Supersize Me: Infotainment
I saw Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock's expose of the fast food industry, at Ventana del Soul last night. Let me say one thing first: i hate hippies. Goddamn dirty hippies, I fucking hate 'em, and they were everywhere. If the screening hadn't been free, I would have left, but it was free, and I'd never seen it before, so I stayed. What I saw was an interesting piece of entertainment that told me lots of things I already knew, a few things I didn't, and more questions than answers.
To begin with, most people are by now familiar with the premise of the film: Spurlock goes on a 30 day binge, eating nothing but McDonalds food. In addition to eating nothing but McDonalds food, Spurlock also stops almost all physical activity, including any unnecessary walking, in order to more clsoely mimic the activity level of the average American (which is zero). Over the course of the film, Spurlock goes from a trim 185 lbs (over his 6 ft 2 in frame) to 210 lbs, his blood pressure and cholesterol levels sky rocket, he starts to get bizarre headaches and chest pains, and his liver turns into pate.
Spurlock uses this experiment as a jumping off point to present various facts about the fast food industry. (A similar technique was used by James McManus is his book Positively Fifth Street). If I'd had more presence of mind I would have written down some of the statistics that Spurlock presents, but I didn't, and furthermore, those stats aren't really the focus of the film. The whole point of the film is to act as a thinly veiled argument that the fast food industry is responsible for the rise in obesity in America and the concomittant rises in diseases associated with obesity. Spurlock supports his claim with assertions that America is a toxic environment in which people cannot avoid fast food and that fast food is addictive.
The first argument is basic Marx, and it simply claims that environment creates behavior rather than behavior creating environment. I disagree with this assertion. Whatever our environment happens to be, it doesn't stop us from being rational animals and it doesn't absolve us of the responsiblity to choose the manner in which we live our lives; additionally, it doesn't absolve us from the responsibility of facing the consequences of our choices. On the stretch of Oltorf I drive down nearly everyday, there are at least three pizza joints, a couple of liquor stores and several hamburger joints, yet I continue to cook and eat most of my meals at home. Of course, my anecdotal evidence is not sufficient to discount the claim, but it is indicative of the alternatives that people have.
The second claim of addiction is equally spurious, and we can see this from the behavior of Spurlock himself. Over the course of the film, Spurlock claims that he feels depressed during the day and that his depression is alleviated when he eats McDonalds. Additionally, he claims that after he finishes eating, he is imbued with a sense of well-being which makes him desire more McDonalds food. This doesn't square with Spurlocks behavior at the end of the experiment, in which he is not simply relieved to be over with the experiment, he is happy he won't have to eat McDonalds food again. His words say one thing, but his actions say quite another. If Spurlock were truly addicted, he wouldn't WANT to end his binge, much less have the will power to end it on the first try and with no outside intervention. If Spurlock is as addicted to McDonalds as he claims, then his cold trukey cessation from the company's food is the most incredible act of will power I've seen in quite some time. And I don't buy it.
Supersize Me is at various times entertaining, disgusting, and thought provoking, but it is never convincing. Luckily, I didn't have to spend money for it, so I won't lose any sleep over it.
I saw Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock's expose of the fast food industry, at Ventana del Soul last night. Let me say one thing first: i hate hippies. Goddamn dirty hippies, I fucking hate 'em, and they were everywhere. If the screening hadn't been free, I would have left, but it was free, and I'd never seen it before, so I stayed. What I saw was an interesting piece of entertainment that told me lots of things I already knew, a few things I didn't, and more questions than answers.
To begin with, most people are by now familiar with the premise of the film: Spurlock goes on a 30 day binge, eating nothing but McDonalds food. In addition to eating nothing but McDonalds food, Spurlock also stops almost all physical activity, including any unnecessary walking, in order to more clsoely mimic the activity level of the average American (which is zero). Over the course of the film, Spurlock goes from a trim 185 lbs (over his 6 ft 2 in frame) to 210 lbs, his blood pressure and cholesterol levels sky rocket, he starts to get bizarre headaches and chest pains, and his liver turns into pate.
Spurlock uses this experiment as a jumping off point to present various facts about the fast food industry. (A similar technique was used by James McManus is his book Positively Fifth Street). If I'd had more presence of mind I would have written down some of the statistics that Spurlock presents, but I didn't, and furthermore, those stats aren't really the focus of the film. The whole point of the film is to act as a thinly veiled argument that the fast food industry is responsible for the rise in obesity in America and the concomittant rises in diseases associated with obesity. Spurlock supports his claim with assertions that America is a toxic environment in which people cannot avoid fast food and that fast food is addictive.
The first argument is basic Marx, and it simply claims that environment creates behavior rather than behavior creating environment. I disagree with this assertion. Whatever our environment happens to be, it doesn't stop us from being rational animals and it doesn't absolve us of the responsiblity to choose the manner in which we live our lives; additionally, it doesn't absolve us from the responsibility of facing the consequences of our choices. On the stretch of Oltorf I drive down nearly everyday, there are at least three pizza joints, a couple of liquor stores and several hamburger joints, yet I continue to cook and eat most of my meals at home. Of course, my anecdotal evidence is not sufficient to discount the claim, but it is indicative of the alternatives that people have.
The second claim of addiction is equally spurious, and we can see this from the behavior of Spurlock himself. Over the course of the film, Spurlock claims that he feels depressed during the day and that his depression is alleviated when he eats McDonalds. Additionally, he claims that after he finishes eating, he is imbued with a sense of well-being which makes him desire more McDonalds food. This doesn't square with Spurlocks behavior at the end of the experiment, in which he is not simply relieved to be over with the experiment, he is happy he won't have to eat McDonalds food again. His words say one thing, but his actions say quite another. If Spurlock were truly addicted, he wouldn't WANT to end his binge, much less have the will power to end it on the first try and with no outside intervention. If Spurlock is as addicted to McDonalds as he claims, then his cold trukey cessation from the company's food is the most incredible act of will power I've seen in quite some time. And I don't buy it.
Supersize Me is at various times entertaining, disgusting, and thought provoking, but it is never convincing. Luckily, I didn't have to spend money for it, so I won't lose any sleep over it.
kinkerbelle:
I agree 