Supersize Me - anybody seen it?

[Lee Flier]

Supersize Me is a documentary made by a guy who goes on a diet of nothing but McDonald's for a month, to see what effect it has on his health. Along the way, he presents loads of often entertaining, often sobering facts about health awareness in schools, the obesity problem in America, our changing lifestyle and habits, and the food industry in general.

 

It's a fascinating, disturbing film, extremely well made and has a lot of laughs too. Anybody else seen it? Check out their web site if you want to know more about it:

 

http://www.supersizeme.com

[Philip OKeefe]

They had the guy on one of the news morning shows a while back - it looks very interesting. Have not seen it yet, but would like to.

[Kaz]

I haven't seen it, but I've read about it. The fact that the guy eats like a pig and gains 25 lbs. seems pretty stupid though. Seems like he is using McDonald's to promote himself and his movie. I think the ongoing trend of blaming others for one's own problems is more disturbing then blaming McDonald's and fast food for all the big fat pigs.

[Lee Flier]

Actually I think you should see the film before you comment... I can already tell you have some misconceptions about it.

 

I agree in general that it's disturbing people don't make better personal choices and blame others for their bad choices. However if people, especially children, are given very little access to the resources they need to make good choices, and meanwhile are subjected to a constant onslaught of advertising for what usually amounts to bad choices, the odds are very much against people making good choices. The film is mainly an attempt to present a point of view counter to that onslaught, in the hope that it will help enable people to make better choices.

[Ren.]

Dang it... is it out there already? At least not here in Borelando.

 

I was pretty intrigued about it so I posted a thread about it a while ago.

[Lee Flier]

Ah, I must've missed that thread when you posted it earlier Ren, sorry.

 

It's only playing here at one arthouse theatre, as a limited engagement. Most people will probably have to wait for it to come out on DVD. I highly recommend it in whatever format you can get hold of it... it's just good filmmaking as well as being informative.

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

[QB]Actually I think you should see the film before you comment... I can already tell you have some misconceptions about it.

Fair enough, no more comments from me.

[Matt.Hepworth]

Unfortunately, they are not screening it in my state.

[Dr Nursers]

From what I've seen of it (the director of the movie has been down here recently so lots of coverage), it seems pretty spot on.

 

At my work recently we had a US professor speak to us who specialises in lifestyle risk factors. Basically, he felt that it may be too late for the US the reverse the obesity downhill slide. That's a little bit disturbing...

[Lee Flier]

Yeah, and apparently diabetes and obesity in children is rampant too, to the point where if their habits are not changed one in THREE of today's children will develop diabetes as adults.

[doug osborne]

My 12 year old son, Max, wanted to see it, so we went last weekend.

 

A documentary of this guy's quest to eat nothing but McD's for a month, but not much of a news documentary beyond that. We could have done without the puking on-camera...

 

But, it was entertaining and funny, presented an alternative where a school cafeteria made their own healthy food (and grades went up), and AFAIK it was factual.

 

Max has been craving McD's all week since.

[Super 8]

Hey, McD's has ADULT Happymeals now! They are apparently contain no actual porn, but they are supposed to be good for you.

 

I'm interested in checking the film out, especially since I was raised on fast food and still eat it pretty often. But the closest screening appears to be in Chicago, and I'm not going to drive 100 miles to see a movie......okay, maybe if they do an Imax version, but that's it.

[Kaz]

This is not a comment , but I happened upon this:

 

http://www.lifesciencesworld.com/news/news-obesity-health-3212.htm

 

It's interesting, the different points of view on how to go about curing everybody.

[Raymar]

I'm going to see it monday along with Coffee and Cigarettes.

 

What's getting into film makers these days? I hit McDonalds now and then for their McVeggie burger and a side salad, maybe some ice tea. I gave up coffee for tea, and couldn't get addicted to cigarettes. Should be some interesting cinema.

 

steve

[Tedster]

Don't even get me fucking started. As a former big fat pig who is never going to be skinny, but is a shadow of his former self, and fighting this fucking battle every day...let me tell you this...

 

Modern society sends people two conflicting messages...

