When food appears in a film or a television program, it is loaded with much more than calories.” (Bower, 2004, P.12)

1. COMMODIFYING FOOD
IN FILMS
Prepared by: Mariam Bedraoui, Master Student, Moroccan American
Studies, Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco

2. Core Material
 “Slow Food, slow Films”
 Author: Dennis Rothermel
 Source: Quarterly Review of Film
and Video, Issue 4, July 2009.
 “A Domestic Divo: Televised
Treatments of Masculinity,
Femininity and Food” by
 Author: Rebecca Swenson
 Source: Critical Studies in Media
Communication, Issue 1, March
2009.

3. Outline
 Part One:
 Food, Television/Cinema: Zones of Cultural
Intersections
 Methodological Notes
 Part Two:
 Commodifying Food: “Slow Food, Slow Films”
 Gendering Food: “A Domestic Divo: Televised
Treatment Of Masculinity, Femininity and Food”
 Part Three:
 An Overall Evaluation

4. When food appears in a film or a television program, it is loaded with
much more than calories.” (Bower, 2004, P.12)
Food on Television Food in Cinema

5. Food represents and shapes national, ethnic
and racial identities.
Food is used to create aspects of the narrative,
symbols, characterizations, and visual motifs.
Food is viewed as an aesthetic production that
marks high culture from low culture.
Food, Cinema/ Television: Zones of Cultural
Intersections

6. Some Notes on Methodology
 What is food?
 Food stuff and cooking
 The space where cooking takes
place
 The values related to food and
cooking
 What contexts for food?
 Food genre films
 Cookery shows
 How will the articles be
discussed?
Presenting thesis
Clarifying key concepts
Reviewing main ideas
Evaluating arguments

7. Commodifying Food in Films
“Slow Food, Slow Film”

8. “Slow Food, Slow Film”: Main Thesis
The cultural load
of food and films
Manipulation and
commodification
Resistance to this
dominant
mainstream
productions
Artistic creations
 “Food and film inherit traditions with a broad range of values.
Large- scale industry proliferation of social pabulum has come
to dominate in both. Perennially renewed resistance to this
domination, however, thrives in both food culture and film
culture. The hallmark in either case is dedication to exquisite
creations within the dedicated practice of an art.” P. 265
 “What slow films has in common with slow food is the
prevailing presence of care, care for the making of food, care
for the making of the films, but foremost for the one for whom
it is meant, who will in turn will be ready for the receipt of the
gift. In stark contrast, industrial food and industrial film find
value strictly in terms of the exchange of price for
commodity.” P275

9. “Slow Food, Slow Film”: Key Concepts
1- Slow Food
Slow Food
• Eating moderate portions of
fresh food
• Eating in the company of the
people we care about
• Cooking food on a daily
basis
• Being aware that our choices
of food make us responsible
for sustainability.

10. “Slow Food, Slow Film”: Key Concepts
2- Slow Film
Slow film
• Long take shots
• Character development,
drama and interaction unfolds
entirely within view all at
once.
• Unconventional personas and
endings
• Designed as a caring gift for
the viewer

11. “Slow Food, Slow Film”: Key Concepts
3- Commodification
The human
body
The perceived
realm of
values and
virtues
become
economic
terrains for
manipulation
and
exploitation

12. “Slow Food, Slow Film”: A Review of the Case
Study

13. A Review of the Case Study: An adaptation to Meet
Conditioned Tastes
 Film making style
 Long elaborate shots
 Contemplative protagonists
 Food culture
 Simple dishes using fresh ingredients
 Cooking is the process of designing a
gift
 Small servings
 Film making style
 Conventional analytical montage
 Conventional female protagonists
 Food culture
 Cooking grants power and control
 Mainstream food: Pizza, overcooked
pasta with tomato sauce
 Large servings

14. Evaluation
 The use of fast food in a movie is not necessarily a
sign of complicity and consolidation of the
dominant consumptive habits
 Not all Hollywood adaptations are by necessity
driven by an intentional marketing for the capitalist
values.
 The construct of slow food may not keep the same
defining boundaries across different cultures.