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Super Size Me

zakur

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http://www.supersizeme.com/home.aspx?page=aboutmovie
Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the road and interviewed experts in 20 U.S. cities, including Houston, the "Fattest City" in America. From Surgeon Generals to gym teachers, cooks to kids, lawmakers to legislators, these authorities shared their research, opinions and "gut feelings" on our ever-expanding girth.

During the journey, Spurlock also put his own body on the line, living on nothing but McDonald's for an entire month with three simple rules:

1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!)
2) No supersizing unless offered
3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

It all adds up to a fat food bill, harrowing visits to the doctor, and compelling viewing for anyone who's ever wondered if man could live on fast food alone.
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http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040415/dcth037_1.html
Filmmaker Soso Whaley's 30-day diet of McDonald's meals has neared its halfway point, and not only is she feeling good, she's lost five pounds. Whaley's documentary project, focusing on personal responsibility, obesity, and public health, is taking on the increasing victim mentality being fostered by public health activists and the dishonest bashing of the fast food industry.

"This experience has taught me not to think of food as good or bad," said Whaley, who's also an adjunct fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "Food is food, plain and simple. It's not inherently evil, and our only 'problem' is that we have been very successful as a species in learning how to create easily accessible food sources."

Partly inspired by the soon-to-be released film Super Size Me, Whaley is demonstrating how Americans can enjoy their favorite foods and stay healthy once they decide to take control of their own well-being with a balanced approach to nutrition and exercise. The project will also focus on the ridiculous proposition of blaming restaurants and food manufacturers for the obesity and health problems of individual Americans.
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http://www.acsh.org/press/editorials/getfat021104.html
Actually, Mr. Spurlock is simply following an old Hollywood tradition — gaining weight to suit a movie role. Robert DeNiro did it for "Raging Bull," as did Rene Zellweger for "Bridget Jones' Diary," and most recently, Charlize Theron for "Monster." As far as I know, none of these thespians restricted their weight-gaining efforts to any particular type of food or eating venue.

But that won't stop Mr. Spurlock (and others) from blaming McDonald's for his own foray into gluttony. This despite the fact that Americans are overindulging in virtually all venues, not just fast food outlets like McDonald's. Recent reports of food consumption and calorie intake indicate that between national surveys performed in the late 1970s and the mid-1990s, intake increased significantly almost across the board. Americans over 2 years of age consumed nearly 200 more calories per day in the '90s than in the '70s. And whether one looks at French fries, desserts, salty snacks, meals or Mexican food, the increases were statistically significant.

[...]

The finger pointing indulged in by Mr. Spurlock and others is misleading because it suggests that "fast foods" are the main culprits for the nation's increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity. But the problem is bigger than just one type of food. In fact, any calorically-dense foods, eaten to excess, can add inches to one's girth, especially if unaccompanied by calorie-burning exercise; that should be the real message — not that cheeseburgers and fries, (or carbohydrate or fat ) automatically make one fat!
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rottentomatoes.com has a great index rating for this flick, I can't wait to see it.
 
aerocontrols said:


The most recent Crime Against Humanity perpetrated by a South African.
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Was she really that bad? I haven't seen the film.
 
"It all adds up to a fat food bill, harrowing visits to the doctor, and compelling viewing for anyone who's ever wondered if man could live on fast food alone."

And anyone interested in finding out whether man can live on water through a tube alone can watch David Blaine.

Is it really supposed to a great revelation that McDonald's food is unhealthy when eaten exclusively? If he wanted a really dramatic decrease in his health, he should have chosen Baskin Robbins. Or a bar. If you want to go someplace where you can get all your nutritional needs, go to a supermarket. That's why it's called a super market; a regular market specializes in one thing. I don't think even a fruit market would supply a healthy diet, if patronized exclusively. If this guy really wanted to tell us something we don't know, perhaps he could have examined supposedly healthier restuarants. Most people know that fast food isn't healthy, but how many are aware of the nutritional value of sit down restuarants?
 
The whole 'eating only at McDonald's thing has been discussed in other threads, such as here: http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34616

Basically the guy's a dumb*ss. No details on what exactly he was eating (just a statement how he had to have everything on the menu at least once), no details on how much exercising he was doing, and no indication what he was eating before he started the 1 month 'experiment'. (I remember seeing that his girlfriend was a vegitarian, and if that's true, he probably wasn't used to eating meat to begin with.)
 
It's not even that McD's is completely unhealthy. First off they guy didn't need to supersize every meal. 2nd why didn't he try some of the salads of the other menu choices? #rd, the guys just a wus if he got sick. It took me 3 months of eating nothing but sliders, dogs, and chili to start to show even the first signs of nutritional deficiency on my first deployment - and I was 6 ft at 133 lbs. That stuff isn't prepared with half the care or quality that you get at McD's. And 4th, who eats at McDonald's 3 meals a day anyway?

