werkz advice: go see it today!

"Super Size Me" is one of the best—and certainly (with the exception of _Cane Toads: An Unnatural History_) funniest—documentaries I’ve ever seen. Most people know the gist of the film: a man eats nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 straight days. But the success of the film lies in how it goes about its business. The director/star Morgan Spurlock is charismatic and likeable—from the moment he steps in front of the camera and addresses it, you feel yourself immediately warming to both him and his project. And when the opening credits role, appropriately, to Queen’s “Fat-Bottomed Girls,” you’re hooked.

The film is indeed shocking and effective—there’s no faking the surprise and concern on Spurlock’s medical advisers’ faces as they watch his downward slide. Similarly, there’s delicious humor in Spurlock’s discovery that more kindergarteners recognize Ronald McDonald (or even Wendy) than George Washington or Jesus. What’s especially nice is that Spurlock’s argument is about more than McDonald’s; it’s about the American relationship to food and fitness in general. So he does more than not eat; he also tries to exercise only as much as the “average American,” and he explores fast food’s marketing, its intrusion into school systems, and a whole range of related social issues. McDonald’s is only a symbol of a larger problem—a symbol that they have eagerly set themselves up to become. Occasionally Spurlock seems less then objective, but you forgive him for it (as you might not Michael Moore) because you can literally see the damage that is being done to him—he has an immediate and personal stake in the movie. The end result is a funny convincing, and moving picture that—after you finish laughing—will make you think seriously about not just what you eat, but how you live in general.

A quick postscript:
Sadly, the backlash against this movie has already begun. I was infuriated to stumble across a recent episode of _20/20_ and see John Stossel trying to dismantle the film. Of course he was skeptical, and of course he found people who lost weight eating McDonald’s. But his counterargument was disingenuous, because one of his examples ate only salads, and the other worked out two hours a day. Stossel is purposefully ignoring the larger attack of Spurlock’s film—the American culture and attitudes of which McDonald’s is emblematic, not McDonald’s itself—and he seems oblivious to anything resembling nuance. Moreover, why attack this film? McDonald’s doesn’t need the help; it has armies of PR people, and advertises daily on almost every network. Does John Stossel and _20/20_ really need to weigh in? A more conspiracy-minded critic would suggest pressure from _20/20_’s advertisers, but I blame sheer thoughtlessness and opportunism: It’s easy to pick on a small-budget labor of love.