Can a movie change an industry?

what does this have to do with hair transplants?

"Even the movie most know Morgan Spurlock for “Super Size Me” has done little to diminish sales at McDonalds or change their methods..."

Actually, six weeks after the release of this movie McDonald's ceased to offer a Super Size option. This was a big deal because "super sizing" reflects the "bigger is better" mentality of American culture and he was showing how, in the case of fast food, this is a dangerous view. Morgan Spurling gained 20lbs. and supposedly had liver damage from eating McDonald's Super Size meals for a month straight. Whether or not this was a direct result of his McDonald's only diet for one month is anyone's guess (of course it might be reasonable to assume so) but regardless you can't say that his film had no impact. It was not his intention to affect their sales overall but rather to answer the question of "what if" and to subsequently shine the spotlight on our abhorrent dietary habits as a culture. I say good for him!

In 1976 there was a Documentary named "Harlan" that put the spotlight on coal miners in Kentucky. It was a big deal because the documentary won an Oscar and the exposure caused changes in the mining industry to improve workers conditions.

In 2006 there was a film, not a documentary, titled "Blood Diamond". The result of this film supposedly had a big impact on the diamond trade and the number of blood diamonds that make it to jewelry stores is supposedly far less because of it. I could not stand Leo's acting in it (with such a horrible accent) but I rarely tolerate him to begin with.

An odd one is the 2008 movie Rambo. This movie brought to light some of the atrocities committed by the Burmese government. I know something about this as one of my best friends fought alongside the Shan State rebels in Burma and he's told me lots of stories about the conflict there. Rambo was banned in Burma but bootleg copies have been circulated and one of the quotes from the movie is one of the battle cries of the rebels - "Live for nothing, die for something!" The plight of the Burmese gained quite a bit of attention because of this movie.

In 1984 there was a little film called Hotel Rwanda based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina. He single handedly saved over 1000 Tutsi tribes people while the Hutus were decimating anything that moved that wasn't Hutu...with machetes. I remember hearing about this when I was a kid and it stuck with me ever since. This movie was the defining moment for exposure of atrocities in Africa and set the stage for exposing other atrocities such as Darfur.

The list goes on...

So yes, a movie can change an industry or at the very least be a part of the motivation for change but the problem with your question is that the question is not relevant with regards to your point. Spex mentioned more than once that the film is not about hair restoration and that hair restoration might not even get much exposure, if it does at all. The movie is about men's grooming habits and the extremes that men go to nowadays to look good. Furthermore, this is not a "top down" production as it is not being made by someone in the hair restoration field. It is made by an unbiased third party, just like the documentaries I mentioned above.

What I think you may fail to see is that at the very least, if Dr. Feller is highlighted for even a moment, is that this will be one of the very few moments I can recall, if any for that matter, that a truly reputable hair surgeon is referenced in any way in a public medium. All too often I see TV shows or newscasts go to a doc that may advertise a lot but has no real street cred when it comes to techniques or results and more and more guys will sign up just because of this. Think of some of the recent UK celebrities that came out about hair restoration. Some doctors that are known on the forums to be questionable at best are now booked solid for months because they did semi-acceptable work on a celeb that has gone public.

I find it difficult to understand why you would have anything less than an encouraging viewpoint on this much less start a thread as a counter point. If they interviewed Carlos Puig, I could see your point, but this is Dr. Feller. Come on.

2nd vid is funny were they take the piss out of the bald guy.....

It's a Comedy, get over it Topcat.

Great Post Joe.

The industry needs fundamental change I agree entirely.

Until there is more regulation and law inforced globally, I cannot see anything changing sadly.

I think Spencer Kobren himself said from memory that he thought there were only 50 doctors out of 1500 in America that perform good work and that he would be willing to recommend.( Around 3&#37

I only yesterday listened to a forum members hair transplant story on the bald truth (you probably know who he is from 2008) where he went to Norton twice, then DHI, then in the end had his repaired by Ron Shapiro.

Myself as well as countless others were victims of the notorious Thomas Norton and Jeremy Isherwood and they are just ONE clinic out of thousands.



This article is within last couple of weeks.

Incredibly, the law currently allows any doctor to carry out cosmetic surgery.
'More than ever, it is time to get rid of the cowboys,' said one senior surgeon last night.

What makes it worse is this is in the Uk, what about other less advanced, developed countries around the world, I am sure it is even more sinister.

I think what Spex is doing is great for the industry.

He helps a lot of people with a mission to enable people get good hair transplants performed by good,ethical doctors and not let them fall victim like he did whether this is from the doctors he represents or the other good doctors that are out there.

He even gives a long list of surgeons himself in his Maximum hair Minimum loss project. I have spoke to him personally and his advice is informative, honest and very unbias.

The more exposure it gets that better,as we need to make more potential hair transplant patients aware of what this industry is like and what can be achieved by a good surgeon.

Maybe someone might see the film who does have the power to make big changes,you never know.

