"Super Size Me", rather than being a straightforward example of debauchery, is an allegory for the desperate need to change personal nutrition in America. Morgan Spurlock challenges the limits of obscenity in making "Super Size Me", in which he goes on a thirty day "adventure", eating only McDonald's food and recording the tolls it takes on his body. Yet this movie's purpose is not for the reader to sneer and laugh at the obese, there is a bigger point. Morgan Spurlock tries to depict the average consumer as innocent, while targeting corporations in his quest to prove them guilty. He created an ingenious movie, filled with many obvious and some not so obvious claims to why America is overweight, but there is a flaw in his reasoning. American diets, as "Super Size Me" claims, are destroyed by a luring corporate America, yet what Mr. Spurlock doesn't realize is that the individual is more responsible for his own diet than the corporations are. He takes away from the importance of individuality by rendering many people he interviews as helpless and manipulated by corporations. He even manages to contradict himself on many occasions, making the purpose of the movie very unclear.
[...] Spurlock even goes so far as to show us Samuel Hirsch, the lawyer for the two misled girls, who when asked why he is suing McDonalds responds mean besides monetary compensation?” This puts Spurlock's idea that McDonalds is responsible for the obesity problems in America into question. The lawyer obviously does not believe in the cause and Spurlock is showing America exactly what he doesn't want them to see, just that not everyone sees it. In the documentary he is trying to put himself in the shoes of a McDonald's customer, therefore, he must act like one. [...]
[...] In essence, this movie does not come as a complete shock, but rather convinces the average American to eat healthier and cook his or her own food. This is because the average American, sometimes even without knowing it, does not get nearly the necessary amount of minerals and vitamins. Even those Americans who have not once in their lives stepped foot in McDonald's, or the rest of the fast food industry which McDonald's is a metaphor for, those Americans still consume things like instant lunches and on-the-go snacks. All those foods contain just as many if not more [...]
[...] We have vacuums that automatically clean your room, we have cars, we have elevators and of course everyone not living in a cave has a television with a remote control. We even have toilets that relieve us of the strenuous chore of cleaning yourself after the bathroom. I have personally seen a gym with an escalator leading up to it. In the scene where Spurlock goes to a Madison junior high school he does make the point that lack of physical education in school districts is hurting our future, but like after every good point he makes he goes right back to blaming fast food. [...]
[...] A person interviewed at the beginning of the documentary puts it best: I can walk by the McDonalds advertising, they can do it Other people in the documentary are not as fortunate, in terms of the opinions they bring across. People interviewed by Spurlock come off looking foolish and brainwashed as if corporate America has brainwashed them to the point of no return. An obese girl interviewed by Spurlock, at a high school where Jared, the spokesperson for Subway, says she cannot afford a diet like his even though she wishes she could. [...]
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