This guy is just a wannabe Michael Moore - takes some facts and mixes them with a bunch of half-truths, exagerations, and lies.
 
Agammamon said:
It's not even that McD's is completely unhealthy. First off they guy didn't need to supersize every meal.
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He didn't. He only supersized (has this become an actual verb?) when they asked--which really wasn't that often.

Agammamon said:

2nd why didn't he try some of the salads of the other menu choices?
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He did. He ate everything that was on the menu.
Agammamon said:

3#rd, the guys just a wus if he got sick. It took me 3 months of eating nothing but sliders, dogs, and chili to start to show even the first signs of nutritional deficiency on my first deployment - and I was 6 ft at 133 lbs. That stuff isn't prepared with half the care or quality that you get at McD's.
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Who knows. The amount of sodium, preservatives, sugars, and fats in most fast food is staggering. I got queasy watching him eat all that crap.
Agammamon said:

And 4th, who eats at McDonald's 3 meals a day anyway?
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He doesn't contend that anybody does, but there is no shortage of people who eat fast-food multiple times per week. Eating it all the time was the catch of the movie--and not a bad demonstration.
Agammamon said:

This guy is just a wannabe Michael Moore - takes some facts and mixes them with a bunch of half-truths, exagerations, and lies.
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What half-truths or exagerations? "Fast food is bad for you." I don't think that falls into that category.

The most important point of the movie--the one that gets lost in the hoopla of his diet--is the marketing of fast-food and junk-food to the young--even within the school system. It's really an insidious business.

Fordama
 
Films like this aren't meant to reflect absolute truth but if they were, I'd say that agreeing to every request to supersize it was a mistake. Accepting every request to supersize is basically agreeing a regimen of eating even when you're not hungry (assuming that your original order reflected your hunger status).

And from what I understand he also purposely stopped exercising during that month. So the conclusion is, purposeful abuse of your body is abusive to your body. If he had kept his treatment of his body the same as before except that he started to eat every meal at McDonald's then we could more accurately determine the effect of eating every meal at McDonald's. But I suppose that wouldn't have been dramatic and most viewers can't tell the difference anyway so perhaps it can be marked down as artistic liscence for the purpose of the movie only.
 
Who wants to bet that the "Competitive Enterprise Institute" is cashing checks from the fast food industry?

I was reading a newspaper article on Carl's Jr.'s Bacon Six Dollar Burger- 1000+ Calories, 69 grams of fat. Ouch.
 
Number Six said:
Films like this aren't meant to reflect absolute truth but if they were, I'd say that agreeing to every request to supersize it was a mistake. Accepting every request to supersize is basically agreeing a regimen of eating even when you're not hungry (assuming that your original order reflected your hunger status).
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In a certain sense he was stressing that while your original order did reflect your hunger status, that the restaraunt would entice the customer with more food at somewhat of a bargain.

He expressed surprise, as I think most of us would, that he was only asked to supersize nine times that month.
Number Six said:

And from what I understand he also purposely stopped exercising during that month. So the conclusion is, purposeful abuse of your body is abusive to your body. If he had kept his treatment of his body the same as before except that he started to eat every meal at McDonald's then we could more accurately determine the effect of eating every meal at McDonald's. But I suppose that wouldn't have been dramatic and most viewers can't tell the difference anyway so perhaps it can be marked down as artistic liscence for the purpose of the movie only.
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If I recall correctly, he cut his exercise back and especially his walking, to match an "average" American.

One thing that I find interesting is the emotional response to the film by people who haven't even seen it. It's as though people are concerned about the well-being of the fast-food industry, and often MacDonalds!

All in all, it was an interesting movie. He's an amusing guy and a good storyteller.

Fordama
 
In the UK we're up in arms because we've discovered that the fried chicken and dressing in a salad means that it has more (k)calories than a gajillion burgers.

For a less extreme assessment look here http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/news/index.asp?id=110645&D=22&M=4&Y=2004 where they say that a salad has 554kcal and a Big Mac, large fries, large cola and McFlurry ice cream with Smarties has 1,458kcal

So maybe there was a little exageration in the press
 
So if I'm to believe this woman, you can lose weight by eating anything, as long as you don't eat too much of it.

No crap, Columbo! :D
 
evil sutko said:
I was reading a newspaper article on Carl's Jr.'s Bacon Six Dollar Burger- 1000+ Calories, 69 grams of fat. Ouch.
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Hell, that's no problem. You just have to know how to eat it. You see, the problem is not the 1000 calories or even the 69 grams of fat. The real problem is the bun. Just eat the burger without the bun (and those evil carbs) and the pounds will just melt right off you!!
 
Thanz said:
Hell, that's no problem. You just have to know how to eat it. You see, the problem is not the 1000 calories or even the 69 grams of fat. The real problem is the bun. Just eat the burger without the bun (and those evil carbs) and the pounds will just melt right off you!!
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Are you suggesting that if you eliminate carbs from your diet, you will lose weight regardless of how many calories you consume?
 
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