The documentary Super Size Me uses various codes and conventions to represent Americans as overweight and fast food-loving. It portrays the U.S. as the fattest country in the world through statistics and footage of real Americans. While it aims to show the negative health effects of fast food, the representation of Americans is biased. It also sympathetically depicts teenagers' struggles with obesity and fast food addiction. Experts are represented as credible sources confirming that fast food is unhealthy.

1. By Molly
Littlehales
SUPERSIZE ME
ANALYSIS

2. CODES AND CONVENTIONS
In this Documentary a variety of
different codes and conventions are
used, such as:
• Archival footage
• Voiceover
• Montage
• Animation
• Graphics
• Dialogue
• Music- ambient sound etc
• Subjects/ people
• Interviews with experts
• Camera angles/shots/movement
• Stop motion

3. On the whole, the documentary represents most of America as over
weight, fast food loving people who need to change the way they
live. By using many facts and figures, the film maker (Morgan
Spurlock) portrays American citizens as the fattest in the world,
therefore a negative view of the people. He represents the people
through his comical script as well as cut in footage of real life
Americans and footage of experts talking about the topic to further
the negative view about obesity. ‘Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visit a
fast food restaurant’. The overall representation shown in the film
is that fast food is bad for you, however it is extremely biased.
Although he was actively showing the viewers the affects of the
food, the outcome was inevitable and mass consumption of an
unhealthy food would be likely to harm the body. There are some
positive factors when representing the people of America. For
example the use of graphics and montages is common in the film
which shows a happy side and displays many people using vox
pops about their view of fast food and how they enjoy it on a
regular basis.
REPRESENTATION OF AMERICANS

4. REPRESENTATION OF TEENAGERS
The film includes real life stories from
many American teenagers and their
struggle with fast food. This however
represents these teenagers in a
sympathetic way almost like a ‘sob
story’. It shows how obesity can be
linked with some psychological illnesses
showing the view that the problem
represented may not be down to the
people themselves, but society.
Using graphics and formal interviews as
conventions, Spurlock creates an
interesting story line to attract the
audience and represent America in a
different way.

5. REPRESENTATION OF EXPERTS
Super size me represents the experts
(doctors, nutritionists, government…) as
responsible, well researched people that
know what they are talking about. Their
predictions of weight gain, liver damage
and fat increase do become reality
furthering the proof that fast food is bad
for the human body on regular
consumption. The dialogue by the experts
represents America in a negative way.
Mise en scene in these clips show formal
people in professional jobs meaning the
information they give us is acurrate.

6. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
The structure of this documentary is
closed linear narrative as it shows a
story in chronological order. It
investigates whether fast food
affects the body on mass
consumption for a long period of
time. As it follows the film maker for
a month and leaves the audience
with no questions, it is linear and
closed.

7. The mode in this documentary is performative as Morgan
Spurlock becomes a subject and the main person in the film.
The crew also become part of the documentary. We follow his
story as he eats fast food 3 times a day for a month almost like
an autobiography. It allows us to see his true feelings and
emotions and the real effect of fast food. The audience is
addressed in an emotional and direct way.
MODES

8. The target audience for ‘supersize me’ by Morgan Spurlock is a
huge range of people. The primary audience would be obese
people in America, of all ages as the film represents obese
people of all ages and both genders. Or just the main users of
the fast food industry. Its also aimed at parents in an attempt
to limit the amount of fast food their children consume in an
effort to save future generations from growing rates of obesity.
The secondary audience could be health experts, they can use
the documentary as evidence for the health affects of fast food
when persuading people to eat healthier.
TARGET AUDIENCE