Super Size Me Review
by Jerry Saravia (faustus_08520 AT yahoo DOT com)September 22nd, 2005
SUPER SIZE ME (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars
It is obvious that feeding yourself nothing but McDonald's hamburgers for one month would make one sick - it would
me make quite sick. Try consuming such meals three
times a day and watch how it affects your diet. Documentarian Morgan Spurlock attempts just that and
his results are unsurprising and entertaining.
So Morgan Spurlock checks himself with doctors and fitness trainers to be sure he is in fine health before embarking on a junk food diet. It turns out his health is fine, his blood pressure is normal and he can now disavow his
vegan ways. So the first day, Spurlock eats a Super Size meal for breakfast, and let us say that the results are not surprising - he starts to vomit outside his car window. Super Size french fries, Super Size soda drink, Super Size cheeseburger and much more follow, leading to a gain in weight, headaches, more vomiting, lack of sex drive, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lethargy, etc. Along the way, we learn about the high calorie content in these processed foods, salt content, saturated fats and that these nutritional contents are hidden in almost every McDonald's restaurant. We also learn that ordering a smaller size of fries or burger value meals is still more food than should be consumed for the same size (unless you order a one-dollar cheeseburger). So here's the outstanding shocker of Spurlock's fast food diet - he consumes as much as 5,000 calories a day! As the doctors and nutritionists tell him, you keep punishing your body as such and you'll die.
So the corporations do not reveal the calorie, sodium and saturated fat amount of a typical McDonald's menu, unlike other restaurants - they obscure those details. What is the reason? To be sure there is a fat population out there? Well, does one believe that a person on an Atkins diet will frequent McDonald's? And for those who love their junk food, do you think they only go to McDonald's? What about Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, Wendy's and a host of others? And does one forget that there are Gourmet McDonald's stores out there that serve fresh Bucks County Coffee?
I enjoyed "Super Size Me" overall but I felt it was wanting. The suggestion is that eating three meals a day of McDonald's is unhealthy - it may be but how many people do you know that do such a thing? Spurlock proves it is a disaster waiting to happen. Curiously, he grows addicted to the food to the point that he becomes immune to the initial indigestion - like any addiction. It is certainly a step down from his vegetarian ways. What is the point Spurlock is trying to make with "Super Size Me"? I believe he is saying that people should eat responsibly, educate themselves and become health-conscious and
learn the meaning of the following term: moderation. Spurlock could've done likewise.
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