Super Size Me!

[Technomancer]

Anyone see this yet? If not, it's worth going to and you'll never look at a Big Mac quite the same way again. Basically it's a documentary experminent in which the film-maker resolves to eat nothing but McDonald's for a month. The film tracks his progress, weight gain, and crashing health. Even the physicians he consulted were surprised at just how serious the effects were. A funny and disturbing film.

[Saint]

I did see part of an interview on some late night show with the man. i didn't know that eating McDonalds for a month could get you on tv. I am sure that sometime in one of my teen summers i almost did that myself. haha.

[Lightbringer]

Thats more then slightly disgusting. But i dont think its just mcdonalds you eat nothing but greecy fast food anything and you'll get just as messed up.

[Bobtheduck]

Hmm... I have some strong opinions on the intents of this movie, so I am probably betraying wisdom to post here, but I think this is a bit deceptive... Too many think in terms of extremes, and I think that anyone who didn't know that his health wouldn't be very good after purposely denying his body the nutrition it needs is a bit naive. However, I heard his Girlfriend or wife or whatever is a moral vegan, and the purpose behind this may have been more than just getting people to eat properly, and that is what bugs me about it. It is just a more solidly manifested attack on fast food based out of the fears that everyone has anyway. It’s just the culmination of the movements and feelings of the nation and other first world nations for a long time, and I don’t doubt that the results, while mostly true, were influenced at least slightly by his feelings for the company to begin with.

[Stephen]

I think I will think this over while having a 2 cheeseburger valuemeal and a milkshake. If working at a grocery store has taught me anything....it is that people are foolish. You will spend 8 bucks for a loaf of "organic" bread. That actually has 5 times the salt as normal bread....yeah its so healthy. Everything is a gimmic. Low carb high salt, low fat more sugar...etc. I will eat what I want when I want. At least I will die happy and not miserable in a plate of tofu, the misfit Jello.

[Bobtheduck]

Hey, don't knock tofu... It's a prime ingredient in many a tasty Japanese dish.

[Lehn]

At least I will die happy and not miserable in a plate of tofu, the misfit Jello.

Tofu isn't bad if you know how to cook it properly. But back in my all-veggie days, I'd skip the tofu and go for the veggie burgers. Good stuff.

On topic: I heard that the guy had massive kidney failure because of this.... right?

[Technomancer]

:grin: Tofu isn't bad if you know how to cook it properly. But back in my all-veggie days, I'd skip the tofu and go for the veggie burgers. Good stuff.

On topic: I heard that the guy had massive kidney failure because of this.... right?

No exactly, it was his liver function that went downhill. Basically, the diet had the same effect on his liver that massive drinking binge would have had. It was a result that greatly surprised the doctors he'd recruited.

[Bobtheduck]

The aspect of liver failure is where my doubt lies. I believe it was affected by his feelings going into the project. Our livers have a tendency to respond to our emotions and stress, though it isn't the only organ to do so. Hatred and frustration can cause toxins to gather that our livers normally takes care of, and from my standpoint, while I'm not staking my life on it, I'd say that he did have that sort of hatred for the industry to begin with, and, yes, Hatred can be well hidden behind smiles... The worst sort of hatred comes from the person who can smile at what they hate.

As for having failing health and weight gain, all I have to say is: Duh. People are stupid... People don't realize that there isn't much, if any, value to this food except to give your stomach something to digest, and perhaps (with meat dishes) some protein and iron. I don't think this movie will change many of their minds to make them have healthier choices. It will only cause more paranoid people to join the bandwagon to try to destroy the industry. Even as they move toward healthier menus, the people who fear and loathe the Fast Food industry will continue to do so for a myriad of reasons from moral vegetarianism to fears about globalization and any number of conspiracy theories and rumors... This isn't about healthy eating. It's about a society that often feels it sleeps with the enemy. Besides that, it's about blame and not taking responsibility for our own actions. That is a problem much larger than the problem of obesity.

[uc pseudonym]

I found this movie vaguely interesting, though I am not a fan of docu-dramas, so I seriously doubt that I will ever see it. Meanwhile, I would draw minor issue with Bobtheduck, but I really don't feel this is the place to argue, nor does it even matter that much in my mind.

