Fast Food Nation

Summary: When contaminated meat is placed in the freezer next to that used for a fast food chain's most famous sandwich, a marketing executive seeks to find out who did it and why, taking a journey through the dark side of American aliment...

Release Date: May 04, 2007

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Director: Richard Linklater

Writers: Eric Schlosser

, Richard Linklater

Runtime: 1 h 56 min

MPAA: R

Production: Searchlight Pictures, Participant, HanWay Films, Fox Searchlight Pictures

Distributor: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Countries: United Kingdom, United States

Language: English

Domestic: $ 1,005,539

International: $ 1,203,783

Box office:

Domestic:$1MInternational:$1.2MWorldwide:$2.2M

Adaptation/remake:

based on book

Production:

Searchlight Pictures

(Walt Disney Studios subsidiary)

-7%

The Rotten Tomatoes audience rated this -7% lower than the critics.

49%42%

Metacritic audience rated it equally with the critics.

Metacritic Meta:

64/100

Metacritic User:

64/100

22%33%

22% of the Stars & Main Cast are Female.

33% of the Stars & Main Cast are "diverse."

White66.67%Latino27.78%Mixed / Other5.56%

0.78

BechdeltestPassed!

Commonsensemedia

Violence5/5
Sex3/5
Language5/5
Consumerism3/5
Drugs3/5

Dove

Sex4/5
Language5/5
Violence4/5
Drugs3/5
Nudity4/5
Other4/5

This film gets a 0.78/5 family friendly score

Please help improve our site and

add a Family Friendly Rating.

CONTENT BREAKDOWN

Methodology

RottenTomatoes:

49%42%

Douban:

IMDb:

Metacritic:

Metacritic User:

OFDb:

Methodology

Cast

Stars:

Supporting cast:

Other Cast, Production

Other cast:

Production:

