Morgan Spurlock, documentary filmmaker whose films extra size me He died from cancer complications after trying to expose the dangers of fast food after following a diet of only McDonald’s for a month. He is 53 years old.
Spurlock went on to make several other films. But nothing can hide the hype around it extra size me, which catapulted him to fame and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary. If you’re a millennial like me, this 2004 film was likely part of your educational diet, whether in high school or college, and was hailed as an example of groundbreaking investigative reporting. The problem is that’s not the case.
The film follows Spurlock, 32, from February 1 to March 2, 2003, as he ate McDonald’s every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner without exception. The film takes its title from the chain’s previous extra-large option, which Spurlock promised would be availableIt gets quiet every time the wait staff provides service. This happened nine times during filming. (McDonald’s discontinued the option shortly after the film’s release, although the company insists it had nothing to do with the documentary.) Spurlock gained less than 25 pounds in total, had elevated cholesterol and elevated liver enzymes.
None of this should be shocking, let alone Groundbreaking. In my opinion, this movie has good intentions, but the ultimate premise can be summed up as this: Men eat too many calories every day and experience health issues. Even in 2004, when nutritional science was still in its infancy, this conclusion shouldn’t have shocked the world.
Yet over the years, it did exactly that, although other experiments conducted shortly after the film was shot called Spurlock’s conclusions into question. For example, a study conducted by a researcher at a Swedish university constructed a similar month-long fast food binge and observed that the results varied greatly among individuals, with one participant even experiencing reduce in cholesterol. More recently, about a decade ago, high school science teacher John Cisna went viral when he said that he Lost 56 pounds After six months on the McDonald’s diet. The problem: He still seeks to follow the 2,000-calorie diet, which Spurlock refuses to do Post a food blog post that looks like eating with abandon. Again, showing the world that eating too much food can lead to health complications is not provocative journalism.
To Spurlock’s credit, he did throw some balance into it extra size meat least in part in the following form: reasonIt was Jacob Salem. Salem was sitting in his office in Virginia, wearing a cheerful red cardigan Express caution About the appropriateness of moving toward a society where fat people can be “publicly terrorized” the way some people do with smokers. After all, Spurlock’s final product has a sense of shame at its core, even though you can eat fast food without gobbling it down to the point of sleepiness. (After having to watch this movie in school, I heard Spurlock claim that his fast-food binge had left me unable to have sex unless his then-girlfriend was on top.)
Ironically, in the years following the documentary’s release, the topic of shame would continue to emerge, as compromising details about Spurlock’s life, including that he was an alcoholic, would continue to emerge. That doesn’t explain every adverse effect he experienced while following the McDonald’s diet, but it does raise a fair amount of questions. For example, when discussing his liver damage, it seems irresponsible not to mention this.
However, Spurlock will likely be remembered for years to come as someone whose name is associated with extra size me and what it claims to reveal. His death is sad. But his legacy is a healthy reminder: Doubt is a necessary component of any balanced diet.
