The Game Changers is a documentary released in 2018 and running for 1 hour and 52 minutes. It was produced by James Cameron, directed by Louis Psihoyos, starring James Wilks, Lewis Hamilton, who are among the world’s most challenging, fastest, and strongest athletes. With the rising number of people adopting plant-based diets and becoming vegans, the film seeks to document how this explosion has penetrated the professional sports world.
The Oscar Award Winning Director, Louis, carefully and successfully mixes real-time and groundbreaking scientific discoveries with cinematic stories showing the changes and ultimate triumph of athletes. The film provides new information about a healthy diet, focusing on the life of James Wilks, who suffers an injury. During his recovery, he travels around the world seeking to understand the truth about nutrition and strength. The film also shows different athletes who have included plants in their meals and how this has made them stronger and healthier.
The Game Changers portrays some positive aspects: plants contain enough proteins to support growth and performance. Additionally, the documentary reveals that plants have adequate amino acids that can improve people’s health. I was also impressed by how the film included facts to show the character’s behavior. However, it still had some negativity, such as research bias, as it does not consider studies on animal-based diets. Furthermore, the claim that meat is healthy is contradictory since many people have developed health complications due to meat consumption. Another negativity in the documentary is that it does vilify animal-based products with no room for an argument. Therefore, one can note different affirmative and adverse aspects of the movie.
The film discusses how plants contain all the legumes needed in a body, with which I agree; nonetheless, it does not discuss the challenges that a vegan diet has. All the characters find it easy to switch diets which is not always entirely true. Despite taking a hard stance on people’s eating habits, The Game Changers has provided me with new knowledge about a vegan diet, prompting me to research more, which means that now I understand vegans better. This information will help treat patients, especially when encouraging them to make conscious decisions about their eating habits. The film has further revealed that a plant-based diet is not a passing trend but a movement (Psihoyos, 2019, 00:16:05 – 00:16:10). After its release, the discussion about diet has increased in many areas, and more studies have been conducted regarding eating patterns. This documentary has seen people switching to a vegan diet, and those not changing become more conscious of what they eat. Ultimately, this is the goal, to ensure that individuals are aware of how their diet affects their health and, in turn, encourage them to make healthier decisions.
Despite both the positive and negative opinions about the film, it has given me something to think about when purchasing groceries. I no longer have to feel the need to buy meat to acquire all the amino acids I require. In this case, I have learned that one can obtain them from plants. The documentary does support veganism, but this should not deter anyone from watching it. The film also introduces some compelling thoughts on the importance of maintaining and having a healthy diet. The various positive aspects of the film can help the audience learn how to avoid conditions such as obesity, which is steered by poor diet. In essence, The Game Changers is a movie that anyone willing to learn about a vegan diet can watch.
Reference
Psihoyos, L. (2019). The game changers full movie documentary [Film]. Oceanic Preservation Society.