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Most people would agree that the fast food industries are causing a major concern for the health of most Americans today. Because of this Morgan Spurlock embarks on a one month long diet, or as he would put it, "McDiet." In his documentary, Super Size Me, Spurlock decides to eat food from McDonald's to see how it would affect his health. Throughout the diet he has rules he must abide by. He can only eat food that McDonald's sells. If asked to super-size his meal, he must say yes. He has to have everything on the menu at least once, and he must eat three meals every day. In his film, Morgan Spurlock claims that the consumption of fast foods is largely responsible for many of American’s health problems and that eating McDonald's every day for …show more content…
every meal can be unreasonably dangerous. The film focuses on the growing number of obese Americans and the role that the fast-food companies play in this problem.
In the beginning of the movie Spurlock states that since 1980, the total number of overweight people in America has doubled. Throughout the film, Spurlock utilizes the help of three doctors. In his primary exams and blood tests Spurlock has great results and is above average for a man his size and age. As he goes through this diet is health drops drastically. At the end of the month he gained a total of twenty-four and half pounds. Furthermore, his liver basically turned into fat and his cholesterol shot up to two hundred and thirty. He had two times the risk of having heart disease or heart failure. He often felt depressed and exhausted and had massive cravings and headaches. By the end of the month he consumed thirty pounds of sugar and twelve pounds of …show more content…
fat. While Spurlock is experimenting with his “McDiet”, he investigates issues that relate to the sale and advertisement of fast food. The film frequently shows interviews with the different points of views, ranging from ordinary people to experts in fields related to health. The interview that stands out most to me would be the one when Spurlock is showing images to the young kids. Some of the kids are able to identify the first the image of George Washington. None of the kids recognize the next image of Jesus Christ. In fact, one of them mistook him for George W. Bush. However, when shown the last image each kid is easily able to identify Ronald McDonald. This goes to show how McDonald's advertises its products to young children. Whether it's by toys, happy meals or the ever so famous, McDonald's playground. In fact, in 2001 McDonald's spent nearly 1.4 billion dollars on advertisements alone. In addition, the film shows its logic by using some statistics found to help increase the arguments made by Spurlock.
The film uses these statistics in just about every part of the movie. For example, the film shows the amount of money those fast-food corporations spend on advertising their products each year and the number of McDonald’s restaurants on the island of Manhattan. This information gives knowledge to the viewers. Spurlock will use this information during the interviews. The film will stop the interviews and then use those statistics found to either support or oppose what they had to say. By doing this, the viewers understand that even experts can be wrong or have different opinions from some of the statistics shown. The film also shows information that the audience might have thought differently about. For example, the film addresses that there are “healthy” options at fast-food establishments, such as the yogurt parfaits or salads. However, Spurlock explains how these options are actually not that much healthier for you. This shows that there is not a way to eat at a fast-food establishment and have a healthy
meal. There are times throughout the film where the audience shows emotional appeals to. For example, on the second day, Spurlock is asked to super size his meal. He does super size it, only to throw it all up out of his window afterward. The cameraman then films the vomit on the ground in the parking lot. Another example is when Spurlock finds a hair in his yogurt parfait. The cameraman then zooms in on the hair as Spurlock is pulling it out. Afterwards, Spurlock still continues to eat the parfait like nothing happened. This just shows that the foods at fast-food restaurants are not always prepared as they should be. The film also highlights an obese man going through a gastric bypass surgery. Spurlock establishes ethos in the film by the amount of knowledge he has on the subject. You can tell that by the information given in the film Spurlock is not making anything up. In addition, Spurlock putting himself through this diet shows that the fast food is causing the problems with his health. This strengthens Spurlock’s arguments by showing the people who eat at these fast-food restaurants what this food is doing them, and that some of the arguments made by interviewers in the film are not entirely true. When it comes to my observations and experience on the subject of fast food, I would say that the fast-food companies are a leading cause to the obesity epidemic sweeping America. Along with these fast-food companies, I would also agree that we are part of the problem, as said by Gene Grabowski, a GMA representative in the film. I agree with him because, as part of the audience who eats at these fast-food restaurants, I would say that we are a lazy bunch of people. It is not all that hard to get up and make yourself a healthy meal, but we choose not to. We just easily decide to go to McDonald's because it is fast and simple. Throughout his film, Morgan Spurlock claims that fast food is not just unhealthy to eat, but also plays a large role to the cause of many Americans’ health problems. Spurlock also makes it clear that people need to realize what they are eating and how much of the food they are eating can affect their health. I feel that after viewing this film the audience will begin to understand how much the fast food they consume is affecting their lives and that one simple change can help fix this problem.
