James Bundy

Essay: Using Super Size Me (2004) as a basis, identify the ways in which American Society is represented, both positively and negatively. In doing so, analyse the ways in which the producer

utilises stylistic devices in order to create meaning for the audience

Super Size Me is a documentary/movie produced in 2004 by Morgan Spurlock for the B and C2 audience. The film focuses on examining the influence of the fast food industry on the health of American citizens, both young and old. Morgan Spurlock sets out on a 30-day binge in search of the real consequences of undergoing a ‘McDiet’, which consists of a McDonald’s breakfast, lunch and dinner. He sets out on a mission to find out the effects of such a binge, but encounters some further problems along his course and is faced with life threatening dangers that not even fully qualified GPs or doctors could have predicted. Alongside his binge, Spurlock takes a couple of angles on aspects American society, and goes out of his way to uncover ‘the truth’ behind how fast-food companies are fuelling USA’s rising levels of obesity.

The film begins with the title screen of ‘Super Size Me’, some jerky handheld camera work and a panning left across a group of youths as they sing a fast food chant. Some of the children are quite overweight and so a clever expositional technique has been used to give an element of shock. This shot is quickly followed up with a voiceover of Spurlock saying “Everything is bigger in America”, and this a seemingly vague statement becomes clear as the audience couples the audio and visual aspects together. Often the graphics were used as thematic cutaways in order to show development of issues of obesity spanning over a number of years; a useful visual to educate and also shock their audience. Spurlock uses the opportunity to swiftly break out statistics to support the fact that obesity has been rapidly increasing over a number of years, through using thematically linked cutaways of graphics and diagrams for ease of explanation. It is evident that the director has set out to portray American society in a particular way by using elements that I have highlighted, creating an unquestionably negative view upon the fast food industries.

To introduce the documentary further and show the audience the presenter, Spurlock is shot in a medium close-up (MCU) in a street alley, talking to the viewers and asking “what would happen if I ate nothing but McDonald’s for thirty days straight?”. This shot and dialogue expresses Spurlocks intention through his rhetorical question, and furthermore it reaffirms Bill Nichols’ idea of

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documentary modes, of which there are six. In this particular case, Super Size Me initially uses the ‘performative’ mode (not to be confused with the ‘participatory’ mode), in which Morgan Spurlock assumes the role of the filmmaker as well as being an autobiographical subject to be tested upon through the duration of the McDonald’s binge. The documentary then uses a montage consisting of various clips of overweight people and fast food being served/eaten. The montage is accompanied with parallel music (Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls) which is naturally quite humorous to the viewer, but at the same time the montage reinforces the issue that it’s not just a select few that are paying for fast food with their waistline; it’s a nationwide problem e.g. in Mississippi, 25% of the population of the state are obese. This further develops a negative light under which America’s society in being shown.

The documentary then joins Spurlock on his ‘McDiet’ in order to find out vital statistics to see whether fast food really can be very harmful to your body’s vital organs such as the kidney, liver and heart. As the Spurlock tells his audience, he consults several medical professionals in order to monitor his bodily progress throughout the binge. The first consultations are shown through a series of cut shots between each personnel, discussing his current bodily state of health and fitness. The shots are rather shaky due to the use of handheld camera work, however the framing is of good quality and the mise-en-scene is executed very well with thematic props, clothing and so on for a professional medical environment. Here Spurlock portrays one of the rare instances of positivety in that there are clear notions of how the diet will affect his body, however there is still an underlying sense of uncertainty with regards to side effects; this shows us that the professionals know how negatively fast food can affect the body. A similar understanding is held with the public as Spurlock uses voxpop shots to uncover the fact that they aren’t oblivious to the negative effects of fast food, but they have no idea as to the extent of how bad it can be for you. We can draw positives from these voxpops and interviews, as it shows the audience that society is aware of the problems, and it’s very well known that the biggest part of solving a problem is accepting that there is one; the Americans have shown us this.

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Although the voxpop shots were useful in drawing some positives from society, they also revealed some issues too. Spurlock asked a number of members of the public whether they could define or explain what a ‘calorie’ is, and after some fast paced cuts between voxpops of baffled faces, the final clip is of a medical professional with a PhD explaining exactly what one is. This shows the audience that there is misallocated information, and in economic terms, a form of market failure, ‘information failure’. This conveys a worrying message that the public don’t have the fundamentals/basics when it comes to knowledge of how to measure their nutritional intake.

Alongside Spurlock’ss investigation into the effects of fast food, he goes out of his way to visit schools in different states in order to see how they provide healthy (or unhealthy as the case may be) meals at lunch etc for the children of today. Both positive and negative portrayals of schools in America are shown. In a negative light, most of the schools were reluctant to answer questions about how they operate meal allocation, and when they did answer, often interviewees were hesitant and seemingly ashamed of how they went about feeding the youth. Spurlock identifies that some schools don’t even cook the food, but rather just heat it up as it comes prepared in packages, and the government are often aware of this but take no action. In complete contrast, Spurlock did go to a school where they had strict rules about what they would serve to their pupils, and they seemed

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much more willing to talk about their particular food campaign as they seemed proud of it. The interviews were much more smooth regards to conversation, Spurlock also used thematically linked cutaways to the food they served, and the head teachers seemed very thorough and pleased about how they operated compared to other state schools.

On his travels, Spurlock comes into contact with a state famous man who eats Bic Macs at least twice a day, and has been doing so for years, however this isn’t the positive portrayal of society. The idea that this man ate over 700 Big Macs in a previous year clearly shows us that the problem with an obese society is not rooted within the fast food companies, but rather in the individuals. This is also shown when Spurlock interviews members of the public using voxpop shots, and many said that they could walk right past signs or advertisements without temptation of going into the restaurant and purchasing fast food.

The documentary bases its educational/social/investigative style on elements of shock, by using parallel music with logical visuals. The exception however is whilst an obese male is very graphically having a gastric band fitted. In this case, contrapuntal music (classical genre) is used along with cutaways to obese members of the public buying and eating fast food, and the particular effect created is a subconsciously mental link between the cause and effect, showing just how bad obesity can get if one was to continue eating fast food so regularly. In usual circumstances the

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audience may naturally feel sympathetic towards the male, however the role of the contrapuntal music is to draw the audience’s attention away from the sympathy, and to focus on how the necessary operation was self inflicted through a poor diet.

The stylistic devices used in Super Size Me have done their utmost to persuade members of the people to resist buying into unhealthy foods such as fast food like McDonald’s. The evil looking images of Ronald McDonald that were used at the beginning of each segment seemed almost like a set of deadly sins that the fast food industry has committed against America, and as this pushes people away from fast food, we must realise that it is up to the individual as to our nutritional choices.

In conclusion, Spurlock clearly identifies not only to the audience, but to his medial professionals, that fast food diets can have drastic effects on the body with regards to organs and how one feels mentally. Over the 30 day binge, Spurlock reveals some positive aspects of society with regards to fast food, however it is evident that the dominant portrayal is very negative and that the public just don’t have the right information or sense of mind to tackle rising levels of obesity, leaving them seemingly blind to the severe effects of regularly eating fast food.