Title: Super Size Me
Country: United States of America
Language: English
Year: 2004
Cast:
- Morgan Spurlock
- Daryl M. Isaacs
- Lisa Ganjhu
- Steven Siegel
- Bridget Bennet
- Eric Rowley
- Mark Fenton
- Alexandra Jamieson (Alex)
- John F. Banzhaf III
- Samuel Hirsch
- David Satcher
- Lisa Young
- Kelly Brownell
- Jacob Sullum
- Tommy Thompson
- William Klish
- Jared Fogle
- John Robbins
- Don Gorske
- Mary Gorske
- Ron English
- Margo Wootan
- Marion Nestle
- Barbara Brown
- Kay Glover
- Greg Bretthauer
- Debra Larson
- Paul Stitt
- Marlene Canter
- Gene Grabowski
- Phil Lawler
- Brian Philips
- Gerald Tirozzi
- Neal Barnard
- Catherine Schilcher
- Bruce Howlett
- Adam Naaman
- Carl Geisler
SYNOPSIS
While examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald's food for one month.
REVIEW
Super Size Me is a controversial documentary about the adverse effects of a fast food diet on good health and general well-being. It shared a lot of points to ponder, but I didn't really like how it focused on how terrible the fast food industry is.
I think the film spent an inordinate amount of time showing how bad fast food is. I suppose it's true, especially when compared to unprocessed food and organic food. But the thing is, the fast food chains are here to stay and it would have been better if the film presented healthier options available in popular fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, etc.
Super Size Me talked about how the option of supersizing fast food meals caused most people to be fat. I think the 'super size' option is not available anymore in most fast food chains in the US, but it wasn't ever offered where I am from. Actually, in my side of the world, the sizes are different; the kiddie cup in the US is the regular cup, the regular cup in the US is the medium cup, and the medium cup in the US is the large cup. Needless to say, the large cup and the super size cup are not available.
However, I agree that portion control is very important. Whenever I order out, I make it a rule to get the smallest size available, which makes sense because it is usually the regular serving. I think it's better to get used to normal-size portions, and then just consider upsizing or getting a bigger serving if you are extremely hungry or thirsty.
Of course, applying my rule of always ordering the regular option gets tricky whenever I travel because as I have already mentioned, sizes are different in some places. Particularly in the US, sometimes what constitutes one serving in the US can equate to two or three servings where I am from.
Anyway, Morgan Spurlock conducted an experiment on whether a fast food diet can make someone fat by only eating food from McDonald's for one month. He did gain weight, and he also felt terrible the whole time. I don't know how much credibility I can give him though, because the parameters of his experiment weren't clearly presented.
I don't know how much negative publicity the film has brought about on the fast food industry, particularly McDonald's. I mean, the fact that fast food is not really good for one's health is pretty much common knowledge. Personally, watching Super Size Me did not stop me from going to fast food restaurants.
I cannot really completely eliminate fast food from my diet even though I know there are healthier alternatives. I choose not to, simply because I love fried chicken and French fries. In addition, I don't know why but the fast food I buy usually tastes better compared to when I try to make home-made versions.
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Super Size Me
