Super Size Me
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Movie Reviews of Super Size Me
Movie Review: Entertaining even as it delivers scares
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently went out to eat with my girlfriend, not to McDonalds thankfully, and couldn't help but notice how many of my fellow diners were overweight. We're talking grossly overweight, too, not just a few pounds gained over the holidays. One family eating together at the next table over--father, mother, two sons, and daughter--was scarily obese. I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't recently watched Glen Spurlock's scathing documentary on America's problem with the unwanted pounds, "Super Size Me," but the fact that I did notice nearly every person in this restaurant looked like a diabetes risk speaks volumes about the relevancy of this film. America has a big problem with obesity, a problem that various medical associations and watchdog groups claim will eventually lower the life expectancy for the first time in generations. In other words, the kids of today will actually live fewer years than their parents and their grandparents. Scary, isn't it? And Spurlock's documentary is just the latest to sound the warning bell on this troubling trend. That he does so with a sort of graveyard humor shouldn't take away in the slightest from the bottom line: America is fat and will pay a price for its libertine ways.
Spurlock assigned himself a troubling mission: for an entire month he would eat at McDonalds. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner would come wrapped in paper or cellophane topped off with French fries and a soda pop. Moreover, anytime the cashier asked Spurlock if he wanted to "super size" his meal, he said yes. Anyone who remembers a super size portion at McDonalds will understand what a daunting task this documentarian faced. Spurlock, convinced that a diet of nothing but McDonalds for a month would have some negative consequences to his well being, first went to a series of doctors to have his vitals measured. He returned to the physicians at various times throughout his little test, and the results were truly shocking. Not only did he gain weight, rather obvious considering his high fat diet, but other troubling problems arose. Most problematic was the result of double cheeseburgers and breakfast muffins on his liver. One of his doctors began issuing dire warnings about the state of his organ, claiming that if Spurlock continued on this path his liver might shut down entirely. Incredibly, Glen Spurlock continued chowing down all-beef patties and gallons of soda pop even when faced with such alarming evidence. True to his mission or stupid? You decide.
"Super Size Me" is much more than a mere document outlining one man's quest to prove that eating at McDonalds can cause permanent physical damage. Spurlock intersperses his jaunts to the local restaurant with interviews and road trips. He talks to Big Mac aficionado and all-around weirdo Don Gorske, who has eaten several of the huge sandwiches everyday for decades. He talks to a fitness coach named Phil Lawler about the dearth of physical education courses in today's schools. And he discusses the scurrilous effects of marketing junk food with supermarket guru Phil Lempert. We see our man visit a shop that deep-fries any type of food you can think of, from twinkies to chocolate bars. There is also a visit to a private museum consisting of nothing but McDonalds's memorabilia as well as a disturbing jaunt into a local school system to see what's on a typical day's lunch menu. I couldn't believe the junk kids at school can eat today! Wow! When I went to school in the 1980s we couldn't even have pop let alone various meals catered by local fast food restaurants. The highlight in my high school's cafeteria was spaghetti day, and the pasta was definitely not from a local restaurant.
I enjoyed "Super Size Me," and considering that most of what we see here also appears in other documentaries about the dangers of excessive eating and the general lack of exercise currently plaguing the country, I don't think Spurlock is a propagandist. At first, I thought the documentary was going to be a hatchet job. Why? The presence of Spurlock's vegetarian girlfriend Alex Jamieson cast serious doubts on whether this would be an unbiased documentary. My concerns were laid to rest, however, when I learned that Alex is one of the most irritating individuals I've seen in a film and when I saw that Spurlock didn't totally buy into her ideas of what is or isn't healthy to eat. In fact, Glen comments quite frequently that he likes the food at McDonalds. Obviously, there are people who will say that "Super Size Me" is a muckraking documentary and will never accept evidence to the contrary. They have a point in that Spurlock singles out McDonalds for special attention. What about the danger posed by Burger King, Pizza Hut, or a number of other big fast food chains? I think it is safe to assume that these restaurants pose the same sorts of risks, and I would like to see more about them.
Pay attention to the special features on the DVD. An interview with Eric Schlosser, author of the now seminal "Fast Food Nation," calls attention to some aspects of the fast food industry missing in the documentary. I wasn't particularly enamored with Schlosser's book when I read it three or four years ago, but he does have some important insights to offer here. Too, a feature called "The Smoking Fry" will definitely have you wondering what the heck McDonalds puts into its French fries in order to keep them fresh. Apparently, plastic isn't the only substance that will never break down into its component parts. I heartily recommend "Super Size Me" to anyone who eats fast food more than once a week.
