Super Size Me Delivers Both Comedy and Insight
Steve Beland

Novice filmmaker Morgan Spurlock orchestrates a comedic and powerful indictment of the fast food industry in the Michael Moore style documentary Super Size Me. The film is an in-depth look at the standards and practices of fast food corporations and their contribution to obesity in America. What inspired Spurlock to make the documentary were the numerous lawsuits filed against the fast food industry by former patrons who were claiming that McDonald's--as well as some other popular fast food outlets--made them obese. In one such case, the judge proclaimed that if the plaintiffs (two obese teenage girls) could prove that eating McDonald's food for every meal of every day was dangerous, they could possibly state a claim. In response to this, Spurlock aks the question, "What would happen if I ate nothing but McDonald's for thirty days straight?" It is then that Spurlock, with film crew and disapproving girlfriend standing by, embarks on a month-long McDonald's binge.

There are four rules that Spurlock forces himself to abide by for the duration of the experiment: One, he can only Super Size a meal when asked if he wants to while ordering it. Two, he cannot eat or drink anything McDonald's doesn't sell. Three, he must eat everything on the menu at least once in thirty days. And four, he has to eat three squares a day. He cannot skip a meal no matter what. That's breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Mickey D's, every day for thirty days straight. What transpires over the next month is as disturbing as it is entertaining. Where as getting all of those Big Mac's and Quarter-Pounders to Spurlock proved to be an easy feat since a number of local Manhattan McDonald's actually deliver, getting all of that food into Spurlock was infinitely harder, at least in the beginning. The first week of Spurlock's "diet" is a struggle as he has to fight his body to finish all the food he puts in front of himself. Not surprisingly, he does vomit in one scene early on that is not for the weak of stomach. Although his body does adjust ("The three day hump," as Spurlock calls it), it adapts a little too well as it later develops a dependency on McDonald's food and Spurlock begins experiencing cravings and splitting headaches in between meals. That event is followed by a multitude of health problems--some serious--in the coming weeks which could only have come from the binge and Spurlock is urged to consider ending his experiment prematurely by a number of different medical professionals.

The film is about more than Spurlock's binge as he goes across the country to examine how Americans are holding up healthwise in different parts of the nation. Spurlock and his crew visit different schools and critique their lunch and physical education programs, sit down with law professors and advertising experts, and they even meet up with a man who has consumed 19,000 Big Mac sandwiches in his life. Still throughout the humor of the film there exists an underlying seriousness. The film's main argument is a compelling one: The corporation has a moral responsibility to protect the consumer. The film is very entertaining but the bonus features on the DVD are nothing special (just a handful of deleted scenes really). Nevertheless, Super Size Me is well worth checking out.