Supersize Me - Conceptual Analysis
Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me explores the concept of obesity-by-fast-food among Americans. He also argues that it is the responsibility of the consumers to resist the addictive, available fast food we are trained as children to love. There are a few definitions to consider. In the film, fast food is considered any food that is ordered at a counter and served within minutes of the order. There are commonly accepted examples of fast food: Wendy, Burger King, KFC, Popeye’s Chicken, and of course McDonalds. Obesity is defined as the state of Americans being overweight to an unhealthy degree. Fast food is portrayed in the movie to be the main cause of obesity and other obesity-driven conditions such as diabetes. Spurlock’s argument is well supported with statistics, consumer and industry professional testimonies, and an indisputable field study experiment: a month-long McDonalds binge, or McDiet.
Though Spurlock provokes fear of fast food, he fails to acknowledge that poor diet is not the only cause of obesity, and that the “toxic environment” he describes is reason enough to consider that the responsibility should in fact be in the corporation’s hands. If children are lured in by kids meal toys and play places, it is curious that as adults consumers are expected to abandon their life-long beliefs that fast food is a nice part of their lives. Instead, they are expected to be responsible for their declining health and do the unthinkable: exercise.
Spurlock engrains the message that fast food is dangerous with statistics. Children view up to 10 000 food-related advertisements each year, ninety-five percent of which are for sugary cereals, snacks, candy, pop, and other junk food. One in four McDonalds had no nutrition information available to consumers, yet the population is expected to make the right healthy choices (Spurlock). Adding support to his argument that fast food is adversely harmful is a list of credited health care professionals and nutritionists,
Though Spurlock provokes fear of fast food, he fails to acknowledge that poor diet is not the only cause of obesity, and that the “toxic environment” he describes is reason enough to consider that the responsibility should in fact be in the corporation’s hands. If children are lured in by kids meal toys and play places, it is curious that as adults consumers are expected to abandon their life-long beliefs that fast food is a nice part of their lives. Instead, they are expected to be responsible for their declining health and do the unthinkable: exercise.
Spurlock engrains the message that fast food is dangerous with statistics. Children view up to 10 000 food-related advertisements each year, ninety-five percent of which are for sugary cereals, snacks, candy, pop, and other junk food. One in four McDonalds had no nutrition information available to consumers, yet the population is expected to make the right healthy choices (Spurlock). Adding support to his argument that fast food is adversely harmful is a list of credited health care professionals and nutritionists,
References: Spurlock, Morgan. "Super Size Me - A Film of Epic Portions”. The Con, New York. Video. Spurlock, Morgan. "Super Size Me." About the Movie. 2004. The Con. 25 Nov. 2005 <http://www.supersizeme.com/home.aspx?page=aboutmovie>. "Sheridan College Residence Handbook." Summer 2005: 54-56.