[Stephen]

"Hey, don't knock tofu... It's a prime ingredient in many a tasty Japanese dish."



People also eat grasshoppers in certain parts of the world.

[Saint Kevin]

I would like to try some fried grasshoppers at some point - just for the experience.

[Technomancer]

The aspect of liver failure is where my doubt lies. I believe it was affected by his feelings going into the project. Our livers have a tendency to respond to our emotions and stress, though it isn't the only organ to do so.

Losts of people go through life with all sorts of swallowed rage (and arguably greater than Spurlock's), it doesn't do to people what the experiment did to him. Really, you have no evidence at all for the claim that Spurlock's "hatred" for McDonald's made him sick.

People are stupid... People don't realize that there isn't much, if any, value to this food except to give your stomach something to digest, and perhaps (with meat dishes) some protein and iron.

This much we agree on, which begs the questions why don't they realize it?

I don't think this movie will change many of their minds to make them have healthier choices. It will only cause more paranoid people to join the bandwagon to try to destroy the industry.

I don't think it will change many minds either. The sort of people who go to see films like this are likely to be no fans of the fast food industry. Most people either will be unaware of the film (because it's not playing in most mainstream cinemas), are not the type to watch documentaries, or will dismiss the film out of hand as leftist intellectual nonsense. The people who, perhaps should most see this film are precisely the ones who won't.

There are lots of good reasons to dislike the fast food industry: the quality, the boring sameness, the loss of local diversity, etc. What I would say though, is that those most critical of the film should give it a fair hearing, and see the film rather than simply dismissing it.

PS. Morgan Spurlock is most definately not a vegetarian. He likes his meat.

[Shinja]

well his degradeing health could just be because mcadonalds is like the worst food you can buy. sonic would have been much better.

[Lehn]

Last I heard is because of things such as this film and the bandwagon carb diets that McD's is slowly removing the choice to supersize everything from it's menu in America, so better harden those arties while you can, kiddies.

[Solid Ronin]

Heh! If I saw a movie like this I'd go out to the nearest buffet and pig out.

[Bobtheduck]

Losts of people go through life with all sorts of swallowed rage (and arguably greater than Spurlock's), it doesn't do to people what the experiment did to him. Really, you have no evidence at all for the claim that Spurlock's "hatred" for McDonald's made him sick.

I never said I had evidence, I merely said I wouldn't doubt it did. And I still stand by the possibility, though it is just conjecture. Conjecture isn't a sin, afterall. It's my own reasons for ignoring the movie, not an argument for anyone else. Also, it's not just a matter of swallowed rage, but the very fact that the feelings he had could have an effect of the outcome. I have seen people do all sorts of insane things to their bodies by just thinking about it enough. Do I have evidence that this happened? No. Do I think it was all psycho-somatic? No. Do I believe that it was at least magnified by this? Yes. Do I have proof? No. I have a right to conjecture. I'm not really debating here, I'm just offering my opinion. Nothing more.

[Inferno]

Anyone see this yet? If not, it's worth going to and you'll never look at a Big Mac quite the same way again. Basically it's a documentary experminent in which the film-maker resolves to eat nothing but McDonald's for a month. The film tracks his progress, weight gain, and crashing health. Even the physicians he consulted were surprised at just how serious the effects were. A funny and disturbing film.

Did you know that it's a true story? The guy was like a scientist and he did this experiment. And all he ate for a month was Mcdonalds big mac. I havn't seen it yet but id like to when it comes out on video.

[Stephen]

As for his hate making him sick....I am reminded of when new drugs are introduced....the first people to use them are devided. Some get the real new drug...and some get a sugar pill. Yet, many times people who got the fake pill...act, and feel like they were affected. Why? Because they keep telling themself they will be. They get all worked up and mentaly they think somthing is going on.

[uc pseudonym]

That's true, Shatterheart, but only for some drugs. As soon as placebo testing gave those results, the respect for many of those drugs was reduced considerably. I agree that emotions can definitely cause changes in health, but there are certainly some drugs that do what they claim to.

[Stephen]

Not exactly sure where I said that drugs did not do what they said they do. I was simply saying that many times people who ingest somthing...and think, its gonna do this, its gonna do this, its gonna do this....typicaly end up having an effect. The sugar pill reference was to show that you can eat somthing harmless that should have no effect on you...yet you tell yourself that you feel different.