Movie Review: Amazingly fresh, witty documentary of world-wide importance
Summary: 5 Stars
Super Size Me, 2004, Directed by Morgan Spurlock is a clever, non-pretentious, witty, "home-movie" style documentary with all of the "glued-to-your-seat" entertainment of any big-time production. The topic of this documentary could have been produced in a serious, parental tone, reminiscent of those stale, old-fashioned high school health films. however, It's core idea and production, is young, fun, energetic and unconventional which is fresh among the sea of expected, formula movie-making. I especially liked the appropriate music tracks: Queen's: "Fat Bottom Girls", which rocked my speakers. Also the "Super Size Me" theme song and the animations and graphics were creative, informative, and campy, which kept the movie interesting and flowing. The style of this movie made the very important messages and information easy to understand and digest (no pun intended).
It's extremely important for people everywhere to be aware of the dangers of fast-food, junk food, high fat, high cholesterol food, and processed food that we have been shoving in our mouths and our children's mouths for so many years. I am so glad that somebody finally stood up to the big corporate food giants and exposed them for what they really are - Greedy money hungry machines, who don't give a damn about you or your health, just their bottom-line.
"Super Size Me" proves that it's time to get back to the basics of what good nutrition is all about. At one point Morgan finds a hair in his food, which is a message that any intelligent person can understand. It's symbolic to the fact that It's time we get back to preparing fresh, nutritious meals at home. Who knows what else is in our restaurant food? I saw in a very prestigious medical journal, an article about a clinical study which showed that children who eat dinner at home, together with their family are less likely to get into trouble after school, in turn, less likely to take drugs, and they perform better in school. Not to mention they're better nourished.
While It's true that this movie is only one man's experience and by no way can be compared to clinical trials, it is however, another link to the fact that eating a high-fat, low-density-nutrition diet does lead to all types of health problems. From mood swings, to depression, to sexual dysfunction, to liver, kidney and heart disease and eventually premature death. If you choose to have a blind eye to all of this, it's up to you. But remember, most doctors are great at fixing things in your body with surgery. Most doctors can tell you when you're already sick and have a disease. And all doctors are great at giving you well-documented, harmful drugs and sending you on your merry way. But very few doctors are really schooled in art and science of health and nutrition. Very few doctors support self-reliance.
This movie's message goes deeper than just telling us to stay away from fast food to become thin. It's not just about being at a correct body weight. It's about being healthy. There was an extremely thin man interviewed in the movie who holds a record for eating the most Big Mac's. This man is the epitome that you can't judge a book by it's cover. He looked emaciated, with little muscle tone and pallor complexion. I seriously doubt if he is really healthy on the inside, despite his lack of obesity.
This movie makes me remember a quote that I once heard a long time ago from the god-father of health and fitness, Jack Lalanne, who is in his 90's and still alive, strong and well: "If you get sick in life from not taking care of your body, and you wish to remain naive, don't blame God, don't say the devil made you do it, don't blame any other circumstances in life. Only blame YOURSELF."
The corporations have a huge responsibility in doing what is right, however YOU are the only one who can control what goes into your body. So don't be deceived by the food industry. Don't become complaisant by doctors who aren't schooled in nutrition. Rent this movie or buy this movie and stay informed. "Super Size Me" will help you do just that! I praise and endorse it with 5+ stars.
If you enjoyed this review you might enjoy other reviews from me. Please click on the top of this review on the link "See all my reviews". I have more than one page of reviews and additional pages can be accessed by clicking on the page number on the bottom right corner of my total reviews page.
Movie Review: Some of it obvious, some of it surprising.....
Summary: 5 Stars
The DVD was worth watching just for the bonus features alone, such as 'The Smoking Fry,' where you get to see just how McD food breaks down on the outside (let alone inside your body), and the interview with Eric Schlosser, which gives some insight into the workings of the fast food corporations.
I read a lot of the other reviews before posting this one and I must admit that I was surprised at some of the critics of the movie claiming that it wasn't 'scientific' enough. It was not supposed to be 100% scientific. It was supposed to prove a point. And Mr. Spurlock did prove his point very well. Consider the following:
- He ONLY ate McDonalds 3 times a day. He tried everything on the menu atleast once and ate ALL portions of the entire meal that was given to him. (McD's corporate office sets the portions, not Morgan. And he supersized whenever asked)
Also, not everyone will eat all of their meal, supersized or not. But I believe he ate the entire portion anyway just so no one could say he "cheated"; the same reason why he only ate McD for all three meals out of the day.
