Review of The Beautiful Truth (2008) by Kelsey W — 13 Nov 2008

This movie provides a good first look into the core idea behind healthy living. For anyone out there like me, I'm constantly evaluating what I'm shovelling down my greedy American gullet. But, no matter how much we actually exercise or how much salad we eat or avoid anything bad, the smallest temptation always seems to sneak through; the secret cigarette here and there, a bite of chocolate, a jigger of whiskey, a juicy rare steak...It's the little pleasures that make life worth living right?

Wrong. We all know deep down that what we're eating isn't really right. High fructose corn syrup anyone? How about all that fake sugar? But what about our other day to day activities for maintaining our health. We go to the doctor for even the most random of conditions: the restless leg syndrome or the erectile dysfunction or the irretible bowel or anything-that-seems-like-a-disease-but-you're-just-a-hypochondriac syndrome. It's hard not to pay attention to anything that the media says medical science says. There's a new pill for everything. There is a short cut to everything. In fact many of the actions and shortcuts we take today to maintain our health is "common knowledge," like flouride in our water. Isn't flouride poisonous?

In fact THE BEAUTIFUL TRUTH is about knowledge that is supposed to be common. The greatest phrase we hear when it comes to health after all is "eat right and exercise." So, what do we do when we have a health problem? Pop a pill. This film gives credit to Dr. Max Gerson for allegedly developing the most effective therapy for chronic ailments and diseases, include the big "C": Cancer. Everything that his patients do is consistent what we all know to be true deep down.

But they're dying of and have nothing else to lose or live for, you might ask. Any good doctor or knowledgeable person would know that the best cure for anything is prevention. Eat right now and stimulate your immune system and you can prevent any illness from becoming symptomatic. So if if all of this is true, then why aren't we putting more stock into the organic farmer?

The conspiracy behind the whole AMA and pharmaceutical companies trying to control what we we know and what we eat is pretty scary. Don't you ever wonder how the food gets from where ever to your favorite grocery store?

As long as this film helps you to question what you're doing with your life, then I think it has done its job. It's really your decision whether to slowly poison yourself or to slowly build up your immune system. Sure the film is a little clunky here and there (the narration seems too creepy and hushed; the kid is a little bland), but hey the message seems pretty clear:

Eat right and exercise....and don't forget your coffee enema.