[uc pseudonym]

In that case you went exactly as far as you logically could and no further. I simply wasn't completely sure, and thought I'd draw the line in case anyone else was confused as well.

[Bobtheduck]

Hmm... I think I will see this movie afterall... I wonder if it can scare me into eating healthier... I doubt it, but I should accept the movie for at least a bit of a laugh...

I gotta say, tech, I didn't think this movie fell into the realm of "left wing" or "right wing" as food choices didn't seem an issue associated with politics except moral vegitarianism and veganism, which would be extreme liberal viewpoints, and Kosher diets, which would be a conservative ones (I'm not sure about the kosher thing, so this is conjecture... The Moral Vegitarianism is definately, in the US anyhow, a Liberal standpoint whether democrats subscribe to it or not). Everything else has no "left/right" sort of inclination to it...

I was questioning this movie purely based on what I know about hypochondria and even actual illness (that aren't imagined) caused by what someone is thinking. I suppose I shouldn't be too upset by that. Just because it's extreme doesn't mean it isn't mostly true. I should be able to take it with a grain of salt, although people seem to think salt is evil (hehehehe)

[cbwing0]

I want to see the movie; unfortuntely it isn't playing in any of my local theaters. I guess I will have to wait until it comes out on video...

As for the fast food industry, I don't have any issues with them (even after reading "Fast Food Nation," which is probably much worse than this movie ). Fast food restaurants are to food what dollar stores are to retail: a cheap, quick choice that is necessary for those that can't afford anything else (at least that's how it is in the United States). After all, as Shatterheart pointed out, most health food is rather expensive, especially when compared to "normal" food. That is not to say that I dislike fast food. It is made to taste good, even if it isn't incredibly healthy.

[righteous_slave]

On 20/20's "Give Me a Break" segment, they showed two other people who did almost the same thing, eating nothing but McDonalds for a month, and they both actually lost wieght and had other beneficial health effects. The differences were they both exercised, but not intensely or for very long, they did not eat just Big Macs and Quarter Pounders, and they did not always take the advise of the cashier to supersize the meal like the other guy did.

It ain't gonna stop me from eating there.

[Bobtheduck]

On 20/20's "Give Me a Break" segment, they showed two other people who did almost the same thing, eating nothing but McDonalds for a month, and they both actually lost wieght and had other beneficial health effects. The differences were they both exercised, but not intensely or for very long, they did not eat just Big Macs and Quarter Pounders, and they did not always take the advise of the cashier to supersize the meal like the other guy did.

It ain't gonna stop me from eating there.

"I hope the irony's not lost on you, Simpson"

Hehehe... I need to see that as well... Too bad this was probably a one time thing... That's really interesting, though.

[The Mad Hatter]

supersize me was, in my opinion, more of an examination of the obesity problem in america. not only did he talk about dieting, but he also mentioned cars and a lack of exercise as causes.

fast food nation was a really good book, especially for those who found supersize me interesting. I don`t want to turn this into a debate, but you have to realize that franchising will raise the prices in other restaurants. there is such thing as quick, inexpensive food that doesn`t involve franchising. go to europe and you`ll see. the author also points out the problem in the way the places are run, and the negative impact and pressure on the meat industry. I think it is hard to disagree with schlosser in those areas. what I also like about the book is his mentioning of urban sprawl and its influence on this area. I really think more people have to read that book.

[Fsiphskilm]

I really don't car

[Stephen]

I heard about a new cookbook the other day...I am very curious what kind of good recipes are in it. Name of it is "Eat what you want, die like a man"

[cbwing0]

I'm not saying don't eat healthy, I'm just implying that I really don't care, If it looks healthy I'll eat it! I have Faith in God and what-ever happens happenes,

Eventually you'll end up eating the ""WRONG"" thing, but then the other ""things"" will cancel each other out

I'm with you: I eat whatever I want, healthy or not. If I die early as a result, then at least the food was good.

The real key is exercise. If you sit around all day and eat your super low-carb diet granola blocks, then you will still get fat] heard about a new cookbook the other day...I am very curious what kind of good recipes are in it. Name of it is "Eat what you want, die like a man"[/quote]
Sounds interesting...if I could cook, I might get it.