4/5/2005: Views: Super Size Me
Super Size Me 2004, dir. Morgan Spurlock
You should see this DVD if:
· you ever eat at McDonald's
· you ever eat fast food
· you have kids or grandkids
· you will ever have kids or grandkids
· you have ever been on a diet
· you should be on a diet
· you ever think about what you eat
· you pay taxes
But, you argue, I already know what it's about
Yea, you probably had to be in a coma or lost in an Everquest or porn addiction for the past couple of years to not know that Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald's for a month and made a movie about it. But everyone knew the boat would sink in Titanic too.. there's more to it.
But, you remember, I think I saw it in a theater
The DVD extras are as good as the movie, possibly better
But, you whine, I don't like documentaries
Ok that's a legit reason to avoid seeing Super Size Me.. if nothing in the above list applies to you.
Spurlock presents a tremendous amount of information in this prize winning film - though robbed of the Oscar® - and much of it is technical and scary. But he's a pleasant & amusing guy, he isn't preachy, and he presents everything in an entertaining way - all the while chowing down on Big Macs and fries.
The movie isn't so much a direct attack on McDonald's or its food as it is a wake-up call about obesity in America, obesity in children, and a general lack of good nutrition and nutrition knowledge descending on our culture. Eating McDonald's for a month is just a cool way to keep our interest, which it does.
Spurlock gains a surprising amount of weight - over 24 pounds - from his month of McFastFood, and for such a relatively short time period, he has some alarming health issues crop up before the month's out. The team of health professionals overseeing his project can't explain some of them, and they all urge him to stop the madness. But Spurlock is there for us, and he keeps returning to the Golden Arches til the bitter end.
He does have some positive information for us too: a few school lunch programs that have banished fast and junk food successfully, in spite of the lost and needed fees the brands pay to be on campus; and the fact that the giant McDonald's Corporation reacted to this little documentary in a big way, by removing the "Super Size" menu option before the movie even opened as a result of the very bad (for them) pre-publicity. As recently as last week the momentum has continued as McDonald's unveiled its new Healthy Living Campaign. (Then again, they're also courting rap stars lately to plug their products..)
Traveling from McD's to McD's we meet Spurlock's girlfriend (a vegan chef), Jared the Subway guy, gym teachers, school cafeteria ladies, doctors, nutritionists, PR guys, an ice cream heir, some residents of America's fattest cities (Houston is #1), and lots of minimum wage counter help. We also meet Don Gorske, who's eaten Big Macs nearly every day since 1972 - usually at least two a day and often more. Gorske isn't exactly buff, but he has stayed fairly slim and doesn't seem to be suffering from any health problems as a result of his Guinness record-setting habit.. which is where the DVD extras come in.
The extras include audio commentary with Spurlock and his girlfriend (the vegan), additional interviews, deleted scenes (McDonalds memorabilia & Happy Meal toy collectors, psychological tricks in supermarketing, deep-fried Twinkies), and a lively, thought-provoking conversation between Spurlock and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, the first big wake-up call about deep fat fryers and drive through windows.
There's also a segment that's equally hilarious and disturbing, in which Spurlock holds a little experiment in his production office. He buys several McDonald's sandwiches including a Big Mac and Fish Filet, plus fries, and at the same time he buys a "real" hamburger and "real" fries from a local restaurant. He places them all in separate bell jars and goes about his business. Within days, the "real" burger and fries begin to mold - not surprisingly - and are tossed out after a week or two when they've reached disgusting. The McD's sandwiches also change.. but not in a typical moldy bread/decaying meat kind of way: they grow bizarre fairy-cloud mushroom tops and worse, they leak and ooze the funkiest-looking, unnatural-colored, unidentifiable crud you've ever seen. They eventually get tossed when the smell reaches through the glass jars and overpowers Spurlock's interns.
But the really creepy part that may change your eating-out habits forever, is the jar with the McDonald's fries that everyone loves so much. Through days and weeks, as the McSandwiches are quietly decaying and eroding and metamorphosing into nasty, discolored primordial slime, the McDonald's fries do not change a bit. No change in shape or texture or color. Not a speck of mold. No bad smells. Even after a couple months when an intern mistakenly throws them out, they looked exactly as they had the day they were bought.
That's when you think back.. you've picked up McDonald's yummy fries at the drive through and who-knows-how-long-after when cleaning the car, you've found a stray fry or two under the car seat.. looking just like the day you bought it. WTF are they made of?? It can't be food.
Oh, and remember Don Gorske, the guy on the 30-year Big Mac diet plan? He never eats the fries.
Morgan Spurlock says on the Super Size Me official web site "I hope you enjoy it – a lot of pain and suffering (mostly by me) was endured to create it."
