FUN—SUPERSIZED!

I saw "Supersize Me!" the Morgan Spurlock documentary about the dangers of eating nothing but McDonalds for 31 days, at K’s house yesterday. Someone came up with the brilliant idea of eating a big bag of McDonalds food at the same time. Mmmm… McDonalds food… Quarter-Pounder with Cheese… Large fries… Sugary orange drink fortified with Vitamin C…

I was pleasantly surprised by how even-handed "Supersize Me!" was. I don’t know if it was the title, or maybe some advanced piece of hype I read about the movie, but I expected 90 minutes of full-on, unrepentant McDonalds bashing. Morgan Spurlock certainly argues that fast food is a major component of America’s growing obesity problem. But he also makes an effort to link fast food to a growing trend of increasing crap consumption, and decreasing physical activity, which has infiltrated our daily lives.

So, sure, we get an entire month of him eating nothing but McDonalds food. But we also get an expose of school cafeterias, where hardly any cooking is ever done anymore. Apparently, corporations make billions of dollars feeding our nation’s school children frozen beef patties and canned sloppy joes—not much better than fast food, nutrition-wise—even though making meals fresh would be cheaper, and better for the kids. One cannot help but be amused when Spurlock and crew profile a school that makes fresh meals, and has better-behaved children as a result, and it turns out to be a juvenile hall.

"Supersize Me!" also reveals the downsizing of Physical Education classes, which I personally didn’t think was too much of a tragedy. But then I was introduced to the sugar-water addict. There’s a character in the documentary whose consumption of Coca-cola would make any sane person want to yell at them, "DON’T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SUGAR YOU’RE CONSUMING, FOR GOD’S SAKE?!" He admitted to guzzling 2-3 bottles of soda per day. That’s 2-3 TWO-LITER BOTTLES! At the time Spurlock and crew profiled him, he was in the hospital to have his stomach stapled. The man’s doctor told him his weight was dangerously high, and what with the diabetes he had already developed, something needed to be done to curb his consumption. I just sat there thinking, "This man needs to stop drinking soda, and go take a walk. He does not need unnecessary surgery that will only jack up medical insurance costs for the rest of us."

Clearly, Morgan Spurlock experienced serious health complications as a result of his fast food binging. But as I said, any McDonalds-bashing is kept to a minimum (And mostly, in the form of some very creative clown paintings), or spread around to other recognizable fast-food companies.

In fact, this may seem unbelievable, but I think "Supersize Me!" actually gives McDonalds some extremely potent free advertising. In the course of a month, Spurlock has to order each item on the restaurant’s menu at least once. While I was sitting there, Quarter Pounder with Cheese Value Meal already digesting, I would see each new sandwich or breakfast item float by on the TV screen, and I’d feel this irrepressible urge to go to the nearest McDonalds for a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or Chicken Nuggets, or McGriddle. It’s true, I tell you! I had serious McDonalds cravings all throughout "Supersize Me!"

I need to stop watching movies, and go take a walk.