CATRIONA PAUL at the Movies.

EAT TOO MANY McDonalds and you’ll get fat. It’s commonsense. Eat McDonalds breakfast, lunch and dinner for a month and you’ll get really fat – right? Well, as Morgan Spurlock’s documentary suggests, you may end up with bigger problems than weight gain – try breathlessness, heartburn, a toxic liver and failing libido. For anyone trying to break the fast food habit, this film is the perfect therapy.
  
Morgan Spurlock is unlike the average American – he’s not fat, he exercises regularly and, living in New York, he walks to work. However, fat has become the 2nd biggest preventable cause of death in America, (after smoking), and obesity and related health problems are affecting an increasing number of children.
  
Two obese teenagers recently sued McDonalds for causing them to become fat. Although the case was thrown out, the debate over how unhealthy McDonalds meals are, and how responsible they are for helping to create a nation of fatties, inspired Spurlock to put the two issues in front of the camera.
 
He set himself the challenge of eating only McDonalds’ food for a whole month, reduced his exercise in line with the national average, and got a bunch of doctors to monitor the results. Half way through the trial month, the impact on his health was so detrimental that his doctors recommended he get off the diet before his liver was mangled any further.
  
Spurlock has made a thought-provoking film with enough daring / stupidity to attract a wider audience than would usually be interested in debating society’s new ill. His approach to the experiment is engaging and funny. But the extreme test and partisan approach tend to skew the focus and narrow responsibility for one of society’s biggest issues.
  
Nevertheless, Spurlock’s first feature has been well received, winning The Guardian New Director’s Award at Edinburgh International Film Festival. Taking shots at government has become a popular hobby in film recently and this latest stab at one of America’s most famous and influential multi-nationals may just have revealed the newer, slimmer, less grating Mr. Moore.
  
SUPER SIZE ME
Selected release

Writer and Director: Morgan Spurlock
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 98 mins
Country: USA
Year: 2003
 

© Catriona Paul, 2004

Related Links:

Super Size Me official site