Arrrrhhh Joe, YOU get it. Thanks


The Mansome film is a comedy look at the world of Male Grooming GENERALLY along with certain celebrities and their habits as mentioned previously...

We were asked if we wanted to help with the production as i know Morgan Spurlock and add input regarding HT's.

I don't think we are even in it now as after speaking with Morgan and understanding ourselves more about the production felt it might not even be appropriate and in context.

Bottom line - It was a bit of FUN! Relax guys

Joe

To be fair , below is what was quoted ..


Quote .."Spex mentioned more than once that the film is not about hair restoration and that hair restoration might not even get much exposure, if it does at all."

This is what was posted quote ...

"Morgan was truly fascinated by HT's and mine in particular along with the lengths we hair loss suffers go to to stop, conceal and regrow our hair in order to regain our confidence, identity and self esteem and he found it pretty awesome that HT's could in fact look so natural after rummaging through mine on more than one occasion. I also hooked him up with a couple of other patients in London. He is known to the world as a harsh critic, yet he was genuinely blown away by the hair transplants disclosed to him."


Contrary ?? I can understand anyone thinking that the film does indeed feature hairtransplants from the information provided and the disclosure that the film crew spent an entire day at Feller medical


Re your comment about Dr Feller being highlighted for a brief moment I remember Dr Rassman being presented on a stage in his white NHI Drs coat for an American version of extreme makeover , he is a reputable surgeon isnt he ?? but did this help in any way ? either way as they say " there is no bad publicity " and im sure Mr Spurlock would be happy with the early attention his documentary is getting , for me im going to wait and see

And the hits just keep on coming....

Morgan was genuinely interested in HT's and the lengths we go to as hair loss sufferers.

Why is it contrary......?

Doesn't mean that all the filming we did and info provided to him is going to be used based on the objective of the movie. He has filmed various things to do with hair and hair loss.

See my original quote too :


I dont understand why this has caused such an issue with some...

Spex I commented on the thoughts I have been reading and hearing about the possible affect the movie can have on the HT industry and not on the movie itself. Several believe it could create a profound change in the way people perceive hair transplantation and the way business is done. If you look at my posting history I have always posted for the most part in response to statements I disagree with and give my point of view. Basically I am telling that person you are full of shit and you are wrong and here is why I believe that I am right. But since this is all in written format one loses the subtle nuance of it all being friendly in nature and hardly anything to do with hate. I write the way I speak as I really don’t feel the need to take the time to try and impress anyone here by using an extensive vocabulary or trying to be too polite. I agree but also disagree with many of my friends in regards to world politics and we get into some very heated debates but we always have a good laugh and we always look forward to doing it again. Sometimes they get me to think a little harder and vice versa.

Jotronic I appreciate you listing those titles but they all show the negative side of each industry which forces the change. Yes, I would agree a negative documentary might help change the industry but more often than not it is completely forgotten and that is why it’s not a good vehicle for change. I have even thought to myself that a segment on a daytime talk type show would be beneficial. Get all these repair patients out there to show what happened to them and why. Talk about what goes on in the forums and how a good part of the industry works. But to be honest there are too many important issues going on in the world and this bizarre world of hair transplantation might not be of enough interest to most. I think most people would be shocked to even know this little world exists and how this whole forum thing operates. Can you imagine this going on in any other field of medicine?

As I wrote I believe it is only the patients that can help change this industry. There are very few clinics that are doing the right thing and hopefully they will set the trend but we both know that control of information and what people believe will determine what happens. The majority on the forums are completely clueless to what is going on here and I’m not trying to insult them. But change can happen over time. The biggest road block I see is that most men who have been taken advantage of by this industry are embarrassed and ashamed. So you will not hear from them and this works in the industry’s favor.

Can the industry change itself, it’s not completely impossible. A good example would be CarMax. People eventually got tired of constantly getting screwed over by some scumbag car sales man. So CarMax came along and said we have a different idea. This is the price this is what you are getting and the salesman is there to give you top notch customer service. I have been to CarMax with a friend that needed to sell her car. They are a class act and I wish I could say the same for the HT industry as a whole but I can’t. They simply do not understand the concept of honesty and integrity being a good long term business strategy. But for the most part the auto industry has been forced to change because now they have to in order to compete. Same could happen in HT although it would be a little bit harder. I mean really how many doctors have the natural artistic ability along with being able to pick up the skill very easily. I have been around for quite some time and the answer is less than a handful.

I do appreciate that this forum does not delete civil debate, it’s a good thing when compared to some of the other forums where the information is massaged to the benefit of the sponsors. But it is funny in a way to watch many just eat the shit up and not realize what is going on.

Regardless of if McDonalds dropped the super size strategy, sales are as brisk as ever. Because people believe the marketing and what most do not realize is they really need to start understanding the marketing before making any decisions. And I will correct my own statement here. It’s not that they believe, it’s that they keep seeing the same message over and over and that message changes their behavior and choices regardless if they believe otherwise.

