The Independent Critic- Richard Propes

I tried, but I just couldn't resist. I left the theatre after having watched Morgan Spurlock's acclaimed documentary in
which he ate nothing but a McDonald's diet for 30 days and I went immediately to the McDonald's across the street
and ordered a Big Mac Value Meal. No, I did not supersize it.

Spurlock won the Director's Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and this documentary was nominated for the Grand
Jury Prize. Indeed, it is a captivating, occasionally insightful and nearly always entertaining look at America's fast food
culture, McDonald's and Spurlock's own fast food experiment.

First, the experiment. Some have bashed it as dramatic for the sake of filmmaking. Spurlock acknowledges it is
unrealistic in its essence in the film, by basically saying that in one month he is eating as much fast food as nutrition
experts recommend in 8 years. Yet, he chooses to take a dramatic approach in order to make a dramatic point. By
the end of the film, when one looks at his 25 pound weight gain in one month, his tremendously escalated
cholesterol level and other abnormal labs one can't help but see a dramatic point about the impact of fast food on
the body. Yes, it's an extreme experiment...yet, it makes an effective, factual point. It is also important to note that
the film includes a considerable amount of material not related to Spurlock's experiment, including a look at
healthcare, school lunches, national policy and the politics of nutrition.

My problems with the documentary are as follows:

First, too often it appears to attack only McDonald's. Yes, I know it is a McDonald's experiment...yes, I know they are
the biggest in terms of fast food...These things can be said, acknowledged, even shown....yet, by the end of the film
it almost becomes histrionic in its approach to McDonald's bashing. Between scene graphics feature the familiar
McDonald's colors with various derogatory and negative visuals. I understand the point, but it's simply overkill.

Secondly, Spurlock is simply too extreme in his approach. Beyond the obvious "drama" of eating every meal at
McDonald's for a month, Spurlock typically orders the most extreme meals and then complains because they are so
heavy. The simple fact was he could have chosen to eat differently. He only supersized when asked, but do you really
have to supersize when you order the double quarter-pounder with cheese? geez. Once again, it's overkill. For me, it
takes away from his point. I was also bothered by the abrupt nature of this change...It's obvious he ate a fairly
healthy diet prior to this experiment, and has a vegan chef as a girlfriend. Suddenly switching to this diet is definitely
going to make a person sick, but he plays it up like it's the fault of McDonald's.

Finally, Spurlock tends to over-emote at times. It's almost like he's trying to dramatize the impact of this food on his
system. It doesn't work for me. I also was troubled by his repeated shots of fat people in a judgmental manner...it
began to border on mean-spiritedness...especially in his school shots.

There are lots of positives here, not the least of which is the information and experiment itself. In fact, Spurlock's
girlfriend is quite the find...her presence on screen is authentic, honest and funny. Her discussion about the impact
of fast food on sex was frank and funny but would also make any guy go "whoa!"

Additionally, several of the street interviews were powerful and funny...and Spurlock himself was charming. Though,
I thought the gratuitous butt shot for a rectal exam early on was pointless...and his final weigh in in Speedos was just
plain stupid.

Overall, the film addresses an important issue...it does so relatively effectively and in a straightforward manner. It is
worth seeing, however, I'd love to see a fresh documentary with a less McDonald's focused approach, more
balanced information, less drama and not so extreme. I think McDonald's is safe...this film sure didn't change my
mind.

