Interview: Chicago Filmmaker Darryl Roberts of ‘America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments’

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CHICAGO – Darryl Roberts is a man on a mission. In 2007, he made a documentary called “America the Beautiful,’ in which he explored the beauty industry in this country, and its effect on perceptions. In his new film “America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments” he takes on the weight loss obsession and the industries associated with it.

Roberts uses a participation style in his documentaries, much like Michael Moore. In his latest effort, he is even more evident, as he chronicles his health concerns in dealing with his own weight. He also uses some new facts, surprising interviews and exposure of statistics that are counter to the general awareness of obesity and weight issues, both on the medical and commerce side.

Darryl Roberts Contemplates Weight Issues in ‘America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments’ Photo credit: Harley Boys Entertainment

Darryl Roberts was featured on HollywoodChicago.com in 2008 with the first film, and graciously sat down again to be interviewed for his latest documentary.

HollywoodChicago: I want to start with a dichotomy in your film. It is basically a plea to accept people as they are, but in your own adventure to improve your health through better habits and weight loss you succeed on doing that improvement. Isn’t that sending a bit of a mixed message?

Darryl Roberts: Absolutely, I do say we should accept people the way they are, and we should accept ourselves as we are. Where the non-acceptance comes from the concept that in order to be healthy you have to be thinner. I went on some diets, because health advice is something you believe from a doctor. When the doctor in the film told me I had high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation, and prescribed pills that caused erectile dysfunction, I wasn’t doing that.

So I did go on these diets, but the thing is, they didn’t work. I’d lose weight, gain it back, that’s what America does, they’re on a yo-yo cycle. It wasn’t until I started eating more in moderation and started exercising, is when I became healthy. I didn’t lose that much weight, but I was engaging in a healthy lifestyle behavior. It isn’t dieting, but you will become healthier if you follow it. That’s the message.

HollywoodChicago: You had the opportunity to confront a government official regarding the nature of corn sweeteners in the American diet. Do you believe, in the end, that the forces of government will put lobbyist money and association threats over the health of the American public?

Roberts: They’ve done it, so absolutely, they’ve put lobbyists and corporations over the health of the American public. There is a popular study, which anybody can look up, where there is a correlation between using high fructose corn syrup in products and weight gain. What the government will tell you is that people are sedentary and they eat too much bad food. Well, they helped to make the food bad. In my opinion, capitalism is fine when the average person has access to success, but it doesn’t work when big business will put profits before health. Does the government exist to protect us, or big business? I think it’s business.

Darryl Roberts Visits the Doctor in ‘America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments’ Photo credit: Harley Boys Entertainment

HollywoodChicago: Where do you think the Body Mass Index Scale has to go to be more fair? Why isn’t the medical community speaking out against it, considering they are on the front lines of the standard?

Roberts: I think the reason that the medical community is not speaking out against BMI because it works to their benefit. For one thing, doctors have about two hours of nutrition courses during their medical training, so they don’t know a lot about food. So they’ll prescribe medicine for you to lose weight, or to get weight-related illnesses under control. They are also paid fees in association with certain drugs, so they make a lot of money being in business with the pharmaceutical industry. Plus BMI works for them because of patient turnover. If a doctor really digs into a person’s health, it might take one or two hours, which lessens the opportunity to see multiple patients per day. In a short time, they can tell you your BMI is 29, give you pills and send you on your way.

HollywoodChicago: Why do you think America keeps getting fatter, while at the same time having the most access to information, dieting plans and healthier foods?

Roberts: I believe we can go back the high fructose corn syrup problem, which also allowed for portion sizes to get bigger, because the ingredients were cheaper. And we do have a problem with portion sizes, because despite the information you said we have access to, we don’t have access to the key information. Key information would be like it takes 20 minutes for the brain to register that you are full. Eating food fast means 20 minutes later you are stuffed. You’re never supposed to be stuffed. Eating slowly allows that 20 minutes later you’re satisfied, and half the food will still be on your plate. That’s called intuitive eating.

HollywoodChicago: Do you think we have an obesity myth, as Paul Campos asserts in his book and your film, or are we looking for ways to turn away from the problems?

Roberts: I believe we don’t have an obesity problem in America, because when you say obesity it’s defined by the Body Mass Index Scale. What I think we may have in America is a health problem, but not a weight problem. Treat the health problems of a heavier person the same way you treat a thin person with same health issues.

HollywoodChicago: In your opinion, what responsibility does the dieting industry and commerce have to their customers, the American public? What truth are they not telling?

Roberts: This is a utopian response, but their responsibility should be to put out disclaimers that diets don’t work. In each commercial, these companies should be saying, “just so you know 95% of you will gain all of your weight back, plus more within a year.” In 1993, the diet industry had to adjust their manner of advertising because of lawsuits won by the Federal Trade Commission. In 1998, they lobbied the National Institute of Health to lower the BMI Scale, and gained 30 million people who were suddenly categorized as overweight. Now schools and doctors will send people to the diet industry based on that BMI number.

Darryl Roberts in Chicago, November 30, 2011 Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago: In your conclusions, can you say emphatically that food is the biggest drug problem in America, or is it the obsession with food? How do you think food is connected to the general American psyche?

Roberts: Food has become emotional comfort, because so many people are stressed out. Deepak Chopra said to me that 85% of Americans hate their jobs. His proof was heart attacks and strokes happen more often on Monday morning at 8am, a phenomenon tied to the fact that human beings are the only species that knows what day of the week it is. We have to de-stress ourselves.

HollywoodChicago: What was the backlash with the beauty and cosmetics industries after the first “America the Beautiful” documentary started gaining attention?

Roberts: The cosmetics industry did not want the message out there that they have ingredients in cosmetics here that have been banned in Europe, because it’s been linked to allergies and cancer. Through a chain of events, tried to prevent the movie from coming out. They were almost successful. If this were anybody else, they might have succeeded, but I just kept with it. The film finally found an audience, and over a million people saw it.

For this film, someone sent me an email they received from a dieting company, because they didn’t want the message that you could be healthy without losing weight. If enough people start believing that, then the whole dieting industry is down the tubes.

HollywoodChicago: Your next film will deal with sex, primarily the sexualization of children for advertising and commerce. What sparked this next move in the evolution of the series, and where primarily will you be focusing your targeted interviews?

Roberts: The reason I got the idea for the next film is basically a trilogy. The first film was beauty, this was health and the next is sex, so this will be my beauty, health and sex series. Young people being sexualized is a big problem in our society. I want to look at why 40 years ago our mindset was to protect our youth, and why that mindset has changed to exploitation. I don’t know the answer to it yet, but that’s what I’m looking for in my next film.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com