 

1) Have sex.

 

and

 

2) Eat everything in sight.

 

Commercials on TV are all about having sex and eating all you want.

 

Problem is...you can have sex...or eat...but, unless you're bulimic...you can't do both.

 

People get together socially for one reason alone. To stick shit in their mouths. "Let's do lunch". "C'mon over and EAT". "Let's watch the game and EAT". "Hey, let's have a barbecue and EAT". "What are we gonna EAT".

 

EAT EAT EAT. Bring donuts to work. Go out for Chinese food. Pizza anyone? Wonder why people are fat. Look at the supermarket shelves. Yummy shit. Buy some. Stick it in your fucking maw. EAT. Why are you getting fat? EAT SOME FUCKING MORE!!! Oh, I shouldn't. Perhaps a tiny bite. Schools with pop machines and high-calorie alternative choices in the lunch line.

 

Fuckers at work circling the donut box, "Oh, I shouldn't" WELL, IF YA SHOULDN'T WHAT ARE THE FUCKING DONUTS DOING THERE? Have a bite! Go ahead...you KNOW you want it...

 

Would you do that to a fucking alcoholic?

 

Two people at the donut box. A skinny one and a fat one. Both have a donut. But who do you notice? See the fat pig EAT!

 

There's only one way around it...and I'm dead serious. If you're overweight, and trying to lose, and someone offers you food...kick him in the nuts as hard as you can, take the food he was offering, and mash it in his face with a big FUCK YOU! Offering food to a fat person is an attack. Treat it as such.

 

You've gotta get militant. You've gotta get mean...or you're doomed to a life of fat.

 

And there is nothing tongue-in-cheek about this post. FUCK FOOD.

[ernest828]

"I think the ongoing trend of blaming others for one's own problems is more disturbing then blaming McDonald's and fast food for all the big fat pigs."

 

Absolutely agree. It says something about society. I think it may have started with the abuse of unemployment benefits, welfare, etc... These devices seem to lead to apathy. Blaming others takes the control out of ones life and then that leads to feeling helpless, hopeless...

[Lee Flier]

Originally posted by zzzzzzzzz:

This is not a comment , but I happened upon this:

 

http://www.lifesciencesworld.com/news/news-obesity-health-3212.htm

 

It's interesting, the different points of view on how to go about curing everybody.

Well, again, this article mischaracterizes the movie.

 

Quoting from the article:

 

Although Spurlock attributes these effects specifically to the food he ate at McDonald's, the simple fact is that he consumed excessive calories and did not increase physical activity to burn them off. In fact, he reduced his exercise level for the month.

Yes, and he makes it clear that that's what he's doing. He deliberately reduced his normal exercise routine to a level of physical activity that is more like the average American (he was much fitter than average to start with). As for excessive calories, he did try to stay within the normal calorie range recommended by a nutritionist for a man of his size - so long as he got those calories from the McDonald's menu. For the first couple of weeks, he did overeat, but he managed to get that more under control with careful monitoring. Also, the rule was he was only supposed to "supersize" if asked by the cashier (which he was a total of 9 times throughout the month - not that many really).

 

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the results of a survey summary that examined energy intake between 1971 and 2000 by adults between the ages of 20 and 74. Total reported daily calorie intake increased for both men and women. For men, the increase was on the order of about 170 calories per day and for women over 300 calories per day. Data like these should encourage Americans to focus more on calorie balance, not on particular eating venues, if we are to fight the widespread increase in overweight and obesity.

... and none of this contradicts what the film says. A lot of the film's focus is on the incremental increase in food portions foisted on us by fast food chains (and they do mention lots of other restaurants in this part of the film, not just McDonald's). A lot of people don't realize for example that what used to be just a plain old "order of fries" at McDonald's in the 60's is now their "small" size. Same with sugary soft drinks. If you don't know this stuff it's hard to make informed decisions about how much is OK to eat, and the restaurants certainly aren't going to tell you that. Again, the idea of the film is to promote awareness.

 

Popular entertainment that misdirects attention to types of food is counterproductive.

