the stuff

Kevin Lim

Leah Benedict  

English 201        

3/6/12

                                                                                The Stuff Essay

                “The Stuff”  by Larry Cohen is a horror movie from the 80’s that show how the Food and Drug Administration is not doing their job properly and allowing the public to eat something that might not be exactly safe for them to consume.  This movie also shows how many of the manufacturers of the product know that this dessert is very dangerous and addictive but still they sell it so they can make a large profit.  This product ultimately led to many people to go under the mind control that this dessert put on majority of the people.  However this is also the fault of the Food and Drug Administration because of their lack of awareness and their lack of strictness when approving products.

                When we think of food today we don’t necessarily think about why we eat it.  Most of the time it is to just fill the rumbling in our stomachs but if we had a choice would it be for pleasure as in taste value or in nutritional value.  In this movie we saw that in many instances it was for both purposes.  In the advertisements seen in the movie it shows that this dessert was low in calories and also tastes great.  In todays world that is like a dream since many of the things that we eat that taste very good, or of course very bad since it would contain an excess of fat and sugar.  In the beginning of the movie the parents of a boy named Jason urged him to try it because of the great taste while having a great nutritional value.  However, this was also due to the mind control that the dessert had over them at that point in the movie. 

                This film actually doesn’t make much sense in terms of the eaters.  This is because during the whole movie many of the population was addicted to “the stuff,” it was like their life depended on consuming this dessert constantly.  There was a scene in the headquarters factory of the Stuff where the head manufacturer says that the workers sometimes had to be stopped so they don’t eat the product.  It shows that they were addicted to this substance.  Also, if too much of the dessert is eaten then it takes on the life of its own and controls the body’s movements and actions.  IF the body is no longer useful then the stuff can literally just leave through the mouths opening and travel to a new host.  This was basically like a parasitic virus that was going around being sold to people on the markets.  The way that the movie is made actually makes the viewer like myself feel sorry for them.  This is because it wasn’t like consumers knew what they were eating since it was assumed to be safe since the food and drug administration approved it.  According to one of the characters from the movie that was and administrator of the FDA they were able to pass it immediately because “it’s not a prescription drug, it was a dessert, just like frozen yogurt or ice-cream.” However at the end of the movie when they told the public that it was dangerous, they actually listened.  If someone was so addicted to a substance, in my own opinion, I wouldn’t believe that they would be able to stop consuming it due to just one warning with no proof to back up the claim.

                This product is definitely a dangerous product that threatens the social order and safety of humanity.  Throughout many scenes of the movie it shows how it takes over the minds of many and  they control the host to make the loved ones be just like them so they make them eat it by force; this is seen through Jason’s household in the beginning of the movie.  This movie definitely shows that this is a very dangerous product mainly because it has a mind of its own and it can move from host to host in the matter of minutes once it is done with its previous host.  Just like in one of the last scenes when “Chocolate Chip Charlie” was talking about how the Stuff transfers out of the body, he claims that it leaves through the opening of the mouth in a large goop form. The stuff also leaves the carcass since it is considered dead and useless to it already, 

                It is also very interesting how the FDA does things in this movie, in terms of getting products approved.  As said before the FDA does look at products but it was mainly with things such as drugs or things that have a very complex formula.  However with things such as sweets or desserts they apparently just approve it right away since it shouldn’t have any dangerous substances or materials that would make it addictive.  Of course the FDA today doesn’t do that but I was surprised to hear the words from him even though I know it is just a movie but im sure it represented the FDA at the time.  In the movie I guess it was a mistake that this backfired on them since according to the movie, “The officials who approved it all died or resigned;” proving that this was due to the stuff killing off the officials after they approved it so no one can get to the truth.

                It is also interesting how they advertised this, of course the company had no idea that they were selling off dangerous products but they were using seductive women in very sensual swimsuits eating the stuff.  Of course this advertisement aims towards the demographic that is trying to get fit with the convenient caloric count that is in the stuff.  At that time I’m sure it was also impressive to see advertisements with such color and graphics so many people would be easily impressed with it.  Throughout the movie I saw many advertisements that was constantly showing off the product.  Especially when an older looking woman decided that she would rather eat the stuff then eat normal food like steak that was already in front of her.  There are also many small things like many people in the back just holding the cups.  Advertisements that just pop out are naturally attractive to the people and that’s what makes them buy a certain product.  Unfortunately that is still the case for today, as long as they see it on TV then they will buy it, also when one person buys it , all the other people will want it.

                The stuff  is a great movie that showed how bad the FDA was especially their ignorance.  It shows how they would care about releasing a product that could be potentially dangerous just because they think of it as an easy way to approve of a product.