Representation

Star

Supporting

Other

Production

Race	White	Latino	Asian	Total	Visuals	Info
Kairos	15	1	1	17		A third party facial recognition software company we used to maintain objectivity. Upload images to the facial recognition demo page to check the veracity of our data set. Or use their API and do a bulk peer review if you'd like. Source: https://www.kairos.com/demos
Ethnic	1			1		This is the most reliable data source for accurate ethnic breakdowns of famous people. Often the information is crowdsourced by users and they cite all their sources (family trees, obituaries, census archives, etc.) on the bottom of the page. The only issue is converting their ambiguous and inconsistent verdicts into quantifiable variables. Source: https://ethnicelebs.com/
Total	16	1	1	18
Cast Percentages	88.89%	5.56%	5.56%	100%	{"name":"Cast Percentages","series":[{"name":"White","y":88.89,"color":"#2b908f","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Latino","y":5.56,"color":"#eeaaee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Asian","y":5.56,"color":"#90ee7e","sliced":true,"selected":true}],"prefix":""}
U.S. Population (2020) Percentage	57.84%	18.73%	6%		{"name":"U.S. Population (2020)","series":[{"name":"White","y":57.84,"color":"#2b908f"},{"name":"Arab","y":0.54,"color":"#DF5353"},{"name":"Asian","y":6,"color":"#90ee7e"},{"name":"Black","y":12.4,"color":"#f45b5b"},{"name":"Indian","y":1.35,"color":"#7798BF"},{"name":"Indigenous","y":1.12,"color":"#aaeeee"},{"name":"Latino","y":18.73,"color":"#eeaaee"},{"name":"Mixed \/ Other","y":9.32,"color":"#55BF3B"},{"name":"Jewish","y":2.02,"color":"#ff0066"}],"prefix":""}	Source: US Census (Note: Racial and ethnic categories overlap so the sum will not equal 100%.)
U.S. Population (2020) Representation	+31.05	-13.17	-0.44		{"name":"U.S. Population (2020)","series":[["White",57.84],["Latino",18.73],["Asian",6]],"cast":[{"name":"White","y":88.89,"color":"#2b908f"},{"name":"Latino","y":5.56,"color":"#eeaaee"},{"name":"Asian","y":5.56,"color":"#90ee7e"}]}
U.S. Buying Power (2023) Percentage	72.69%	10.06%	6.97%		{"name":"U.S. Buying Power (2023)","series":[{"name":"White","y":13897000000000,"color":"#2b908f","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Arab","y":0,"color":"#DF5353","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Asian","y":1333100000000,"color":"#90ee7e","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Black","y":1533100000000,"color":"#f45b5b","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indian","y":0,"color":"#7798BF","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indigenous","y":136400000000,"color":"#aaeeee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Latino","y":1924000000000,"color":"#eeaaee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Mixed \/ Other","y":295300000000,"color":"#55BF3B","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Jewish","y":0,"color":"#ff0066","sliced":true,"selected":true}],"prefix":"$"}	Source: Selig Center, University of Georgia
U.S. Buying Power (2023) Representation	+16.2	-4.5	-1.41		{"name":"U.S. Buying Power (2023)","series":[["White",72.69],["Latino",10.06],["Asian",6.97]],"cast":[{"name":"White","y":88.89,"color":"#2b908f"},{"name":"Latino","y":5.56,"color":"#eeaaee"},{"name":"Asian","y":5.56,"color":"#90ee7e"}]}
U.S. Average Individual Income (2018) Percentage	65.34%	9.51%	7.52%		{"name":"U.S. Average Individual Income (2018)","series":[{"name":"White","y":11825174998483,"color":"#2b908f","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Arab","y":0,"color":"#DF5353","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Asian","y":1360705388565,"color":"#90ee7e","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Black","y":1706765993728,"color":"#f45b5b","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indian","y":0,"color":"#7798BF","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indigenous","y":164296821776,"color":"#aaeeee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Latino","y":1721419354421,"color":"#eeaaee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Mixed \/ Other","y":1318328353188,"color":"#55BF3B","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Jewish","y":0,"color":"#ff0066","sliced":true,"selected":true}],"prefix":"$"}	Source: IPUMS-CPS, University of Minnesota
U.S. Average Individual Income (2018) Representation	+23.55	-3.95	-1.96		{"name":"U.S. Average Individual Income (2018)","series":[["White",65.34],["Latino",9.51],["Asian",7.52]],"cast":[{"name":"White","y":88.89,"color":"#2b908f"},{"name":"Latino","y":5.56,"color":"#eeaaee"},{"name":"Asian","y":5.56,"color":"#90ee7e"}]}
World population (2019) Percentage	14.24%	5.62%	31.25%		{"name":"World population (2019) ","series":[{"name":"Mixed \/ Other","y":14688882870,"color":"#55BF3B","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Latino","y":42991259469,"color":"#eeaaee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indigenous","y":10971786583,"color":"#aaeeee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"White","y":108889096410,"color":"#2b908f","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Black","y":110601821551,"color":"#f45b5b","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Asian","y":238860161621,"color":"#90ee7e","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Arab","y":67406299429,"color":"#DF5353","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indian","y":167470202093,"color":"#7798BF","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Jewish","y":2568698093,"color":"#ff0066","sliced":true,"selected":true}],"prefix":""}	NOTE: ZR is the first organization to ever create a global buying power divided by race. Essentially we just took data from CIA.gov FactBook, UN Population Estimates, and The World Bank's Population Estimates / Purchasing Power Parity Per Capita.
World population (2019) Representation	+74.65	-0.06	-25.69		{"name":"World population (2019) ","series":[["White",14.24],["Latino",5.62],["Asian",31.25]],"cast":[{"name":"White","y":88.89,"color":"#2b908f"},{"name":"Latino","y":5.56,"color":"#eeaaee"},{"name":"Asian","y":5.56,"color":"#90ee7e"}]}
World Buying Power Percentage	36.48%	9.35%	29.46%		{"name":"World Buying Power","series":[{"name":"White","y":3010602822170000,"color":"#2b908f","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Latino","y":771525888400000,"color":"#eeaaee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Jewish","y":91700962050000,"color":"#ff0066","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Black","y":526264226360000,"color":"#f45b5b","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indigenous","y":174285727610000,"color":"#aaeeee","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Mixed \/ Other","y":148984454560000,"color":"#55BF3B","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Arab","y":526400066100000,"color":"#DF5353","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Asian","y":2431392083750000,"color":"#90ee7e","sliced":true,"selected":true},{"name":"Indian","y":572687873900000,"color":"#7798BF","sliced":true,"selected":true}],"prefix":"$"}	NOTE: ZR is the first organization to ever create a global buying power divided by race. Essentially we just took data from CIA.gov FactBook, UN Population Estimates, and The World Bank's Population Estimates / Purchasing Power Parity Per Capita.
World Buying Power Representation	+52.41	-3.79	-23.9		{"name":"World Buying Power","series":[["White",36.48],["Latino",9.35],["Asian",29.46]],"cast":[{"name":"White","y":88.89,"color":"#2b908f"},{"name":"Latino","y":5.56,"color":"#eeaaee"},{"name":"Asian","y":5.56,"color":"#90ee7e"}]}
Notes		Many Latinos check "White" or "Other" on the Census. So this overlaps with "Mixed" race and "White." Also, when there was a discrepancy with the percentage listed on the Wikipedia table and our calculated numbers, the Wiki table's numbers were used. Likewise, when the population total was missing from the Census pdf, the estimate was calculated using the percentage from the Wiki table. NOTE: It turns out that the reason America doesn't have a separate "Latino" race is because the League of Latin American Citizens protested against discrimination towards Mexicans and got themselves to legally be considered "White." Check the research links in our Google Doc for more info.	The US Census considers Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Indian, and Bangladeshi as Asians. At ZR we group Pakistanis with the Arab world. And we group Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi with India because 1.) they are all genetically similar as "South Asians and 2.) there are only a handful of actors from those regions in our database. However, you are viewing the "Asian Alone" category from the US Census when comparing it with Domestic representation. Also note that the 2000 and 2010 estimates include MultiRacial Asians not just "Asian Alone" estimates, and in some categories they include Native Hawaiians as "Asian." So there is a margin of error less than 1% and some inconsistencies with the grouping.

