Well, it’s easily the hottest documentary in current circulation .. until Fahrenheit 9/11 takes over the world at least. It’s the story of a man. A simple Man. He’s curious of what exactly would happen if he ate nothing but McDonald’s for a straight month. And Wow, Lemme tell ya.
The Rules:
– Eat everything on the menu at least once
– If they ask to Super Size it, he must say “yes” (surprisingly, this only happens 9 times the whole month!)
– He must eat Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.
– Everything – including water, must be from McD’s. If they don’t sell it, he won’t eat it.
– He can only get as much exercise each day as the “Average American” gets everyday. Which isn’t a lot.
Getting the opinion of 3 different doctors as he ventured into his binge (all of which gave him a VERY healthy state of condition before he began), all three doctors expected to see an increase in triglycerides (a form of fat in food and the bloodstream) and that’s about it, maybe an increase in cholesterol but nothing of major signifigance because, as they said “A healthy body is very resilient”. However all three doctors were shocked at the staggering weight gain (about a pound a day) and the fact that his liver and other unhealthy blood contents were being juiced to, quite literally, deadly levels. The liver was the biggie. One doctor said: “If you were an alcoholic, I’d tell you to stop drinking right now or you’re going to die.” They urged him to quit, his girlfirend and his mother and even he were all frightened for his own health and safety. At the peak, the doctors were giving him instructions on how to identify life-threatening signs and when to call an ambulance. And yet, he continued to eat. At this point, even I as an audience member REALLY wanted him to stop eating – it stopped being an “eye-opening research” film and became a humanitarian plea of “Damn, this guy could, in all seriousness, be killing himself.”
The documentary is a fly in the face of McDonald’s claim that it is part of a healthy diet and McDonald’s testimony in court that their prosecutors couldn’t prove that their food was dangerous or caused 2 overweight girls their problems.
Super Size Me isn’t just an attack on McDonald’s, but the general disgusting eating habits that North Americans have. And disgusting in spades. And what do we do to solve it? As Little As Possible. We buy “weight loss” equipment that eliminates our need to exercise, we go on fad diets (like that Atkins nonsense) – as if those have ever worked, we cart our butts around so we don’t have to walk anymore — Because the REAL solution is simply far too stupid: Eat Less, Exercise More. Who woulda thunk it.
The surprising thing is: this food and the food being served in your schools don’t NEED to be that unhealthy. Schools that served healthier foods said the food costs were comparable if not the same — So, why not make McDonald’s and other junk foods healthier if it’s all the same? — Well, that’s easy: Healthy food isn’t nearly as chemically addictive. Yup, that’s right! Lure ’em when they’re young with toys, play gyms, happy meals and video centres, feed ’em strangely yummy food along with the “fun”, and you’ll still have them when they’re 30. That is, if they live that long.
Actually Marla and Luke, you’ve both raised the doubt that the documentary will actually change anything…
to which I’d like to address:
1) Actually, the movie does a facinating job of making McDonald’s seem digusting — or eating junk food on any level really. I mean you just watched it nearly KILL a guy…
2) – As far as “who’s going to change?” – the filmmaker agrees with you.. how will this affect anything? The problem is so large, it’s almost not worth mentioning… Which, if you go back and read that sentence, is exactly the point. Our society has become *SO* lazy, *SO* “convenient”, SO apathetic and so selfish, that a huge problem like the one this movie is about: No One Will Really CARE!!!. How screwed up is that?? —
Our society is SO lethargic, that the single largest food distributor is distributing food that will nearly KILL YOU!!!!! – AND what do we do??? NOTHING!!! Why??!?!?! Convenience!!! Hurray. Yaay Us.
— I think the exact point you brought up, which the movie brings as well is the exact underlying point. Change must start somewhere.
Reality tv is sick!!! I cant believe how sick america has become!!! I SWEAR TO GOD, ONE DAY THE TRUMAN SHOW WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN! SOON THERE WILL BE A BOX ON EVERY TV IN AMERICA (BATMAN FOREVER “MANIPULATING BRAIN WAVES”-EDWARD NIGMA)UGH, its madness…the guy eating the mcdicks is proving a marvelous point but how many average americans are gonna change their daily routine after watching the documentary?…HAPPEN NOT GONNA!
I’m going to be keeping an eye out for this.The concept is good enough to elevate it above just a stream of things we know are bad about that evil company and their food from hell. This should be an entertaining watch, though I bet You that plenty of people will still stream out of the cinema and to the nearest McD’s afterwards heh. I haven’t been in a McDonalds for years (they’re not really My first choice of hangout as a Vegan lol), one of the few good things I have to say about myself lol
Nice call Dave. A tv show is in the works … don’t remember for which network, though …
I’ve not seen the film yet but I understand it does deal with the responsibility issue … he decided to do it after hearing about the women who (unsuccessfully) sued McDonald’s for their obesity …
Wimp. If we wanted to watch a guy risk his life, he should have tried White Castle. I had one of those burgers and felt like a trip to the ER and a stomach pump wouldn’t have been enough.
I’ll see this, but I’m guessing we’ll all be saying “Well, Duh!” to a lot of the movie. Guess what? Eating crap is bad for you! Eating crap three times a day is really bad for you. Eating those “McRiddles” things will leave you on the toilet for three hours. I hope there’s some talk about personal responsibility…I’ve got a McD across the street and they’ve yet use their hypno-ray to force feed me a Big Mac. Three chocolate shakes in the last year? That’s another story…
Reality TV isn’t a dying fad, it’s just disguising itself as a documentary. I half-expect the spin-off series on FOX this summer.
Forget making them stop walking blindly. I just want to kick everyone’s ass
I’ts just surprising to me that people are now becoming aware of all this information that has been know for years. I want to kick everyones ass and make them stop walking blindly through life to get to death so fast.
yeah, I saw it in one of the “indie-leaning” theatres in Toronto. I should look up how large the release is… it’s likely less than 500 screens… one sec…
Wow.. it’s only in 41 theatres and it made more than half a million bucks on the weekend. — more than 12,000 per theatre.. that’s frickin solid.
I’ve heard a lot of great thing about this… I’m really looking forward to seeing it. Hopefully the local art theatre will get it.
That actually sounds like one of the best documentaries appearing lately… really want to see that!!
Fingers crossed it’ll eventually emerge in the UK!