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Why
are Americans so fat? This is the question that Morgan Spurlock
wanted to answer. He set out to interview experts in 20 US
cities, including Houston - the "Fattest City" in
America - whilst at the same time conducting his own personal
experiment... to eat nothing but McDonald's for 30 days straight...
Super
Size Me is
a movie that will make you examine your way of life. Sure
everyone loves fast food of one kind or another, but then
it has been engineered to taste good. The companies claim
that as part of a well balanced diet, fast food is good for
you. So, what would happen if we just consumed fast food?
The results are rather surprising.
Creator/director/star
Morgan Spurlock gave himself four rules that he had to follow
over his 30 day experiment. He could only eat what was available
over the counter (water included); he wasn't allowed to 'Super
Size' his meal unless staff gave him that option when ordering;
he had to eat every item on the menu at least once; and he
had to eat three square meals a day - breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
This
documentary is funny, thought provoking, but more importantly
it is very disturbing. The UK, thankfully, doesn't yet have
the same size meals as McDonald's in the US. Our large meal
is the same as the US's medium. It is only a matter of time
before that changes though. Thankfully we'll never get to
see the Super Size meal as McDonald's withdrew that option
six months after this film was released.
I
say "thankfully" as no one person should be allowed
to consume the amount of fries and soft drink (or milkshake)
that came with a Super Size meal - I'm sure that a family
of four could have easily shared the fries and drink.
Although
it could be argued that McDonald's decision to withdrawn the
Super Size meals in America has more to do with this movie's
popularity than out of any concern for the public's health
at large (oops! No pun intended), the fast food chain argues
differently.
I
was amazed (as was Spurlock) to discover that over the course
of this experiment he consumed 30lb of sugar (a pound a day)
and 12lb of fat. No wonder then that he gained weight as quickly
as he did (almost a stone in the first week alone).
The
three doctors that Spurlock sought to oversee this experiment
were also surprised by the results - with one telling him
that he should stop ten days before the end, as he was in
serious danger of permanently damaging his liver.
Critics
may argue that, as Spurlock was an active individual before
this experiment, the fact that he tried to limit his exercise
(walking) as much as possible could have been a major contributing
factor to his rapid weight gain, as well as his depression
and general state of mind. But you have to remember that he
was trying to show in one month how some people have been
living for years - eating crap and taking no exercise.
This
documentary also examines the way that school dinners are
being changed in the US (something that has started to happen
over here in the UK too) in recent years. It is now acceptable
for the food industry to provide financing for schools in
exchange for letting these manufacturers provide school canteens
with their food. Vending machines selling carbonated drinks
packed with sugar are also becoming more common place. And
now more and more children are becoming over weight. There
are also more children getting diabetes at a young age than
ever before. Are these just coincidences? All the evidence
suggests not.
While
documentaries like Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11
and Bowling for Columbine are hard hitting, Moore's
style of documentary making is becoming a little tiresome
- even though I love his work. He interviews smugly, and is
totally prepared before he goes into an interview - ready
to attack, not listen. Not only that, but the editing of Moore's
films has also come under fire. Spurlock's style is a lot
more open. He started this experiment with a question and
set out to find the answer (whereas Moore has the answer and
goes about interviewing people to prove his point). When Spurlock's
interviewees trip themselves up (and they do with hilarious
results) there is no "look at me! Aren't I clever"
Moore-style comments from Spurlock. He interviews them, and
then checks out what they have said to see if it's true.
This
release has an incredible amount of extras. One of the deleted
scenes that I felt really should have stayed in the movie
(it was only 22 seconds in length) was the amount of rubbish
he generated solely from his McDonald's meals over the 30
days - 13 bags. And when you multiply his daily amount by
46 million (the amount of people that McDonald's feed each
day) there would be enough rubbish to fill the Empire State
Building every day. While you could argue that not all 46
million people have three McDonald's meals a day, this still
illustrated that the amount of rubbish generated is out of
control.
Other
extras include: audio commentary by Spurlock and his girlfriend
(a vegan chef); a UK exclusive interview with the director;
a number of other interviews with people who either were included
in the movie or had their scenes cut - including Eric Schlosser
who wrote Fast Food Nation; and a number of (repetitive)
trailers and TV spots. But, possibly the funniest (and most
worrying extra) sees several food items (mostly from McDonald's)
left to decay over a period of weeks. What's really scary
is that the French fries don't decay at all - and we put this
crap in our stomachs?
This
is one documentary that everyone should watch. It's already
converted me and my family - we have vowed never to visit
McDonald's, KFC or Burger King ever again.
 
Darren
Rea
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