Thin

These days eating disorders (such as anorexia and bulimia) are, without question, a very serious problem that affects millions-upon-millions of men and women all across this continent and, yes, well-beyond.

"Thin" is an informative documentary that honestly tries to address the dilemma of eating disorders in order to help the viewer to better understand the seriousness of what is facing those who are afflicted by this problem of wanting to be super-slim.

(*Note*) - Due to its grave subject matter - "Thin" is far from being an uplifting viewing experience.

Lauren Greenfield's documentary gave a great view inside of eating disorder treatment facilities, and the lives of the people who need them. Although it did not inform the audience of how eating disorders develop, or how the main subjects got to Renfrew, the treatment facility that the film focuses on, that somehow aided Greenfield in eliminating any bias that may have come out if it had been directed by by someone else. Greenfield also opts to not use any voice overs, and she only interviews the patients, if anyone. I thought this was especially bold, allowing for the footage of the patients lives in the center to speak for themselves, as opposed to swaying the audience's view through a voice over.

After watching this film, however, I have started to question the validity of other eating disorder facilities; do they all treat patients like this, having extreme eating regimens and rules for everything? The scene that moved me the most was when the staff accused one of the patients, Shelly, of hiding food. They questioned her to the point of tears and interrogation, showing her that they had no trust in her. Even after the film revealed that the food was hidden by another patient, the staff members that had accused her were slow to apologize. That type of treatment can be extremely deteriorating to a patient with an eating disorder; they should be in a trusting and encouraging environment that promotes a positive body image, not a place where all of their control is taken away and they are treated like children.

Overall, I am extremely thankful to Lauren Greenfield for making this documentary. It was very helpful for me to learn what it is actually like to have an eating disorder without all of the glamor that morphs it on the internet. It was stark to the point of disgust towards the disorders, persuading me and anyone else, including those who are recovering from anorexia or bulimia, to avoid that type of lifestyle. I recommend this film to anyone who has access to it. Whether or not someone has any interest it watching it, Thin will have an impact on everyone.

This documentary follows a group of girls in a private hospital in Florida for treatment for anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders. The timing is only ever going to more relevant with coming time I think because weight is an increasing issue. I know the media does exaggerate for the sake of stories but we do either seem to be a society of obesity or undereating. Watching America's Next Top Model and shows of the ilk you regularly hear "too big" or worse from the judges in relation to girls who are very trim by modern standards. Meanwhile "size zero" is the thing of nightmares for those concerned about the women who feel forced to be thinner and thinner. All this against the background of the very public death of model Reston (40kg at age 21) from an infection after her system was weakened by the effects of anorexia.

So with all this in mind I was quite looking forward to this film because I hoped that it would be worthy of the subject – which is important and depressing. The film goes behind the scenes at a treatment centre in South Florida and follows the patients and doctors through counselling sessions, weighing, community sessions and just hanging out. The degree of access is impressive and the subjects don't seem to be affected at all by having a camera around them all the time. It is a shame then that the film doesn't deliver a point or a well constructed case but it doesn't really manage to do this. The "fly on the wall" approach does provide value as the lives of the girls do make for an engaging documentary but I couldn't help but feel that the film should be using the girls to access a bigger point rather than being about the dramas within the treatment centre alone.

This is best seen in the final third, which seems to be mostly about Polly and her friends being confronted by the staff over their behaviour and attitudes; this made it more of a soap opera than anything else and, although interesting, it was not what I had hoped the film would be. Greenfield's direction is very good, providing lots of intimate shots without ever getting in the way of the people or the treatment. She does turn out a film that is engaging and touching at turns but I didn't think that it did much to my understanding of the conditions. For viewers who dismiss it as "all in the head" and a western disease for fashion obsessed girls, there isn't much here to educate otherwise.

Overall then this is a weakness to the film because it doesn't deal with the subject but rather the specific people in the centre. This means it is not as good or as important as it should have been an, although it is of some interest, it is certainly not the film that I had hoped it would be.

If you're someone who has (or suspects you have) an eating disorder, then I would certainly recommend that you give "Thin" a serious view.

This documentary certainly does open one's eye to how really critical this problem is in the USA, alone. It's estimated that eating disorders affect millions (especially teen-aged girls) all across the American nation, and beyond.

The one thing that I found to be on the somewhat ironic side of "Thin" was that a number of the employees (both men and women) who worked at the Renfrew Center (where a good portion of this documentary was filmed) were, indeed, grossly overweight. This, in turn, showed yet another form of eating disorder and greatly contrasted the super-thin look of the patients who were in residence there.

All-in-all - I found a good part of this documentary to be on the depressing side, and so, in the long run, I wasn't able to fully appreciate the grave message that it was trying to deliver.

The big thing for me is, sure it's a good documentary, but it is one, super triggering and two, lots of people at Renfrew are average or above average weight, seeing as Renfrew deals with all eating disorders. Just saying, this is a huge blanket and not as accurate as it could be. It was very good. The only complaint is the huge Stereo type blanket of All girls with eating disorders are severely underweight. Yeah, that is NOT TRUE AT ALL. But I'm glad most recovered as far as I know. Why do you have to have freaking ten lines?! Um, also, the movie painted it kinda hopelessly, which is also, thankfully inaccurate. Yeah.