Fast food, while a quick alternative to cooking, has always been known to be less healthy than traditional preparations, but the extent of its health benefits or detriments was not known until a lawsuit came out which inspired documentarian Morgan Spurlock to engage in a 30 day experiment. The resultant documentary specifically targeted McDonald’s, the largest fast food chain in the world, which also happens to be a major recipient of lawsuits linking obesity and their food. Spurlock endeavored to spend a thirty day period eating nothing but food that came from the golden arches, with the rules that he would supersize only when asked, and every time he was asked, and that he would have everything from the menu at least once. In the 2004 film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock explores the concept that McDonald’s contributes to the nation’s obesity problem through the utilization of statistics and scientific evidence as a logical appeal, comedy and repulsive qualities as an emotional appeal, and s...
When people consume supersized fast food meals, is the food to blame when they themselves become supersized? Morgan Spurlock takes on the challenge of eating only McDonald's every day, three times a day, for thirty days straight to see how these meals affects the physique and general health of a human body. The Film Supersize Me uses logos, pathos, and ethos to effectively persuade the audience that eating fast foods, namely McDonald's, has horrible side effects.
The negative representation of Spurlock is revealed in many instances in Fat Head. Firstly, Naughton mirrors Spurlock’s 30-day fast food binge, which he uses as a means of demonstrating the faults in Super Size Me. Another error the director analyses is Spurlock’s daily consumption of more than 5000 calories. By displaying the calculations on the side on screen as Naughton’s criticises the errors, the director accentuates the fact that none of the meal combinations that Spurlock could consume contain 5000 calories. He also manages to construct Spurlock as sinful, dishonest person, which is symbolised by the red background. While Naughton explains his calculations, the lyric ‘Something here doesn’t seem to add up’ is played in the background. This song works together perfectly with Naughton’s commentary of Spurlock’s errors, since it further emphasises the director’s biased argument, that is, Spurlock is a prevaricator. This ensemble of v...
America has always been about being the biggest nation: the biggest houses, the biggest cars, biggest cities and unfortunately the biggest bodies. There is no doubt that fast food is causing major health problems for many Americans today. In his documentary, Super Size Me, released in 2004 Morgan Spurlock decides to eat only food from McDonald’s for thirty days to see how it would affect his health. Spurlock starts out healthier than the average man for his age. Throughout the film, we can see that his health gradually degenerates and reaches a critical point, before his thirty days are over. Super Size Me is very persuasive in showing the negative effect in fast food restaurants by using logos, pathos, and ethos.
The United States of America has long been considered a “big nation”, whether is has the biggest cities, houses, and on a negative note, biggest people. In 2003, Morgan Spurlock, a healthy-bodied film director, set on a quest to show America the detrimental effects of the fast food industry and raise awareness on the controversial issue. He produced the documentary “Supersize Me”, where McDonald’s meals were consumed for every meal of the day for thirty days. His film was released to movie theatres so that people could understand the devastating effects of McDonald’s on his body in a very short time span. At the end of his experiment, Morgan gained twenty-five pounds, developed a thirteen percent body mass increase, cholesterol skyrocketed immensely, and fat accumulation in his liver rose to. He became depressed and he only felt happy and in no pain when he was eating the fast food. By using ethos, logos, and pathos, “Supersize Me” became one of the most watched documentaries in the United States. Without these appeals, this documentary would not have developed the effect that it did.
Documentary films have become very popular in the last few years, with the success of Michael Moore’s films fueling interest in learning while being entertained. Two filmmakers have benefited from this new interest in the non-fiction film movement, including directors Morgan Spurlock and Lee Fulkerson. The two filmmakers both made documentaries regarding healthy eating, or the lack thereof, in North America. Spurlock’s film, Super Size Me, was about a healthy man who wanted to see what would happen to his body if he ate nothing but items from McDonalds for an entire month. On the other hand, Fulkerson’s Forks Over Knives is about a man on a quest to improve his health by consuming a plant and whole food based diet.
