In Super Size Me!, Spurlock uses himself as an example to show the harmfulness of fast food. Right off the bat, Spurlock gives factual information about fast food in the U.S, including that the U.S is the fattest country in the world. As much as this information should strike some sort of emotion in people, we hear it so often that we’ve kind of become numb to how obese our country is. Obesity is almost a part of our culture. That’s what makes this documentary so impactful and sets it apart from the countless PSAs on fast food. We actually get to witness the effects of high fast food intake as it happens in such a personal and in depth way, rather than just hearing another story of someone who has suffered some sort of illness which may or may not have been caused by fast food.
One of the first parts of the documentary to really grab my attention was when Spurlock first supersized his meal. I could almost feel the pain that he was experiencing in eating such a big meal, and seeing the large sugary drink that he was expected to consume was enough to make my stomach turn, so it seemed reasonable when he vomited while attempting to finish consuming the meal. Although this did show how unreasonably extreme the supersize option was at McDonalds, it also came to mind that Spurlock was eating this completely under his own volition. Admittedly it might be irresponsible for McDonalds and other fast food chains to serve such unhealthy foods at their restaurants, but this scene also points to the fact that it is completely up to the consumer to eat the food being served. Spurlock could have stopped eating if he really wanted to. However, as the documentary went on I was introduced to people who didn’t have as much control or logic as Spurlock.
One example was when they visited the middle school. The kids had the option to buy food that was so unhealthy but also much more significantly appealing to people in their age range. At their age, it doesn’t matter to them the effects of what they’re eating. It matters how the food tastes. These kids were being manipulated for sales, and it was especially messed up because it would cost the school just as much to sell healthier food.
Another example that I found slightly disturbing was Don Gorske, the “Big Mac enthusiast”. In the documentary Gorske claimed that about 90% of his food consumption was McDonald’s Big Macs. In fact, we witnessed him eating his 19,000th Big Mac. What I found strange and almost disturbing was that this was being glorified, meanwhile to me it seemed like an addiction that needs to be taken care of. Gorske might know better than to eat more than one Big Mac per day, but he’s still eaten 19,000 of them and is undoubtedly suffering internally for it. Although it’s definitely an unrealistic fantasy, it made me think that maybe there should be some sort of restriction on how much fast food a person is allowed to consume.
Towards the end of the documentary is when we really start to see how harmful it is to eat McDonalds for so many days in a row. While talking to his doctors, Spurlock learns that the damage he is doing to his body might end up being irreversible. One might say that it was foolish for Spurlock to put his body through all that he did, but seeing what it did to him really made an impact and definitely put things into perspective.
I’m not a health freak. I like McDonalds as much as the next guy (as long as the next guy isn’t Gorske). In fact, I would say that it’s in the top three of my favorite fast food restaurants, but I’ve also been taught from a young age how harmful it can be, and thus I’ve always known that it isn’t something to indulge in too often. I probably eat it about 10 times a year, and I enjoy the satisfaction of eating it after missing it for a while. Although the film is old, and the supersize option has since fizzled out of McDonalds, the majority of the facts still rings true. This documentary showed me that there is something to be done about America and its obese culture.
Sybille's Blog 