Balls
Just as headlines hit about filmmaker Michael Moore's struggle to get his completed Bush-bashing documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 distributed, another politically charged documentary rolls into theaters with some snowballing buzz behind it. Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me documents the disturbing physical consequences of the filmmaker's month-long adherence to a strict McDonald's-only diet, and uses those consequences to jump-start more general discussions of America's obesity epidemic and the pernicious practices of multinational corporations. While falling short of the devastating, broad-based critique of Eric Schlosser's 2001 book Fast Food Nation, Spurlock's film continues an important trend of questioning the hegemony sacred cows such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's exert over our lives.
Spurlock constructed his experiment as follows: He determined to eat McDonald's three meals a day for 30 days. During this period he could only consume items available on the McDonald's menu, he had to try every item on the menu at least once, and he had to accept the "Supersized" portions whenever offered. To track any changes that might occur over the next month, Spurlock enlisted the help of several medical specialists, as well as a dietitian and a personal trainer. At the beginning of the experiment, all the enlisted experts agreed, Spurlock's health was in tiptop shape.
Without giving away too much, by the end of the month things were very different. A few days into the experiment, Spurlock was complaining of fatigue and headaches, and on at least one occasion produced some Supersized portions of vomit. Weight gain became an immediate problem. Furthermore, Spurlock's girlfriend, Alex Jamieson, began to register new sexual complaints. The full extent of the physical problems Spurlock develops as a result of his 30-day McBinge shocks himself, his girlfriend, and even the doctors monitoring his vital signs; suffice it to say, the maladies...
Please login to view the full essay...