives. Worse, it makes me question the legitimacy of those so-called studies.
Just look here and here. Two studies that say the exact opposite of GC. So which is right? Are hamburgers the new cigarettes, or are the green guys putting out just as much fake news as the rest of the world?
Hard-on For Broccoli
There’s this scene near the end of the flick where they sit three professional football players down with a dick doctor. His name is Aaron Spitz, and he measures erections. He wrote the book on penis. Literally.
The experiment measures the nighttime erections of the three athletes after a meal of meat. Then again, after a meal without meat. And wouldn’t ya know, the meat-free meal got our boys harder, and more often.
At first, I chuckled at this scene. Then I just started to feel insulted. The comedy, the subject matter, the slap-in-the-face machismo angle about it all. I suppose there are some men who believe eating only greens will make their Johnson fall off, or at the very least, become useless, but I’m not one of them. And I’m not thirteen and only laugh at Jude Apatow jokes. Talk about below the belt!
Terminator Eats Tofu
When did Arnold go green?
Did I totally miss that, or is Cameron just calling in favors and making the Govenator say he loves kale for making his career?
Whatever it is, the few seconds we spend with Conan is rewarding. He’s over the top, brash, and condescending, and I love him for it. Even if it feels …. fake.
A Bloody Mess
The film compares yesterday’s smoking industry to today’s meat industry, and it really makes you think for a second.
Then, as if to shatter the credibility it just built, they do this murky blood thing, and the documentary transforms into a sad comedy.
It goes like this: Doctors feed a few athletes meat then draw their blood. The next day, they feed them not-meat and draw their blood again. Sounds scientific, right?
No! Not even close?
The doctor just holds the samples side by side, remarks about how cloudy the meat-blood is, and that’s it. Instantly, the athletes get all hypnotized and decide never to eat Popeye’s chicken again. Cloudy-blood. Seriously?
Powerfully Polarizing
GC has a lot going for it.
Big names. Lots of supporters. A great angle. And one of the best filmmakers in history. And yet, with all that, something feels wrong. Like it wasn’t real people, but actors portraying them. Oddly enough, this is precisely how most vegans act today. More like they have an agenda and a lot less like they actually care about others. Maybe if we treated vegetarianism less like a religion and more like a lifestyle, more people would listen. Hey, it worked for Buddhists.
It’s as simple as this; when you’re right, you don’t have to work so hard to let people know it. But when you try to change the game as hard as Game Changers, all you succeed in doing is turning people off. If you really want to help people, and you actually have the answers, then show me instead of sell me. Give your viewers a step-by-step plan to win the gold medal, and let them fill their plates with a few healthy servings of the truth.
