Connor Delaney
Using Supersize Me 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.
In the documentary ‘Supersize Me’ American society is heavily portrayed negatively. The
documentary focuses on the effects of fast food restaurants, particularly McDonalds, as the
presenter can only eat McDonalds for the next 30 days.
The opening shot of the programme is a group
shot of children, the majority of which appear
obese, they are singing a nursery rhyme about all
of the different fast food restaurants. This is a
powerful opening shot which grabs the
audience’s attention and shows the direction the
film will be heading.
The first thing the voiceover says is how America
is now the fattest nation in the world. We are
then shown a graphic to emphasis these
shocking statistics. By using a graphic to
accompany the voiceover the audience will be
able to fully grasp the seriousness the problem
that American society faces.
Throughout, there is a negative portrayal of Americans. The documentary portrays them to be
overweight or obese and we are shown just how accessible fast food chains are, with the presenter
illustrating just how many McDonalds are in
Manhattan, 83 to be exact. The reason there is
such a focus on the negative side to American
society is that if they were to show the positives
of their society the documentary would lose some
of its power. The producer wants the audience to
realise the severity of the situation and wants
people to think twice about visiting a fast food
restaurant. The producer has put a lot of thought
into every detail of the documentary to help shape the meaning. One example is the mise-en-scene
where the presenter is talking to a law professor,
spearheading the attacks against the food
industry. In the frame you can see a table covered
with pieces of paper; this suggests he is doing a
lot of work and research to assist lawyers looking
to sue the fast food industry. If his office looked
empty his words would lose some of their power
and meaning.
Connor Delaney
Whilst watching the documentary it is clear a lot of research has been taken to ensure the producers
preferred meaning is conveyed. During the interview with the Professor of Nutrition from New York
University there are clever cutaways to varying
shots. One of these shots show the shocking
change in the size of drinks that the food chains
offer. The producer has used fast paced editing to
smoothly show how all of the major fast food
chains are guilty of this. These shots are very useful
to shape the desired meaning as they visually
accompany what the Professor is saying.
Throughout the documentary the producer has used either animations or visual representations to
accompany important pieces of information. This is makes the information easier to digest for the
audience and ensures it is clear the direction the documentary is taking. Another example of this
fast-paced editing during cutaways is when the audience hear that the “average American child sees
10000 food advertisements per year”. To illustrate just how many advertisements the child sees the
shot cuts away from the man to adverts dramaticly sped up. The producer knows that the images
and the words combined will create a stronger reaction in the audience.
During this documentary the presenter visits many McDonalds restaurents. Logically not every
employee at McDonalds would be overweight or
borderline obese, however the producer has a
specific way in which he wants American society
to be percieved, subsequently the audience only
see fat McDonalds employees. This, along with
the rest of the techniques, all lead to the
negative representation of 21st century America.
The producer knows that his documentary
cannot merely be a list of ‘shocking’ facts and statistics to generate the desired repsonse from the
audience. That is why throught the programme we see shots such as the obese McDonalds
employees and animations to accompany the important things the doctors and professors are
saying.
At one point in the documentary young
american children are shown flash cards with
pictures of both important figures and fast food
characters. No surprise that the kids all knew
the pictures related to fast food chains yet
failed to know the important figures in history.
One boy mistaked an image of Jesus as George
Bush. This shows two negative things about
American society, the brainwashing fast food restaurents do from such an early age and the gaping
hole in the American education system.
Later on in the documentary the audience are shown the drastic decisions obese people sometimes
make to lose weight. Bruce Howlett is getting a gastric band fitted and by including footage of the
operation in the documentary, the producer has made sure the preffered reading of the programme
Connor Delaney
hits home for viewers. The shots of the operation
may make some people feel squeamish but this is
what he wants, he wants to shock the audience.
The producer has placed this footage near the
latter stages of the documentary. It could be
suggested the purpose of this was to hint that this
is where over-eating and becoming obese gets you.
This Supersize Me documentary looking at the
effects fast food has on American society has been made with a biased viewpoint. The programme
only portrays American society negatively and refuses to show many positives. The reason this was
the right decision is that the producer wanted the audience to receive the preferred meaning. If the
documentary showed both the positive and negatives of American society the meaning would be
lost or almost certainly weakened. The producer is showing his audience the dangers of fast food,
the flaws in the American education system and the severity that obesity has become in America
today. It could be implied by making this documentary he wishes to persuade people to make
changes to their own lives where necessary and to be more aware of what they eat.
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