Way Beyond Weight Documentary Analysis

Obesity has created a population of lazy children all around the world. Estela Renner, director of the documentary Way Beyond Weight, displays the negative effects of obesity on the children in all societies ranging from villages in Brazil to big cities in the United States. Through specialists and children, Renner digs deep to find the cause of obesity and how much of an influence it can have on a child’s life. This epidemic has impacted the lives of all people, and can occur as early as infancy. Overweight children suffer from health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, high cholesterol, and more. She finds that these children have a diets with high calories, fats, and sugars; they all drink multiple sodas and fruit drinks

Renner incorporates suspenseful and depressing music to bring attention to the fact that obesity can have a negative impact on a child’s life. For example, the US government spends 51 million marketing healthy eating to kids while the food industry spends 1.6 billion on ads promoting foods high in calories and low in nutrition to kids. When this fact was presented, the drums made the audience’s heart race as it shows how many high calorie foods restaurants hold. This is done to reveal how fast food places are fooling customers into buying their foods. Second, Renner includes calming music when showing children that are engaging in physical activity. By pairing comforting music and exercise, the audience feels relief and this it would appeal to their emotions. Thus, suspenseful, depressing, and calming background music all play a part in impacting the audience’s attitude towards the negative effects of obesity on

Based off of clips of obese children, Renner displays how this epidemic can have an emotional impact on them. Overweight children often have to deal with feeling inferior to others. Psychoanalyst, Clarissa Ollitta, explains how some obese children feel shame as they try to hide their from public view. An 8 year old from Brazil, Carol tries to lose weight by going to dance class, just so that she will look like the other girls. By filming the strenuous exercise that Carol does a few times a week, Renner sheds light on how obesity can be reversed. Next, Renner films the agony that parents have to go through in order to get their children to eat healthy. 7 year old, Yan, creates a scene when his parents refuse to give him a bag of potato chips. His parents give in, knowing that this might contribute negatively to his heart health. By showing Yan’s mother crying, Renner creates a connection to the audience. She intends for this clip to spark the emotions of the viewers so that they realize that change is necessary. Therefore, Renner utilizes pathos and logos to show the audience how obesity can have an emotional toll on obese children and their