There are many things I don’t understand about the way this industry does business. One would be that other list with the guy who helps judge you as a clinic. A person that would post his homemade internet porn to the web. How do you guys justify paying someone with such poor judgment to judge you. I’m not trying to be a prick here but honestly can you imagine a doctor in any other field doing something like this? It tells me that the clinics on that list will do anything for business so what does that say about the clinic. Those reputable in business would stay far away from someone like this as their reputation is worth much more than any extra business.

Below is why its contrary ...

" Well only a few weeks ago Morgan called me up to discuss ' The Mansome Movie ' further as he wanted to try feature Hair transplants within it as he and his production team felt it appropriate for the movie alongside other relevant segments and suggested an entire piece could well be dedicated to HT's potentially if we were willing to help him."

( I think a full day at Feller medical would be seen as the help )

Then Joes quote

"Spex mentioned more than once that the film is not about hair restoration and that hair restoration might not even get much exposure"

I hope that clarifies my post

There is an unnecessary habit forming here , one of ` defensiveness ` .. im not having a go at anyone inparticular , rather, just clarifying a few points

I hope the film is helpful to all

ej

Thanks for clarifying Ejj, i can see why you would think that and want to pinpoint exactly what was said by me in order to make me accountable i suppose. I was simply relaying the chain of events to date as it happened and how it happened.

Truth is its all very much out of our hands however we did our very best and went out our way to great extent to try help and make this happen. We didnt ask to be part of it, we were asked. As it transpires after everything they might well not be using any of our footage anyway for various reasons so that will certainly make some happy and apologies for any confusion created on my behalf even though i tried my best to explain it all as it happened. I enjoyed the experience and simply wanted to share it.

Jotronic and Spex were both victims of the industry and definitely embarrassed and ashamed.

Testimony to them both for turning such negative experiences into such positive ones for us all to see, inspire and learn from. They both now help and educate many.

These repair patients both publicly speak on radio, TV, Films, even written books and have shown their faces to the world in order to help get heard regardless of the fact they work in the industry.

These two have helped countless guys including myself and possibly tens of thousands between them very honourably and ethically.

Have their actions and time served helping so many worked in the dark underground industries favour?

Have these guys not tried to get heard and make a positive change in the industry and help educate patients?

Respect should be given to these guys as much as it pains you to do so, who actually have created change, so much change.

I always find it interesting that the posters with the loudest voices and the cutting and snippy remarks don't show their faces and only use their keyboards to hide behind.

I was asked to clarify my post as to why i thought the thread was somewhat contradictory , so thats what i did , the only person responsible or accountable for the film, as this is what this thread is about, is the director .

Joetronic makes some good points about the positive effects of film and documentary, however unfortunatly, there is a negative side also ,

If you were to look at the film natural born killers and the amount of copy cat crimes this produced it is extremely disturbing , my point is that someones decision ` may ` be influenced by what they see , take a look at the flak the fashion industry is currently recieving due to the amount of young girls watching television programmes like ` make me a supermodel ` ` americas next top model ` a models death that of 24 year old Carolina Reston who weighed just 88 pounds was due to an eating disorder , due to the death of a Model in Madrid last year the city banned fashion designers using underweight models, some posters across various forums have stated they feel ` suicidal `...... , apparantly according to psychologists emotional stress is a trigger , and i believe based upon my own experience of hairloss , this statement to be correct .

So if i see a trailer of a guy with a plastic wrap around his bald head i can only assume that this is yet another piss take out of hair loss sufferers ,

Will the film help or not ? we have to wait and see

Has Spex`s or Joetronic`s integrity and proffesionalism been called into question .... No ... not once , has the fact that they both have helped many patients ( myself included ) been questioned ... no ,
this is an open thread, open to all opinions

I am suprised at the defensive stance taken by some , this is totally unnecessary and nothing more than an attempt to either discredit, or portray either an individual, or a group, of using a pattern of poor, or antagonistic behaviour, or accusatory posting style, across this thread and others , this simply does not exist

ejj

I don't think anyone needs to be overly defended or berated any further. It's a great little piece and many of us (like me) would be interested in seeing the final product. Hair loss and transplantation are still considered a niche area in terms of the mainstream perspective so small modest goals in terms of exposure should be the aim. I highly doubt any harm will come of this!

It could be far worse guys... We could have Michael Moore on the case banging his drum!!!... At least Morgan Spurlock hasn't reached his levels of self grandeur.!

Ejj,

Instead of quoting Spex or myself any further I think it is a good idea to settle what this film is about by quoting the film's homepage, www.mansomethemovie.com. The description below mentions nothing about hair restoration and plenty about men and grooming.

Topcat,

You're moving the goal posts regarding your original question. You asked if a movie can change an industry, I showed you numerous examples of such occurrences and corrected you about the "Super Size Me" documentary and the impact it had on McDonald's. Done and done.


Regardless, I think that any exposure of good work is good for the field and if even one person's awareness is raised because of it then that is a win and I find it difficult to understand how anyone can even question this.