By Adriana Sierra
With such fast-paced schedules and living away from home, the “freshmen 15” is a commonality among students who gain weight while away at college. Now, the “freshman 15” gets taken to the ultimate level, with Supersize Me, a film by Morgan Spurlock, who commits to a McDonald’s diet for 30 consecutive days. The results are astounding, even to physicians.
The documentary begins with a quotation by McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, stating, “Look after the customer and the business will take care of itself.” Fast-food accounts for about 40 percent of our meals, but seems to do everything except take care of its customers. The film, a winner at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, closely monitors Spurlock as he undergoes a complete McDiet, consisting of breakfast, lunch and dinner-eating everything on the menu at least once. At the start of the diet, Spurlock visits with three doctors; all whom reaffirm that he is in great shape and extremely healthy, weighing 185 pounds and having 11 percent body fat. Spurlock spares his viewers no details, documenting his rectal exam and even his regurgitated supersized double quarter-pounder with cheese meal.
In between his binges of Big Macs, chicken McNuggets and triple thick shakes, Spurlock tosses around numbers and facts about the effects of fast-food on our nation. With numbers like 60 percent of all U.S. adults are obese, and 46 million people are served at McDonald’s daily, its no surprise that our children are also facing obesity as it is one of the fastest growing epidemics. With cartoon character mascots, Happy Meals with toys and the infamous “Play Place,” children become acquainted with McDonald’s at a very young age, don’t get enough physical exercise, and with time will become overweight. For those parents constantly on the run, Mickey D’s is a quick solution for a child’s grumbling tummy.
Eating the McDiet for an entire month, Spurlock’s health spirals downward consistently, as he consumes 5,000 calories a day; 600 calories in the supersized fries alone. Even some of the healthier options on the menu didn’t seem to be so healthy. In his study, Spurlock showed that the yogurt parfait had as much fat as a strawberry sundae and if granola was added, it had more than the chocolate and caramel sundaes.
The diet proved to be damaging enough, leaving Spurlock with chest pains, his liver in toxic shock and with 30 extra pounds under his belt. He even experienced headaches and depression, symptoms commonly found in conjunction with addiction. His cholesterol skyrocketed from 165 to 225, and his girlfriend, a vegan chef, kept no secrets, confessing of his decreased performance in the bedroom.
The DVD also has special features you can check out that add to the message behind the film. Along with deleted scenes, there is an audio commentary by Spurlock, further displaying his excitement and interest in the effects of fast food and the society we live in. The special features section also contains six extra interviews that provide more information and opinions that were edited from the documentary for pacing, and are highly effective and interesting. Lastly, Spurlock and company perform an experiment entitled, “The Smoking Fry,” where several of McDonald’s tasty products are placed in containers and observed for changes in the course of ten weeks. The end result is astonishing, with all of the food rotting, except for the fries which remain completely intact. Makes you wonder what exactly is in those one-of-a-kind heavenly French fries.
Supersize Me may not be visually exciting or graphically appealing, but a strong message gets out loud and clear. For those of you away from Mama’s home cooking, or those who are always on the run, the film just might make you think twice before you say “yes” to the supersize option.
Final Grade: B
Morgan Spurlock´s ´Supersize Me´ is a frightening look at the popular fast food chain, McDonald´s. (Image courtesy www.amazon.com)