America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments on AllMovie

Filmmaker Darryl Roberts (The Perfect Model) follows up his 2008 documentary America the Beautiful with this thought-provoking sequel exploring the prospect that being overweight and healthy are not mutually exclusive. Though eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have traditionally been viewed as women's issues, men are increasingly succumbing to the pressure to be fit and trim as well thanks to magazine models sporting six-pack abs and perfectly sculpted muscles. Could it be that the people we trust most when it comes to health issues - namely doctors, the government and educators - are exacerbating our insecurities about body image instead of giving us a realistic image of what it means to healthy for each individual? And is the BMI scale truly a reliable way to determine what our proper weight should be? Join Roberts as he explores the desperate measures that men and women take in their attempts to maintain a healthy weight, and asks whether it's really all worth it, or just a massive scheme to profit from the unrealistic expectations hoisted upon us by the youth-obsessed beauty industry.