In Super Size Me Morgan Spurlock says he is going to eat at McDonald’s 3 meals everyday for 30 days, he’s going to eat every meal on the menu at least once, and he’s going to only super size when he’s asked. What Morgan tries to prove is that fast food is unhealthy and super sizing is even unhealthier, however Tom Naughton proves fast food isn’t actually unhealthy and ever since super sizing ended in 2004 diabetes and obesity haven’t decreased. In Fat Head Tom ate at many different fast food restaurants not just McDonald’s, ate a reasonable amount of food that was under about 2000 calories, and took out carbohydrates from his meals unlike Morgan. Close to the end of the film Tom visits the doctor that has been evaluating him and the doctor is surprised to reveal that Tom actually lost weight and becomes healthier than he was previously was before the
Super Size Me begins with Director and actor Morgan Spurlock being 32 years of age at the time of filming in 2003. Spurlock is recorded as being physically above average, which is attested to by several doctors as well as a nutritionist and a personal trainer. He asks these professional to track his health and wellness during the “McDiet”. Spurlock’s McDiet is a test where he will eat only food from McDonald’s for thirty days to see how it would affect his health. Throughout the filming of Super Size Me, Spurlock’s health g steadily degenerates until it eventually reaches a state of critical danger for himself, even before the experimental thirty days have concluded. While Spurlock is testing his McDiet, he also investigates further into particular
In the documentary “Supersize Me” by Morgan Spurlock, America’s obesity issue was exposed and pinpointed at one of the giant contributor and fast food marketer “McDonald's”. Throughout the documentary, many rhetorical devices were utilized to provide reasons as to how America’s obesity issue is dangerous and how Mcdonald's and major food companies contribute to this disaster in the American society. Drastic continuance of unhealthy eating habits on top of an increasingly growing population calls for an alarm to everyone. He then stresses the dangers of obesity and addresses the issue’s cause. Morgan creates a strong visual and effective argument that eating fast food is the key reason to America’s obesity issue.
Morgan Spurlock decided to make this documentary to investigate the fast food companies, and the effects of certain fast food chains products, particularly McDonalds, on the health of society. This Documentary explores the United States growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes as well. Morgan decides to eat nothing but McDonald's food for thirty days. He must eat one of everything on the menu at least once, and when asked to super size his meal he must do so. Another stipulation of Morgan's experiment is that he can only take 5,000 steps a day to replicate the exercise that most average Americans get on a daily basis. He must also eat three meals a day, no exceptions and if McDonalds doesn't serve it Morgan can't eat it.
McDonald’s is killing Americans, at least that is what Morgan Spurlock believes. In his documentary Super Size Me he embarks on a quest to not only describe and use himself as an example of the growing obesity trend, but to offer the viewers with base-line nutritional knowledge that will allow them to draw their own informed conclusions. Spurlock's primary intention is to prove through self-experimentation that eating solely McDonald's food is dangerous. His secondary intention is to denounce the rising obesity rate in American by using statistics, his own research, and the opinions of experts. His broader message is for a general audience while he tailors select chapters towards more specific demographics such as parents or McDonald's themselves.
... the health risks that are caused from eating McDonald's and other fast food, Spurlock incorporates many visual and textual pieces into this documentary. This includes documenting his personal life throughout the experiment and his final health analysis graph from the start to the end. He also includes many instances of evidence to help support his argument. He includes his own personal experience, the experience from other individuals, and expert testimonies. By including all of this, Spurlock was able to justify his reasoning towards criticizing the fast food restaurants for their role in the obesity epidemic. The techniques used by Morgan Spurlock is very effective in detailing the causes and effects of obesity in order to make people more aware of the situation.
Director Morgan Spurlock was present all throughout the documentary Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004.) Morgan Spurlock was the centerpiece to this puzzle of a documentary. Morgan Spurlock was included in almost every scene. The film focused on the body's reaction to consuming nothing but Mcdonald's for 30 days, and the director was involved in the whole experiment. There is no star bigger than the director in this mid 2000’s documentary, other recurring characters include his girlfriend (Alex Jamieson) and the doctors that helped him along the way. The way Morgan Spurlock conducts this documentary is very interesting, he was involved in mostly everything hands on. He interviewed people, asked doctors for questions,
As consumers, we like to believe that the information we are told is truthful and unbiased however, this is not always the case in relation to the fast food industry. In his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko builds a convincing argument by using logical reasoning that fast food companies should be more truthful with their caloric content. Zinczenko also uses this logical reasoning to show how ease of access and family structure can affect fast food consumption. However, Zinczenko’s use of hasty generalizations and cause and effect fallacies render his argument unconvincing overall.
McDonald’s, one of America’s fastest growing fast food restaurants, has made more than its share of money within the last twenty years serving more than 46 million people daily. They have twice as many restaurants as Burger King and more restaurants than KFC, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell Combined. Often children have the dream of eating fast food for every meal of every day. Well, Morgan Spurlock took the challenge to see how dangerous it would be to eat McDonalds for every meal. He also took the challenge in response to a lawsuit against McDonalds by a family whose children became obese by the contents of its meals. Directed and starring Morgan Spurlock, who is married to a vegan chef and a healthy man for his age, Super-Size Me is a film that followed Spurlock for 31 days as he follows certain rules set by a series of physicians. He was only allowed to meals off the McDonalds menu including water. Also, he couldn’t exercise but had to walk the same amount of steps as the average American. Filmed all over the United States, Super-Size Me was made to inform the public on the manufactured foods they consume daily. The film also raises awareness on the dangers of what manufactured foods do to the body. Super-Size Me showed how one of the most popular fast food restaurants around today may be leading future generations to severe health problems.