Super Size Me
Dir: Morgan Spurlock
2004
****
Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me lead the way in what would become the beginning of a new era of investigative journalism at the beginning of the new millennium. Spurlock's mission is clear but never truthfully given. I like Spurlock at lot, he is a likable guy and that is why Super Size Me works but he is first and foremost a film maker, rather than documentarian or activist. He may be against something and/or enjoy something but filming it doesn't make it a documentary. Spurlock challenged himself to eat a McDonalds meal for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for a 30 day period. He had to try everything on the menu at least once, couldn't eat food that wasn't purchased in a McDonalds and had to accept the offer of 'Supersizing' his meal when asked (9 times in total). The results were shocking but not really surprising. Throughout the film, Spurlock talks of America's obesity epidemic and discusses the issue with good humor and statistics but unfortunately his experiment is completely flawed as far as a clinical trial. It is an entertaining film throughout and it raises some very valid points and had impact in the world of fast food but it also paved the way for some somewhat unethical and misleading documentaries that would follow on from its success. It's a shame really, as I believe his results do stand up, they just can't be fully verified based on how he went about the experiment. A game changer, inspiration, fascinating case-point and a very funny film though, so credit due.