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Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

Name: Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
Director: Errol Morris
Released: 1997
Duration: 83 min

Representation Score

6.1/10

Good

1997

Director

Errol Morris

Runtime

83 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Errol Morris’s documentary is a formalist study of human obsession rather than a demographic survey. While it excels in cultural representation by deconstructing traditional authority and objective truth, it fails to provide meaningful visibility for diverse identities. The film's strength lies in its postmodernist approach to storytelling. By elevating the subjective perspectives of its subjects, it challenges the standard, authoritative documentary voice. However, the work is notably narrow in its demographic scope. It relies heavily on a homogeneous cast of male subjects, leaving little room for LGBTQ+, racial, or gender diversity.

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Category Breakdown

Does Fast, Cheap & Out of Control have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film does not explicitly depict LGBTQ+ identities or stories. The focus is on individual obsessions rather than sexual orientation or gender identity.

How does Fast, Cheap & Out of Control portray gender?

Fair

The story mainly centers on male subjects and their obsessions. It lacks significant female influence or challenges to traditional male roles.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Fast, Cheap & Out of Control?

Limited

The film does not feature a diverse or non-Anglo-Saxon majority cast. The subjects reflect a relatively homogeneous demographic typical of the subcultures being studied.

How does Fast, Cheap & Out of Control represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film excels by prioritizing situational ethics and the subjectivity of truth. It disrupts traditional moralizing roles by presenting the self-justifying logic of its subjects.

Does Fast, Cheap & Out of Control include disability representation?

Fair

The film explores intense, obsessive-compulsive fixations without framing them as disabilities for mockery. However, it lacks explicit evidence of casting individuals with lived disabilities.

Present on Screen

The film successfully dismantles the concept of objective truth through a sophisticated, postmodernist narrative lens.
It offers a nuanced look at the subjective logic of its subjects, avoiding traditional moralizing.
The documentary provides a deep, psychological study of individual obsessions.

Limited or Absent

The film lacks significant representation of female influence or diverse gender identities.
There is a notable absence of racial and ethnic diversity among the featured subjects.
The narrative does not include explicit depictions of LGBTQ+ identities or experiences.

Official Synopsis

Errol Morris’s Fast, Cheap & Out of Control interweaves the stories of four men, each driven to create eccentric worlds from their unique obsessions, all of which involve animals. There’s a lion tamer who shares his theories on the mental processes of wild animals; a topiary gardener who has devoted a lifetime to shaping bears and giraffes out of hedges and trees; a man fascinated with hairless mole rats; and an MIT scientist who has designed complex, autonomous robots that can crawl like bugs.

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