Super-Size Me

It seems appropriate that Morgan Spurlock's Super-Size Me hit theaters around the same time that Michael Moore's latest documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), was making an auspicious debut at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was promptly awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or. While Moore's recognition by the Cannes jury continues to divide critics, what remains indisputable was the lasting imprint he has made in documentary film. Spurlock's movie is only the most recent (and among the most successful) in a spate of politically-minded documentaries being released this year (others include The Control Room, Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, and The Corporation), and more than any of the others, he takes Moore's patented mix of humor and startling facts and runs with it.

While past accusations of grandstanding may have compelled Moore to reduce his onscreen presence in Fahrenheit 9/11, Spurlock is more than happy to take on the role of guinea pig and main subject in his documentary. With a more laidback disposition and less overtly polemical stance than Moore, he largely carries this off successfully.

In the course of the documentary, which takes direct aim at a major American corporation – McDonald's – Spurlock decides to undergo an experiment: for 30 days, he will eat nothing but McDonalds for three square meals a day. While he admits that the average consumption of the food is not quite this extreme, he points out that a hefty number of Americans eat fast food more than two or three times a week. In stellar health prior to his Big Mac attack, he and his doctors watch in horror as his weight rapidly balloons, his liver begins to fail, and his mood becomes prone to rapid shifts.

In the midst of these physical changes, Spurlock endeavors to uncover the marketing machine behind the fast food companies, and the ways in which they target young children. One especially telling scene features the director with a group of first graders; although hard-pressed to identify a picture of Jesus (though one child guesses that the portrait is of George W. Bush), they have no problem recognizing Ronald McDonald. Spurlock also scrutinizes America's obesity epidemic, taking pains to highlight that tobacco is its only major rival as the nation's biggest cause of preventable death. Compounding the problem, in his view, is the lobbying and advertising power of the food industry, which enables them to push their sugar-filled and carb-loaded products into the country's school systems.

Amidst the flurry of statistics presented here, in the end what stands out are the stunning physical and mental changes Spurlock undergoes. While this movie may not invoke sweeping changes in American eating habits, it certainly makes you think twice about rushing over to McDonald's during your lunch break.