Junniper tree

Very good folktale that shows how karma goes around.  This is especially in the case of the mother who deliberately killed her step son just because she was jealous.  The act was more vulgar when she decided to feed the son to his own father who was lied to.  These vulgar acts eventually lead to the mother being killed and the family forgetting about her entire existence. 

unit one

Kevin Lim

Leah Benedict English 201

2/9/12

                                                Differences from time periods and places

            With her roots directly coming from Taiwan, my mother moved to the United States when she was just 10 years old.  When she was a child her parents forced her to move due to their ambition to attain the American dream and become successful.  This had a toll on my mother as well though since she didn’t want to leave.  When I was a child she would always spout out the random facts about the food that she had back home and how it was so different from the food here.  However, being the child that I was I never took the time to listen or to even care.  This project gave me the opportunity to learn about my family’s past and culture and the types of foods that they used to eat on a daily basis.  I learned this with the online interview with my mother. 

            Throughout the interview my mother named all these kinds of foods that I have never even heard of.  Some of these foods were rice porridge, and many different kinds of soups.  There were also many common foods that I knew like fried rice dumplings and eggrolls.  However, the thing that really interested me was how they made their food.  She told me that ll of the ingredients used is all fresh with hardly any preservatives.  This shocked me because that would have to mean that the products must have a very short shelf life.  My mother confirmed this, and she also said that it was more “economical this way.  This process lets us not waste the food that we eat and also lets us appreciate the money used to get the food, the people who grew the food, and thank the animals which gave us our fill for the meal.”  This was the life that my mother had and she told me that it was one of the happiest times of her life. 

            However, her father suddenly decided to move to the states so being the family they must follow along.  My mother saw that after she had arrived in the states, she noticed the differences in how food is transported is already really different but also how they store the food was very foreign to her as well.  She saw vegetables like potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes were being sold in plastic bags and being sold in large quantities.  This was a real shock to her at first because she was thinking to herself how her family can finish that many pieces of food in a few days.  This shocked her until her mother told her that there many kinds of chemicals that can keep the food edible for a very long time.  At first my other was fascinated by this but that was until she tasted the food that her mother made.  She noticed that there was a different taste to it; there was an excess taste.  She tasted a sort of salty taste that wasn’t in the food before.  So she thought to herself that it was probably the ingredients since the way that her mother prepared the food hasn’t changed at all. 

            My mother also didn’t like how there were so many fast food restaurants that were open.  Her first meal in the states was actually in a fast food restaurant in the airport.  This disgusted her because she didn’t even like the taste of it at all.  She thought that the burger was “a softened hockey puck.” She tasted all kinds of salts which made the food itself taste good but she knew that the ingredients origins were not the same as it was back in Taiwan.  Even though she had these kinds of opinions she knew that there was nothing she could do about it.  She had to live a new life where food is not as fresh as it was and the way it is prepared can also be done in the matter of minutes due to technological advances.

            After a while of staying in the states my Grandfather’s business of selling jewelry and also his other business of owning a shoestore was skyrocketing and he playing the stock market also gave them a really good income.  He first bought a black and white TV so his family can get some entertainment.  This however led to my grandma watching a lot of cooking shows to improve her cooking skills and to expand her variety of what to make every night.  My grandma started to mimic the techniques being shown and started making more Americanized meals.  One time the children were so shocked not to see rice on the table but steak that was made medium rare and it was so tender that it melted in their mouths.  After the meal my grandmother asked what for the children’s thoughts about the food.  They said it was great but it still tasted like there were preservatives and they wouldn’t want to eat Americanized food every day.  My grandfather made a proposal to go buy organic foods; even if it’s more expensive.  He told them that even if the food is more expensive it has “no preservatives so it’s basically like the food back home.”  This also proved that Pollan has a point because my grandma was able to learn some new techniques just by watching and she was able to “expand her horizons.”

            The family decided to try the organic foods the next time they went to the market.  They picked up many kinds of vegetables.  They were glad that they weren’t sold in bulk like the other foods so they don’t have to waste as much and picked up some organic meat as well like fish and chicken.  They decided as soon as they got home that they would make their most favorite meal which was fried fish with corn sauce all over rice.  Back in Taiwan this was considered fast food but it takes a very long time to make.  The process of peeling the corn instead of opening a can to get the food was very refreshing to them.  It reminded them of the good times back home and the quality time spent on cooking.  After my grandfather came back from work they decided to have a nice family dinner.

            However my experiences with food have always been about how fast I can get my food and get on with my other activities.  I would always not even eat breakfast in the morning and just go to school because I overslept.  I guess things have definitely changed over the past 20 years since my mom came over from Taiwan.

notes on indiana jones clip

Snake surprise?

-eating snakes raw without cooking and

-eating bugs

-delicacy?

-eyeball soup?

-chilled monkey brains?

-uses the food as a more comedic tone to lighten up the already serious mood of the scene.

-of course would sympathize with the foreigners because they have not seen these kinds of “foods” before and for all they know it could have been poison.