Actually, the type of food was very much a contributor to the guy's health problems. While it's true that his weight gain was attributable to simple overeating and lack of exercise, the nutritional content of the food (or lack thereof) led to severe liver problems that even his doctors hadn't foreseen. He also became "addicted" to the food and experienced severe mood swings between when he'd just eaten and when he hadn't eaten in a few hours. This is not something that happens when you eat a normal diet, even if you eat too much. If you're eating the typical McDonald's fare with its high sugar and fat content, and with many of the nutrients processed out of it, it should be totally obvious this would affect yoru health. For this article to say that it was "misleading" to be focused on the type of food he was eating is such an obvious and gross error that you have to wonder if McDonald's paid them to write it.

[Lee Flier]

Originally posted by Tedster:

Fuckers at work circling the donut box, "Oh, I shouldn't" WELL, IF YA SHOULDN'T WHAT ARE THE FUCKING DONUTS DOING THERE? Have a bite! Go ahead...you KNOW you want it...

 

Would you do that to a fucking alcoholic?

Yeah, exactly. That was another thing the film tries to raise awareness of. We've gotten to a point now where it's socially acceptable to give somebody shit if they smoke - or at the very least not actually ENCOURAGE somebody to have a cigarette. But nobody thinks to show concern for a loved one by telling them they should quit eating so much, and nobody thinks twice about pushing more food in people's faces. You have to be VERY proactive to avoid eating too much, and eating really bad shit - more proactive than most people have time or energy for. If this movie at least gets people thinking twice about this, that's a good thing.

[Tedster]

[Tedster]

Originally posted by zzzzzz amd ernest828@aol.com:

"I think the ongoing trend of blaming others for one's own problems is more disturbing then blaming McDonald's and fast food for all the big fat pigs."

That only holds true if the one being blamed has done nothing to push food at an individual.

 

Personally, I believe McDonald's et al are less to blame than the skinny "buddy" of the fat guy who's saying "Let's go to McDonald's" or when the fat guy says "Let's go eat"... agreeing with him.

 

I put on a lot of weight when I quit smoking. Quitting smoking is fucking HARD. Takes a fuck of a lot of willpower. But, no one ever came up and said "Ted, your lungs look GREAT!" Nope. But they were all about "Hey (nudge nudge) wife's been feeding you good, huh?".

 

The hardest thing about that is that with smoking, you can resolve yourself to never smoking again. But with eating, you've gotta eat. You can't say "I'm not gonna eat anymore".

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

Originally posted by zzzzzzzzz:

[qb]This is not a comment , but I happened upon this:

 

http://www.lifesciencesworld.com/news/news-obesity-health-3212.htm

 

It's interesting, the different points of view on how to go about curing everybody.

Well, again, this article mischaracterizes the movie.

 

Quoting from the article:

 

(SNIP)

 

For this article to say that it was "misleading" to be focused on the type of food he was eating is such an obvious and gross error that you have to wonder if McDonald's paid them to write it.

Well I can't say which is more misleading, because I haven't seen the movie, but's it's all about awareness, right? And their point seemed simply that over-eating in general is a problem, not just McDonald's, obviously, and that this guys 30 day test was pretty meaningless (you can't really argue with that, can you, er, wait, I'm sure you can ) If it's all about awareness, I don't know why you'd go to the trouble of rebuking that article to that degree, it's just another point of view on the ways to help with this problem, it keeps the exchange of ideas rolling, and as you say, it's all about awareness, isn't it? Or is it?

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

But nobody thinks to show concern for a loved one by telling them they should quit eating so much, and nobody thinks twice about pushing more food in people's faces. You have to be VERY proactive to avoid eating too much, and eating really bad shit - more proactive than most people have time or energy for. If this movie at least gets people thinking twice about this, that's a good thing.

On the other hand, if you give people shit about eating too much, or if magazines and movies project a skinnier image, that's no good either, is it? And to say nobody thinks about this stuff is awfully misleading, isn't it? Seems a lot of people think about this stuff a lot, probably too much! Skinny, fat, healthy, unhealthy, ugly, beautiful, smoke, don't smoke, ads, no ads, it all comes down to think for yourself, (and your young kids, if you have them), stop blaming everybody and everything else, use simple common sense, because it's not going to go away. That's my 2 cents, whether I've seen this silly movie or not .

