Stop the Insanity – Find Susan Powter
đź“Ť Credits
| Director | Directed by Luke Korem |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Jamie Lee Curtis, along with John Redmann, Celia Aniskovich, Chad Hines, and Michiel Thomas. |
| Cinematography | Michiel Thomas. |
Stop the Insanity — Finding Susan Powter revisits one of the most recognizable and energetic cultural figures of the early 1990s, a woman who built an empire around straight talk, personal transformation, and an unforgettable rallying cry: “Stop the Insanity!” Many of us watched her shows, repeated her lines, and bought her books. She wasn’t just a personality — she shaped a moment in wellness culture.
Like many people, I hadn’t heard her name in years. Ironically, about a month before this documentary crossed my radar, I looked her up while researching alternative weight-loss methods. I remembered reading Stop the Insanity! years ago and wondered whether her message had evolved into something new — something adapted for today’s audience.
What surprised me was how little information existed. There weren’t any No new interviews.
or recent appearances. It was like she had vanished.
In my mind, I could picture her in a Los Angeles studio — a younger, sharper version of Jane Fonda in her prime, commanding a completely different audience and motivating people to get up and move in her own unapologetic way. Discovering instead that she had fallen so completely off the media map was shocking. That kind of disappearance says a lot about the industry and how quickly it moves on, especially from women who build a platform by being unmistakably themselves.
The official film poster
This documentary steps into that silence. Through rare archival footage, intimate interviews, and Susan’s present-day reflections, Stop the Insanity — Finding Susan Powter explores the rise, disappearance, and return of a woman who disrupted traditional wellness narratives long before social media existed. It’s an honest look at identity, power, reinvention, and the cost of fame.
Director Luke Korem doesn’t mythologize her. He gives her room to speak clearly about what happened — the good, the difficult, and the parts no one saw. For viewers who lived through her era, the film reconnects a missing piece of cultural memory. For younger audiences, it introduces a woman whose impact predated today’s wellness and fitness influencers by decades.
Why It Matters
Susan Powter wasn’t a trend; she was an interruption. She questioned the messages people were being sold about health, weight, and empowerment, and she did it in a way that was direct, memorable, and accessible. She made people feel seen. Her disappearance left a cultural gap, and this film finally fills it.
It also serves as a reminder of how quickly culture can celebrate a figure, extract their value, and move on — especially when that figure doesn’t conform to what the industry wants.
For Documentary Lovers
This film sits at the intersection of cultural memory, personal narrative, and investigative storytelling.
Reel Doc Fans is proud to feature Stop The Insanity — Finding Susan Powter as a film that not only revisits a pivotal figure in wellness history but also challenges audiences to rethink how we honor — and forget — the women who shaped entire conversations.
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Note, there is a link to her book. Get her original book before it sells out. You purchases help fun this website through affiliate partnerships.Â
Her best selling book, was released in 1983.
