Supersize Me

[Miss Modular]

Tonight, Morgan Spurlock came to Cornell and spoke about his experiences doing Supersize Me. Before that, though, he screened the film, which I very much enjoyed.

About Spurlock's approach, I don't have to expand on what El Blanco already said. He's right that these people do a lot of damage, but at some point, we have to take it into our own hands.

After the screening, Spurlock spoke about his reasoning for choosing to eat McDonalds exclusively for the film--being that Mc Donalds is usually the trendsetter in fast-food industry. He talked about the after effect of the film, and how shortly after it premiered at Sundance, McDonalds made some changes. Such as elimnating the Supersize option. And the "health by association" spin, where they'll have the gymnast advertise McDonalds. Of course, she doesn't actually eat McDonalds, as he pointed out. She's an athlete! He completed the speech by saying that the voting machine of 21st Century is the Cash Register.

While many of us were walking into the auditorium, we were handed out flyers saying that Supersize Me was a hoax full of distortions. Unlike people who fact checked Michael Moore, who actually had some valid points, most of the stuff they tried to expose wasn't anything that Spurlock freely owns up to. In this case, I think the fact checkers were doing more distortions that the "spin master" himself.

Offhand, Spurlock is a genuinely nice guy. I complimented him on his use of Wesley Willis' "Rock and Roll McDonalds" in the film, and he made some remark when I asked for his autograph.