- He researched and imitated the average amount of exercise that Americans actually get (5000 paces/day maximum).
- He was observed by 2 doctors and a nutritionists, who all ran
'scientific' diagnostics to determine his health condition.
- Even the doctors were astonished at the results of his experiment in which some of the liver damage results were comparable to that of an alcoholic!
The question that I have for you is, if this wasn't scientific research, then what should Morgan had done differently that would have made it more "scientific"? I'm willing to bet ANYONE $100 who duplicated his experiment (assuming similar good health prior) would have had their body deteriate very similarly.
Remember that this was just more of a personal bet to see if he could prove that going on an all-McD diet would cause you to be obese (which was the original proof the judge required of the McD lawsuit). The documentary was NOT intended to be submitted to a medical journal.
While very few people do actually eat McD 3 times a day, every day (and he admits this in the documentary) over 40% of McD eaters are considered "Heavy consumers" 22% were considered "super heavy consumers". McD serves 50 million people a DAY. It's not hard to imagine the regular customers that eat 1 or more McMeals a day.
PS: I watched all the DVD bonus clips, including the one on 'the smoking fry'. Basically he placed several different McD meal components (burgers, fries, fish, etc) each in seperate glass jars. He also placed a local restaurant's burger and fries, each in seperate glass jars and let them sit for 10 weeks. All the other foods started to break down naturally (mold) after 3 days or so......except the McD fries. In fact, after 10 weeks, the McD fries still looked like they just came out of the deep fryer! Needless to say I will never buy another McD fry again.
PSS: Being in the military, we do take body fat percentage seriously (it hurts your evals and disqualifies you for special programs if you are out of standards). But me personally, I'm no nutrition buff (my dad is, though). I will admit that of all the dis-eases that we have little or no control over, obesity is not only preventable, but it is (9.5 times out of 10) a DIRECT reflection of that person's choices. While I know from personal experience that just because you are slightly out of BMI that you are out of shape (unhealthy), what I'm talking about are people who are GROSSLY obese and specifically choose not to exercise discretion in their overall diets.
PSSS: Way before watching this movie, I'd cut down on the amount of fast food that I was eating. I only would grab the .99 menu occassionally at Wendy's. The movie only confirmed what we all know all along. I no longer eat at McDs, although I do go out to other restaurants occassionally and do still eat pizza from Dominos.
Movie Review: Funny & Frightening Month on a Fast Food Diet.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Super Size Me" took inspiration from 2002 lawsuits against McDonald's by two teenagers who claimed that the fast food chain had caused their obesity. In a nation where 60% of adults are overweight or obese, and each day one of every four Americans eats fast food, director Morgan Spurlock wanted to test the correlation....by eating nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days. He enlisted the help of a cardiologist, a gastroenterologist, an internist, and a dietitian to monitor his heath. He ate 3 McDonald's meals a day, tried everything on the menu at least once, and "supersized" if he was asked. Spurlock also limited himself to walking 5,000 steps per day, which is average in the US, although virtually unheard of in his native Manhattan (where you will find 83 McDonald's restaurants). "Super Size Me" follows Spurlock over the course of a month, from his first Egg McMuffin to his last McMeal, from fit to fat, as his health deteriorates alarmingly.
Spurlock has an irreverent, winning personality that keeps the audience entertained. He has included interviews with John Banzahf and Samuel Hirsch, the lawyers who represented the two women suing McDonald's, a former Surgeon General, doctors, nutritionists, health advocate and would-be heir to the Baskin-Robbins fortune John Robbins, and Spurlock's vegan girlfriend Alex Jamieson, who watches in horror as her man is transformed by fast food. Spurlock also takes a look at school lunch programs that feature fast food and one that doesn't: a high school for problem students in Appleton, Wisconsin that serves only unprocessed foods that look pretty edible.
It's no surprise that McDonald's doesn't fare well in this film. McDonald's is fast food's worse case scenario. But they own 43% of the US fast food market and serve 46 million customers a day worldwide, so they're the logical target. Of course, anyone can choose not to patronize McDonald's. But Spurlock's point is that consumers cannot make good decisions if they don't have accurate information. McDonald's claims that it is common knowledge that any processing their food undergoes serves to make it less healthy. Is it? While most Americans surely realize that fast food is unhealthy, it is much worse for people than they would reasonably expect. Eating sugary, fatty foods at McDonald's isn't comparable to preparing them in your own kitchen by any stretch of the imagination. The stuff that McDonald's sells is highly toxic. What passes for food is simply amazing. And "Super Size Me" is a very funny, occasionally frightening, insightful look at the consequences of fast food culture.