Tags / Keywords

actual animal killed advertising advertising executive american culture american dream anaheim california animal activist animal activist group animal rights animal slaughter assembly line bar based on book bedtime story big business blood book border crossing border guard boyfriend girlfriend relationship breasts broken back brother sister relationship businessman butcher cafe capitalism cattle cattle ranch cattle rancher cell phone cheeseburger chess children cigarette cigarette smoking cleaning lady college student colorado computer corporate crime corporation cow cow manure cross cruelty customer service dangerous equipment demonstration desert dog drink drinking driver's license drug abuse drug use e coli eating eco terrorism ensemble cast environmental activism environmental issue epilogue ethics extortion factory family relationships fast food fast food restaurant father son relationship feces flash forward focus group food food handling food industry football french fries frozen food greed gun hamburger harassment high school high school student hotel husband wife relationship illegal immigrant illegal immigration immigrant immigration industrial accident industrial video investigation kitchen knife laboratory letter liar lie locker room love maid marijuana marketing marketing executive meat meat handling meat processing meat processing plant meatpacker meatpacking methamphetamine mexican mexican immigrant mexico microbiology microwave oven mischief money mother daughter relationship mother son relationship pbs pickup truck political activism politics processed food protest public health ranch rancher rat reading rear entry sex red meat reference to burger king reference to papa john's reference to taco bell reference to the disney corporation restaurant robbery satire school locker scientist secretary sex in a truck sex in car sex scene sexual harassment sister sister relationship slaughter slaughterhouse soccer spit student student activism student group subjective camera subtitled scene sugar lobby teenage boy teenage girl theft thief three word title u.s. mexico border uncle niece relationship underage drinking underwear unhealthy van vandalism vegetarian waitress watching a pornographic video watching tv woman on top

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Parental Guide

Parental Guide: +add

This film gets a 0.78/5 family friendly score

MPAA Certification	No MPAA rating found yet. Add Family Friendly Rating?
IMDb Rating https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460792/parentalguide last updated: 2024-10-26Update data
Commonsensemedia Rating https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/fast-food-nation last updated: 2024-10-26Update data
Message 0/5	Thematic focus is corruption in fast food (contaminated meat, cover-ups); frustrated workers strike back as they can (e.g., spitting in food); characters lie, cheat, and argue.
Violence 5/5	The film's disturbing climax shows cattle slaughtered (actual bloody, graphic footage); crossing the U.S.-Mexican border is depicted as rough going (harsh conditions, thirst, exhaustion, passing out); discussion of McDonald's robbery (unseen); worker loses leg in plant machine (bloody and graphic).
Sex 3/5	Two brief sex scenes in vehicles (one shows breasts and indicates nude bodies, the other is "doggy style" and uncomfortable, as the creepy floor manager has sex with female employees in exchange for favors at work); another sex scene in the plant freezer (not explicit); sexual slang ("slut," "balls," "dick"); Doug plays a porn movie in his hotel room (you only hear moans, no image, as he looks at the screen); uncle offers his niece $1000 if she doesn't get pregnant by age 21.
Language 5/5	Repeated uses of "f--k" (20+), plus other language, including "ass," "s--t," "hell," "damn," "crap," and "sons of bitches."
Consumerism 3/5	Thematic focus on marketing fast food (McDonald's-style, though the company in the movie is the fictional "Mickey's"); specific references to ESPN, McDonald's, Fuddruckers.
Drugs 3/5	Smoking cigarettes, drinking, smoking marijuana, allusions to "meth freaks," snorting drugs; some workers are visibly high on the job.
Dove Rating https://dove.org/review/6167-fast-food-nation/
Faith 0/5	None
Sex 4/5	Couple having sex in truck, couple having sex outside of truck - both graphic.
Language 5/5	F-too many to count; S-15; B-2; A-7; D-1
Violence 4/5	Man caught in grinding machine, man falls off platform.
Drugs 3/5	Woman talks about drugs, woman smoking pot.
Nudity 4/5	Woman and woman nude having sex.
Other 4/5	Bringing illegal citizens into USA, man lies to another man about food testing, kid spits on man's sandwich, kids cut fence

Methodology

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commonsensemedia.org
crosswalk.com

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Critic Reviews:

FAST FOOD NATION

"Supersized Corruption"Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)

Production Quality:...

Proper Review

Aug 13th 2012

MovieGuide

#CenterRight #Christian

Dangerous Health Issues the Focus in "Fast Food Nation"

DVD Release Date: March 9, 2007

Theatrical Release Date: November 22, 2006 (wide)

Rating: R (for disturbing images, strong sexuality, language and...

Proper Review

Mar 13th 2007

Crosswalk