Slumdog Millionaire, Change4Life and Revels.

I think there must be something wrong with me.  Now I think about it I am sure there are plenty of things that are wrong with me, and I am very lucky to have people all around who are only to happy to tell me how wrong I am.

Despite all my obvious faults, it’s a movie that is the source of my failings this time. Over the weekend, I went to see Slumdog Millionaire having bought the requisite bag of Revels, some green tea and a bottle of water.Despite winning Golden Globes, I felt that the movie was ordinary, and even using every cinematic trick there was, it managed to remain flat and uninteresting whilst the love interest was unconvincing and dull. Not even the orange Revels could distract me from noticing that the hero was mostly unmoved by winning a life-changing amount of money.

The message of the movie wasn’t lost on me ( love is more important than money, that the world of popular culture is often corrupt and that holding on to one’s dignity is more important than personal gain ) but I don’t think that the messages were delivered with the subtlety that would have suited. Instead, the movie bashed you on the head with its moral take on the story and bullied you into feeling things.

When the director seems to think that the audience are not bright enough for gentle and clever messages about life, but instead need them pointed out with neon signs, then the movie loses some integrity. You aren’t stupid, you don’t need these things spelt out for you just in case you miss them. Do you?

I was struck by the same approach in the new Change4lfe advertisements that are running on television and in newspapers. Why do we need to have health messages delivered in the form of animation? Is it because the message about healthy eating isn’t getting through to those that need it the most?  Take a look at the website, http://www.nhs.uk/change4life and you will see that the message is excellent, and there is nothing controversial or ground-breaking about what is needed, but like Slumdog, I am questioning the delivery.

If you do a web search, Change4life, you will see that in the ten days since its inception, the campaign has attracted some harsh comments from members of the community who feel that their needs have been overlooked. In addition, the British Heart Foundation have called for food manufacturers to change the way they advertise food ( In fact the BHF said “It’s time for the government to show that it truly has the stomach to lead the fight against obesity” displaying the same level of subtlety as Slumdog ).

The Change4Life campaign is laudable, and the Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo says that “We are trying to create a lifestyle revolution on a huge scale – something which no Government has attempted before”. Multinational brands are working within the campaign including Cadbury, Kellogg’s, Kraft and PepsiCo are all taking part alongside major supermarkets Asda, Tesco and The Co-operative Group and people will be able to call a dedicated helpline and speak to specially-trained advisors for advice on exercise, nutrition and support services. Pretty good stuff then – well supported and excellent partners, who could ask for more?

Despite my predilection for Revels, I am happy to support the Change4Life campaign, but do wish that the delivery message had been a little more subltle.