A short presentation reviewing the documentary super size me.

2. An outline of the
documentary
‘Supersize Me’ is a documentary made by Morgan Spurlock in 2004.
He sets the challenge to eat McDonalds every day for a month for
breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was informative in regards to the way
fast foods target their audience; such as always targeting a family
audience like Ronald McDonald, Happy meal and soft play attached
to McDonalds to attract children, so their parents would spend
money on food.

3. Production details
Some production details are:
• The documentary was written, produced and directed by Morgan Spurlock,
the man starring in the documentary.
• The production company are called ‘The Con’.
• The documentary was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside
Attractions.
• It was released on May 7th, 2004 in America.
• The documentary had a budget of $65,000 and made a Box Office of
$22,233,808.

4. Type of documentary and
the features it employs
‘Supersize Me’ is a investigative documentary and
also an American documentary. The film documents
Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being in a
humorous effect, and explores the fast food industry’s
influences.
Spurlock consumed on average 5000 kcal per day
during this experiment. The average intake for an
average man is 2500 kcal, resulting in some major
health issues for Spurlock. For example, his
cholesterol went from 165 to 225 in a matter of
weeks. Spurlock also gained 11.1 kilograms filming
this documentary.

5. The message and purpose
of the documentary
The message of this documentary was to raise awareness of
obesity in America and demonstrate the problems with fast
foods. For example, at one point he went to a school and around
public places and asked if they know what a calorie was, whilst
cutting in-between a professional interview asking a professional
the same question, making the public look uninformed.
Therefore inflating the issue of obesity to the viewer.

6. Narration
Spurlock is a very intimate narrator, easily grabbing the
attention of his audience through comic remarks. The types
of shots and the content of the footage is always grabbing
the audience as it switches between his life, random
peoples views on fast food and what professionals think.
It also informs audiences on how fast foods use schemes to
make more money. For example, increasing the size of their
products above the average size to make them seem more
desirable.

7. Script/Structure
The script of Super Size Me is the exposition, the
argument behind the documentary. The script provides
a structure to the documentary. Spurlock divides his
film into sections, in each one, he addresses different
factors of his argument.

8. Stereotyping/Simplification
Spurlock simplifies his argument to a
certain extent, however, he stresses the fact
that McDonalds is not the only issue with
obesity in America.
His argument is simplified from the outset.
He knows the consequences of his
McDonalds diet before committing to it.
He hopes to answer these questions: Are
the food companies solely to blame for
obesity in America? Where is the personal
responsibility to stop? He does attend to
these problems but is often always going
back to McDonalds problems.

9. Reconstructions
‘Supersize Me’ tends to reconstruct the identity of
large people, pointing out their addictive
problems. One example is McDonalds apparently
labelling their customers. The people who would
go to McDonalds once a week were called ‘Heavy
users’ and the people who would go up to 3,4 even
5 times a week were called ‘Super heavy users’.

10. Interviews
Interviews in ‘Supersize Me’ are very formal and the
Mise-en-scene of the interviews are usual of formal
backgrounds such as an office or business environment.
The language used is very elaborate and scientific with
ambient background noise to emphasis the
interviewees voice. The way they are presented (In
between clips about the general public) give the
professionals’ voices more meaning as they tend to
prove the public wrong.

11. Impact/Influence
A few teenagers and their parents decided to
sue McDonalds for their obese
children…although they failed Spurlock was
influenced by this and decided to make a
documentary about McDonalds and their
flaws. Spurlock proves that if you give
yourself a chance, you can give yourself a
voice. And if you give yourself a voice, you've
got all the power in the world.