[Lee Flier]

Hmmm... "a lot of people think about this stuff too much"..."it all comes down to think for yourself." A tad contradictory perhaps? On one hand you encourage people to use common sense and not blame others for your wrong decisions (and I agree), on the other it's apparently "thinking too much" to question the messages being delivered by the onslaught of ads we see every day - when thinking about it and questioning it can be the very thing that leads to making good decisions.

 

One can't make good choices without information and awareness, and the advertisers don't provide that information. Neither do schools. This film provides valuable information, which many people are not aware of and which could help them to make good decisions about their diet. What can be bad about that? Yet you've already called it "silly" and "stupid" without even having seen it. Why is the very existence of this movie seemingly such a problem for you?

[Tedster]

I think one of the problems is that it's difficult to "think for yourself" when the message everywhere is eat eat eat...from the time you're little. You see a lot of heavy kids, and their parents are heavy as well...so the problem spans generations. Young children can't "think for themselves"...they need responsible adults to help them, and if the parents AREN'T responsible in those areas, problems develop. The kids aren't able to cultivate healthy eating habits because they don't have a clue as to what those habits are. And the "make a buck" food industry could care less about anything but sales. I'm not talking fast food, I'm talking ALL food. You can hardly go into a store without being bombarded with the sight of "yummy shit"...especially at the checkout. People who have a problem with this stuff are like alcoholics or drug addicts, only we're not talking controlled substances. We're talking Snickers bars.

[jeffbayson]

Originally posted by zzzzzzzzz:

http://www.lifesciencesworld.com/news/news-obesity-health-3212.htm

The institution in that article that criticizes the film is called the American Council on Science and Health. I decided to check out their website, HERE. I suggest you do the same. Reading their policies on several issues will paint a pretty clear picture of their organization. In a nutshell, the ACSH defends the practices of big business from attacks by public health/environmental advocates.

 

More here.

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

Hmmm... "a lot of people think about this stuff too much"..."it all comes down to think for yourself." A tad contradictory perhaps? On one hand you encourage people to use common sense and not blame others for your wrong decisions (and I agree), on the other it's apparently "thinking too much" to question the messages being delivered by the onslaught of ads we see every day - when thinking about it and questioning it can be the very thing that leads to making good decisions.

 

One can't make good choices without information and awareness, and the advertisers don't provide that information. Neither do schools. This film provides valuable information, which many people are not aware of and which could help them to make good decisions about their diet. What can be bad about that? Yet you've already called it "silly" and "stupid" without even having seen it. Why is the very existence of this movie seemingly such a problem for you?

To use the "think for yourself" and "probably too much" thing as some sort of argument shows that you are looking for something to argue against. The "probably too much" comment was obviously just a flip comment about the fact that there is SO much information about dieting (though you imply that there isn't), that some people perhaps obsess over it to the point of confusion. Do you really believe that people don't know that McDonald's is fattening? Come on!

 

Just answer this question instead of ignoring it:

Do you think the 30 day stunt is of any real value?

 

Because that is mainly what is being used to promote this movie. The whole website is using McDonald's. Isn't that misleading? Is misleading people further really any use in raising awareness?

 

I think it's interesting that you promote this movie as if it is some sort of public message, without questioning it at all. You seem to be big on questioning authority, yet you take this movie at face value. Why?

 

As far as me having some problem with the movie, I don't really. You promoted it, and I said I read about it, and I thought the stunt was stupid. You told me I shouldn't comment like the all knowing authority of what is right. That kind of annoyed me. For one, these boards are king of people talking on and on about what they don't really know. I am titled to my opinion based on what I've read. It's a fucking movie. I don't go see a lot of movies if they look to be stupid based on interviews, previews, or articles. I'd just as soon spend 8 bucks on McDonald's than on this movie.