© Written by Richard Propes

The Independent Critic
 Super Size Me (United States, 2004)
A movie review by James Berardinelli
Amidst all the controversy this film has generated, it's safe to say one thing: very few viewers are likely to
visit a fast-food restaurant immediately after seeing this movie.
Is Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me an attack on McDonald's? Not directly, although it's certainly not a
Valentine. Rather, it's a look at the deleterious effects that the modern "fast food culture" is having upon our
society. The movie's "hook" is that Spurlock performs an experiment upon himself to see how he would fare
if he ate nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days. However, one could see that as tangential to the film's
central themes, which advocate personal responsibility, decry corporate deniability, and emphasize that
people aren't getting the message that fast food can be bad for those who eat it with regularity.
Spurlock is not Michael Moore, although he possesses a similar biting wit. However, Spurlock replaces
Moore's smugness with a self-deprecating approach. (Can anyone imagine Moore filming himself vomiting
out a car window?) While Spurlock has an agenda, it is not as obviously "leftist" as Moore's. In fact, in
spreading the blame around, Super Size Me comes across as apolitical. Sure, it skews corporations, but it
also takes aim at those who pursue frivolous lawsuits against McDonald's, outing their lawyers' motives at
being purely financial. And, because Super Size Me is more personal than Moore's movies, there's a sense of
greater honesty and openness. After all, once Spurlock's vegan girlfriend admits that the fast food diet has
impacted his ability to "get it up" in bed, how much more humiliating can the details get?
The experiment is the most interesting, but not necessarily the most informative, aspect of Super Size Me.
Spurlock goes on a one-month McDonald's spree in which he eats three gluttonous meals per day. He plays
by a few rules: everything he eats has to be on the McDonald's menu, he must sample every food choice at
least once, and he only super sizes when asked by a cashier. Over the course of his study, he gains 25
pounds; experiences an extreme increase in cholesterol; suffers sexual dysfunction, headaches, and nausea;
and shows signs of addiction. It's not a pretty picture, and, while the extremity of Spurlock's reactions are in
part a result of his excessive indulgence (5000 calories per day), it illustrates a point about the unhealthiness
of fast food eating.
Alongside telling his personal tale, Spurlock interviews a variety of talking heads (although his attempts to
add a McDonald's executive to his list of interviewees is foiled by the company) and spends some time
investigating why fast food entrees are replacing healthier choices in elementary and high schools. (One girl
claims that her "vegetable" for the day is French fries.) He also looks into the link between fast food
advertising aimed at children and the increase in obesity in the underage population. The evidence is all
anecdotal, but it's pretty convincing, especially since it doesn't take a genius to make the connection between
the increased availability of convenient fast food and the expanding national waist size. Little of what
Spurlock presents in Super Size Me is new or revolutionary, but he packages it in an entertaining and easily
digestible manner. It's one thing to know that fast food is bad for you. It's another to see that "badness"
demonstrated.
Super Size Me has plenty of critics, many of whom are paid spokesmen for McDonald's. Other filmmakers
are developing a rebuttal movies to Super Size Me in which they illustrate how a variant of the McDonald's
diet allows weight and cholesterol reduction. One has the sense that none of these productions will reach the
screen, unless McDonald's decides to get into the film distribution business.
In the end, it's pretty clear that Spurlock's goal is not to convince everyone in his viewing audience to stay
away from McDonald's. (The experiment hasn't turned him into a vegetarian, although he avoids admitting
whether he plans to eat any fast food in the near future.) Instead, he wants us to have a concrete
understanding of what we're eating. The issue may be serious, but the tone is lighthearted, and that, more
than anything else, makes Super Size Me a palatable cinematic entrée. Especially when enjoyed with a big
carton of buttered popcorn and a double-sized cup of Coke.
Super Size Me
Directed by Morgan Spurlock

The revolutionary documentary that examines the link between the junk food industry
and the obesity epidemic in America.
Film Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

America is the fattest country in the world with 100 million overweight people and 400,000 individuals
dying each year from obesity related ailments. Now even children are eating too much and exercising
too little. Eric Schlosser first brought our attention to this matter with his bestselling muckracker Fast
Food Nation. He identified McDonald's as the chief villain with its cradle-to-grave marketing strategy
that starts off manipulating children through playgrounds, toys, and the Ronald McDonald clown. The
nightmare of brainwashed toddlers eating junk food and drinking sodas on a regular basis is enough
to make anyone sick.

The fast food mania in America just made Morgan Spurlock mad, and so he decided to make a
documentary using himself as a guinea pig. He ate three meals a day only at McDonald's for 30 days
in 20 cities. He hired a team of doctors to monitor the impact of this experiment on his body. The
result is catastrophic: he gains over 25 pounds eating 5,000 calories a day and trashed his liver to the
point of seriously jeopardizing his future health and well-being. Other side-effects of the junk food
binge include chest pains, depression, headaches, sugar/caffeine crashes, and heart palpitations. His
vegan chef girlfriend is appalled at the deterioration of his health.

Spurlock presents interviews with the U.S Surgeon General; a professor of law at George Washington
University involved in a law suit brought against McDonald's by two overweight women; John Robbins,
author of Diet for a New America; Don Gorske, a Big Mac enthusiast who eats 700 of them a year; and
Bruce Howlett who undergoes gastric-bypass surgery. Spurlock also looks at the connections between
the junk food industry and high school lunch programs, food addictions, and the low priority given to
physical education programs at a time when so many children are overweight. Although not as
expansive or as hard-hitting as Schlosser's book, this feisty documentary makes its points very
effectively. It could serve as aversion therapy for many who have chosen to make junk food their
choice when they eat out.

Morgan Spulock and his girlfriend, a vegan chef, provide the audio commentary on the DVD. There is
also an interesting interview with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-
American Meal.