June 29, 2004

{ Super Size Me }

_Super Size Me_ is a horror show. Oh sure, it may be dressed up like a documentary. It may be billed as another David and Goliath tale of a lone filmmaker against a cold, unfeeling corporation. It may make you reconsider that Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, and it will certainly give your vegan friends even more ammunition for their anti-meat rants. Yet the experience of watching _Super Size Me_ is almost equal parts George Romero as it is Michael Moore. For pure visceral terror, and I do mean that literally, _Super Size Me_ is on par with the goriest zombie-fest. _SEE a man push himself � and his intestines � to the very limit of human tolerance!_ _Super Size Me_ is the story of a dare. Can a man subsist solely on fast food, specifically that from McDonald's, and if so what would the consequences be on his health and well-being? Coming on the heels of several highly publicized lawsuits, the film documents an attempt to present empirical evidence of a truth we all knew all along: fast food is bad for you. _SHIVER as a man defies modern medical science � with terrifying results!_ Just how bad _is_ fast food? You'll be amazed. Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock enlists the aid of not one, but three skilled physicians as well as a dietician to explain just what this diet is doing to him. Regular checkups, blood work, and weigh-ins track the changes an all Mickey Dees diet can spell for a once healthy individual. The results are simply astounding, and these checkups are some of the most powerful scenes in the film. Watching these doctors sputter with disbelief as the lab results come back will make your stomach turn. At one point rather late in the challenge his physician likens the damage done to his liver as being on par with a serious drinking binge (Nicholas Cage's character in _Leaving Los Vegas_ is used as an example). He starts to have continuous headaches, headaches that begin to fade as soon as he takes that first bite of french fry but continue to flare up soon afterward. Climbing the stairs to his apartment, two bags emblazoned with the Golden Arches in tow, Spurlock wheezes uncomfortably. _You may never look at that cheeseburger the same way again!_ Spurlock shrewdly saves the big messages for the finale. The lion's share of the movie is a test of endurance. Spurlock knows what he is doing and readily admits the personal responsibility for this fool's errand. Even in the face of the pleading advice of his doctors he continues. One doctor advises him to supplement his Big Macs with a few multi-vitamins, to which Spurlock shrugs, grins slyly and replies; "They don't sell those at McDonald's." _Super Size Me_ is simultaneously hilarious and terrifying. Spurlock approaches the challenge and the issues with self-deprecating charm and intelligence while deftly avoiding too much heavy-handedness. Had someone else made this picture it could have been nigh unwatchable and stuffed to the gills with anti-corporate, anti-meat, and anti-fun lectures. I walked out of the theater feeling genuinely nauseous, yet satisfied. Come to think of it, that last line accurately sums up how I feel walking out of McDonald's.

» Official website

By Benjamin in Film & TV | Comments:

Comments

wow, i'm really glad it was good, i've been waiting for it to come out for a long time... as a vegetarian and reformed mcdonald's worker (first real job ever) i can tell you, how bad this shit is for you wouldn't even matter if you just worked there for a couple of days... oh, and don't eat at stewart's hotdogs either, (but the rootbeer is okay)...

Posted by: stace at June 29, 2004 2:26 AM

Another fact that may interest some of you, I know I was pleased to find this out. Spurlock is from West by God Virginia, third fattest state in the Union.

Posted by: benjamin at June 29, 2004 3:25 AM

but big macs taste good...
sausage mcmuffins taste good...

Posted by: rob at June 29, 2004 3:33 AM

To quote [badly] Sam Jackson from PULP FICTION, "Rat might taste like apple cobbler for all I know but I'll never find out because I'd never eat the filthy motherfucker."

Posted by: V at June 29, 2004 7:29 AM

Tim Horton's is the winner, hands down, for the worst combo meal idea I've ever heard-

Egg Salad Sandwich, Coffee and Donut for $3.99

Can you imagine making out with someone after they've sucked down those three items? Or even what your own breath would taste/smell like?

Posted by: Adam at June 29, 2004 4:06 PM

okay, i'm not about anything called egg salad, but i think the doughnut for the combo is brilliant, and if i drank coffee, it wouldn't be so bad either, but it would need to be with like i don't know... lemon meringue pie as the main course.... yeah, that sounds good...

Posted by: stace at June 29, 2004 6:56 PM

What really makes _Super Size Me_ worth watching, and what makes it hilarious, is that at no point does the director/star say "Oh, this shit is awful!" Even faced with the dire lab reports and doctor's pleas he continues to enthusiastically devour the burgers, fries, and McGriddles (motherfucker _loved_ them McGriddles, which turn out to be the _worst_ thing on the menu in terms of fat content).

Posted by: benjamin at June 29, 2004 7:31 PM

hey V,

to get all movie-nerd on your, the quote is

"sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but i'll never know because i'll never eat the filthy motherfucker."

the mcgriddle is satan's construct for ruling the lower/middle class. it's multi-tasking at it's finest; something that's drilled into our heads at our jobs every day.

work smarter, not harder.

eat a sammich with the syrup IN THE FUCKING BUN, not pancakes drenched with the gooey maple goodness

Posted by: rob at June 29, 2004 11:49 PM

your=you

Posted by: rob at June 30, 2004 4:52 AM