 

You know, if you could have the world just the way you want it, would all those poor little unaware people that you're trying to save from all the evil-doers thank you? There's a line you might know: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[Lee Flier]

Originally posted by zzzzzzzzz:

[/qb]

The "probably too much" comment was obviously just a flip comment about the fact that there is SO much information about dieting (though you imply that there isn't), that some people perhaps obsess over it to the point of confusion.

 

True enough, there are a lot of "fad" diets and people obsessing about weight loss, but most of the fads seem to ignore the basics of nutrition which have never really changed, they just become obscured.

 

Do you really believe that people don't know that McDonald's is fattening? Come on!

Some people do... sort of. I think Tedster summed it up very well, there are a lot of people who are only peripherally aware, especially children. And there are also a lot of people who have a hard time controlling or changing their eating habits because of the constant messages being sent, and even outright encouragement from people who supposedly care about them. No big deal if a movie comes out attempting to promote more awareness about it. How can it be bad if it motivates somebody to change their diet for the better?

 

Just answer this question instead of ignoring it:

Do you think the 30 day stunt is of any real value?

How could I have been "ignoring" the question if this is the first time you've asked it? But yes, I think it was of value. Yes, it was a deliberate exaggeration to prove a point (which they are very up front about in the film), but I think it was very eye-opening to the average person, and it even surprised the several doctors and nutritionists who tracked his progress.

 

Because that is mainly what is being used to promote this movie. The whole website is using McDonald's. Isn't that misleading?

How is it misleading? If you mean that it focuses on McDonald's even though there are other restaurants who do the same things, yes, perhaps. I don't think that takes away from the overall message though. The film also takes quite a lot of care to explain why they focused specifically on McDonald's, and it does mention lots of other restaurants, food industry trade associations, and others who've promoted the trend toward overeating and unhealthy diet.

 

I think it's interesting that you promote this movie as if it is some sort of public message, without questioning it at all. You seem to be big on questioning authority, yet you take this movie at face value. Why?

I didn't feel the need to question it too much because I'm already quite informed about health and nutrition, and could tell the movie wasn't far off in the facts it presented if it was off at all. I did go to McDonalds' web site after seeing the film and check the nutritional information of their menu to verify that much, and it checked out. Given that, and given what I've seen when I've done aid work in places where a high-fat, high-sugar, processed food diet had been suddently introduced to the population, I have no doubt that the guy really developed the problems (liver dysfunction etc.) the movie says he did.

 

As far as me having some problem with the movie, I don't really. You promoted it, and I said I read about it, and I thought the stunt was stupid. You told me I shouldn't comment like the all knowing authority of what is right.

Oh, give me a break. You even agreed with me that my comment was fair. How does that make me the all knowing authority?

 

I don't go see a lot of movies if they look to be stupid based on interviews, previews, or articles. I'd just as soon spend 8 bucks on McDonald's than on this movie.

Well by all means do that, then - it's not going to hurt my feelings.

 

You know, if you could have the world just the way you want it, would all those poor little unaware people that you're trying to save from all the evil-doers thank you?

Wow... so if I'm concerned about a social problem it means I want to mold the world to my will and make everybody bow down and thank me? LOL... you really kill me sometimes.

[jeffbayson]

Well, I may as well bring this argument to its logical conclusion.

 

Lee Flier wants to codify into law what we are allowed to eat, and eventually institute a totalitarian state that strictly controls all human behavior.

 

zzzzzzzzz wants all Americans - especially children - to die of heart disease.

 

You may as well stop arguing. You're both right!

[John Sayers]

If I ate three meals per day exclusively at my local italian restaurant I would be as grossly fat as the maker of this film.

 

it's the three square meals a day ideology that is flawed IMO.

 

cheers

john

[Tedster]

Originally posted by John Sayers:

If I ate three meals per day exclusively at my local italian restaurant I would be as grossly fat as the maker of this film.

 

it's the three square meals a day ideology that is flawed IMO.

 

cheers

john

Well, the "three squares" isn't flawed in the concept for which it's intended...if you were a farmer in the late 1800s or an Amish person, working your ass to the bone 16 hours a day...three squares would be about right. But, apply that kind of intake to the office worker sitting on his ass...and you've got a problem.