Super Size Me

9/5/07
In class the other day, we watched Super Size Me, a movie by Morgan Spurlock. In this documentary, Morgan decides that he is only going to eat fast food- Mc Donald’s to be more precise, three meals a day for thirty days straight. Spurred on by a lawsuit from two overweight girls and their attempt to sue Mc Donald’s for their health issues, Morgan shows his viewers the undeniable harms of junk food. In the beginning, Morgan is far above average with regards to his physical health and strength. At the end of his thirty-day experiment, Morgan is clinically obese and there is a possibility of long-term health issues. None of the doctors enlisted by Morgan throughout the course of the taping could have fathomed the drastic health changes. By the end of the movie, they were all encouraging him to stop the experiment because his side effects were so severe that he could die. What Morgan Spurlock did to his body for the sake of education, is admirable. It is indisputable that junk food, in excess is extremely harmful.
But Morgan’s purpose for making that video was more than just proving the effects of Junk food. It was a look into society and our culture. According to the movie, there are around 80 Mc Donald’s in Manhattan alone. That number is more than the number of Wendy’s, Jack n the Boxes, and Burger Kings combined. He also stated that that on average, there is one fast food restaurant every four blocks. Granted, most people do not east fast food for every meal every day, but the sheer accessibility of it exponentially increases a person’s likelihood to eat there. It is cheap, and therefore an affordable meal. Not to mention that most fast food restaurants are open really late if not 24 hours. These factors combined with the American people’s laziness are why we are the biggest nation in the world.
Later in the day I read an article that asked the question, “are there fat and skinny zip codes?” The answer was yes. Research conducted by the University of Washington found out that neighborhoods have a tendency to be divided by race, and class. Therefore, a person is more likely to find a Whole Foods or Trader Joes in an educated, more affluent neighborhood that can afford the luxury of organic food while in a lower class neighborhood, there might not even be access to a Safeway. This article also stated that although we used to think obesity was largely genetic, one could now hypothetically predict obesity and diabetes based on low incomes and neighborhood poverty.
In our society we have over nutrition – people who eat their feelings- under nutrition- people who don’t eat at all and diets upon diets that completely contradict one another. There is no simple eating.

(photo taken from http://blogs.indiewire.com/thereelroundtable/archives/SSM800.jpg)