The DVD: Bonus features include 4 deleted scenes, 6 interviews, one featurette, and an audio commentary by Morgan Spurlock and girlfriend Alex Jamieson. The "Extra Interviews" are: Phil Lambert, supermarket guru, talks about product placements in grocery stores (4 minutes). Phil Lauler of "P.E. For Life" talks about physical education in the schools. Don Gorske, Big Mac Expert and fanatic talks about the Big Macs in his life (3 minutes). Artists from The McDonald's Project demonstrate their use of recognizable products, some from McDonald's, to make socio-political statements (3 1/2 minutes) -some of these are clever. Owner of Brooklyn restaurant ChipShop (www.chipshopnyc.com), famous for frying readymade pastries and candies, talks about the food (3 minutes). And a 25-minute interview with Eric Schlossen, author of "Fast Food Nation", in which he discusses how and why processed food differs from its unprocessed counterparts. "The Smoking Fry" is a funny and freaky featurette in which Morgan Spurlock places both McDonald's and less processed burgers and fries in jars to see how they degrade over time (5 minutes) -definitely worth watching. In the audio commentary, Spurlock gives running commentary on filming, the fast food experiment, and the people we see in the film. It's reasonably entertaining and doesn't have many lulls. Spurlock's a talkative guy. Subtitles for the film are available in Spanish.
Movie Review: This if Morgan Spurlock. This is Morgan Spurlock on Big Macs
Summary: 5 Stars
Actually the cover shot of Morgan Spurlock with a load of McDonald's french fries crammed into his mouth is a picture of the writer-director of this 2004 documentary taking good care of his health. That is because when you watch the bonus features on the DVD version of "Super Size Me" the last one is a look at "The Smoking Fry," which strongly suggests that the other thing beside cockroaches that will survive a nuclear holocaust might be the french fries they serve at McDonalds.
"Super Size Me" follows Spurlock through a thirty-day period in which he eats nothing but food served at McDonalds. The research question is what happens to an average adult American male when he sticks to this sort of a diet. Spurlock has a team of doctors and nutritionists who detail exactly what happens to him, and let me just say by way of understatement that very little of it is good (eating food to avoid headaches could be considered a good thing). In between the three visits each day to McDonalds (except when Spurlock has his food delivered), the documentary explores the history and the psychology of the American love affair with fast food. One of the documentary's sub-plots, as it were, is a lawsuit against McDonalds claiming it is responsible for the obesity of two teenage girls. That lawsuit inspired Spurlock's grand experiment, and I cannot help but think that according to the American legal system the worst thing McDonalds has ever done was serve hot coffee.
The camera shows Spurlock at the low points of his odyssey, from the rectal exam and the vomiting brought on by eating an entire super sized meal in 5 minutes, to his girlfriend critiquing the changes in their sex live and the doctors who try to talk him out of continuing his "diet." In addition to what it does to Spurlock's body, the most damning evidence in "Super Size Me" comes from the simple evidence that we are living in a fast food culture. Adult Americans might not know the Pledge of Allegiance, but they can sing about what you get in a Big Mac. Even little kids know who Ronald McDonald is, even if they have no idea who is the guy Spurlock is showing them that is NOT George W. Bush. This is not a high tech documentary and Spurlock never really gets the chance to confront a spokesman from McDonalds to spring a Michael Moore-like trap.
They say that McDonald's cancelled its "Super Size" program in the wake of Spurlock's documentary, and it would be nice to think that there is a causal link here. But when you consider that during the 30 day period Spurlock was only asked if he wanted to super size his order six times, the better explanation might be that McDonalds could not get its own employees to support the program. When you look at some of the deleted scenes and other interviews you realize Spurlock could have gone overboard on his indictment of McDonalds and fast food (the McDonalds Project is a great example of how wickedly funny social art can be), but clearly in the end what it did to his body as he ate in 30 days the same amount of fast food that the average American consumes in 8 years, is enough to do the trick.
You will not want to eat as McDonalds as often after you watch "Super Size Me." Some people will be convinced never to go back again, but I suspect most people will at least me compelled to think twice. I rarely go out for fast food, not because I am health conscious, but because when I spend money on a fast food meal I keep thinking that I could have bought a really nice steak instead. A stop at McDonalds is something we usually do when we are on the road and traveling great distances. I remember when we came back from Europe having to stop at McDonalds to eat a Big Mac because that is what America tastes like, and with that deep thought I will leave you to mull over the attendant ironies.