Supersize Me

2. An outline of the
documentary
Super Size Me is a documentary directed by Morgan Spurlock in
2004 about Morgan’s McDonalds diet for 30 days and what
happens to the body if you only eat McDonalds food from the 1st
of February to March 2nd 2003. The film documents the effect
the food has on Spurlock’s physical and mental health after
eating the junk food three times a day. He ate every single item
off the menu which out of the 30 days only took him nine to do
so.

3. Production details
• Morgan Spurlock directed, produced,
wrote and stared in the documentary.
• Editor was Julie Lombardi
• Production company was The Con.
• Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films
Roadside Attractions.
• The budget was $65,000, in the box office
is made $29,529,368 bringing in a profit of
$29,464,368.

4. Type of documentary
and the features it
employs
Super Size Me is an expository documentary as it has most of the
features. Firstly there was a narrator who was Morgan Spurlock himself
explaining different parts of the documentary. He also uses a structure
throughout for example he starts off with him going to get professional
advice, and then in chronological order shows him going through the 30
days ending with him being unhealthy and ill. But in-between there
were little subheadings like ‘children’. In the documentary there was a
reconstruction/animation about how much money each fast food chain
made against how much a healthy chain made though advertising.
Spurlock throughout does stereotype and simplifies the argument as he
doesn’t discuss the positives of McDonalds, for example he doesn’t talk
about the charity work its been involved in in detail, he just briefly
mentions it near the end.

5. The message and
purpose of the
documentary
I believe the purpose of the documentary is to try and prove the theory that
McDonald's Restaurants are knowingly selling food that is unhealthy is true.
So documentarian Morgan Spurlock decides to conduct an unscientific
experiment using himself as the guinea pig to only eat McDonald's for thirty
days, three meals a day, and if he is asked by the worker if he would like the
meal to be super sized, he has to say yes. Also I think Spurlock made this
documentary to make people aware of what they’re eating.
The message I consider is to show the viewers the pros and cons of the fast
food lifestyle, and what I found that had a big impact when watching is that he
used himself. As he goes through the experiment, he speaks to a number of
people - many experts including a general practitioner, a cardiologist and a
gastroenterologist to find out more about how his body is reacting to this diet.
He also consults with a dietitian/nutritionist and an exercise physiologist.

6. Stereotyping/Simplification
As I said before Spurlock throughout stereotypes and simplifies
the argument because he doesn’t discuss the positives of
McDonalds an example being, he doesn’t talk about the charity
work its been involved in in detail, he just briefly mentions it near
the end.
Also throughout the documentary he rarely/never shows skinny
people eating McDonalds.

7. Narration
Spurlock being the narrator himself means he now becomes
the ‘voice of God’ showing that he is all-knowing (omniscient),
all-powerful (omnipotent) and trust-worthy ( we believe him).
Morgan also becomes the voice of authority (expert) as he
goes to experts to gain the knowledge we again means we
believe what he is saying.

8. Script/Structure
Even though there isn’t a written script, there is a structure of
how the documentary goes, it’s what you call broken up in title
cards. Spurlock would’ve needed to know what he wanted to
record to then put it in chronological order. For example the first
thing we see is a bunch of children singing the Kentucky fried
chicken song.

9. Impact/Influence
Even though McDonalds say there was no impact, one day
before the release of the movie they introduced a new “Go
Active” menu. So they clearly felt the pressure to add healthy
options on their menu before the general public viewed the
movie.

10. Interviews

11. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media
concepts
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media
contexts and critical debates
Uses terminology appropriately and with accurate and
coherent written expression.
Apply knowledge and understanding to show how meanings
are created when analysing media products.
Apply knowledge and understanding to show how meanings
are created when evaluating their own practical work.
Demonstrate the ability to plan media products using
appropriate technical and creative skills.
Demonstrate the ability to construct media products using
appropriate technical and creative skills.
AO4
Demonstrate the ability to undertake and apply appropriate
research.
AO3 AO2 AO1
These are
the
assessment
criteria you
need to
keep in
mind.