Supersize Me (McDonald's Fast Food Documentary)

Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003 during which he ate only McDonald's food. The film documents this lifestyle's drastic effect on Spurlock's physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit.

Spurlock dined at McDonald's restaurants three times per day, eating every item on the chain's menu at least once. Spurlock consumed an average of 20.92 megajoules or 5,000 kcal (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) per day during the experiment.

As a result, the then-32-year-old Spurlock gained 24½ lbs. (11.1 kg), a 13% body mass increase, a cholesterol level of 230, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment using a vegan diet supervised by his future wife, a chef who specializes in gourmet vegan dishes.

The reason for Spurlock's investigation was the increasing spread of obesity throughout U.S. society, which the Surgeon General has declared "epidemic," and the corresponding lawsuit brought against McDonald's on behalf of two overweight girls, who, it was alleged, became obese as a result of eating McDonald's food [Pelman v. McDonald's Corp., 237 F. Supp. 2d 512]. Spurlock points out that although the lawsuit against McDonald's failed (and subsequently many state legislatures have legislated against product liability actions against producers and distributors of "fast food"), much of the same criticism leveled against the tobacco companies applies to fast food franchises whose product is both physiologically addictive and physically harmful.

Animals and Humanity

The video shows a group of 38 chimps that had spent 30 years inside testing facilities in Austria being released into a safari park. After spending decades undergoing medical tests, including being injected with HIV and hepatitis, their amazement at finally being free is clear. The footage shows two adult chimps gazing out of their enclosure at the outside world. After taking a few steps, one chimp turns back, hugging another chimp and squealing with excitement. Clearly overjoyed, the animals almost appear to laugh.

"I refuse to eat animals because I cannot nourish myself by the sufferings and by the death of other creatures. I refuse to do so, because I suffered so painfully myself that I can feel the pains of others by recalling my own sufferings.I feel happy, nobody persecutes me; why should I persecute other beings or cause them to be persecuted? I feel happy, I am no prisoner, I am free; why should I cause other creatures to be made prisoners and thrown into jail? I feel happy, nobody harms me; why should I harm other creatures or have them harmed? I feel happy, nobody wounds me; nobody kills me; why should I wound or kill other creatures or cause them to be wounded or killed for my pleasure and convenience?(...) I think that men will be killed and tortured as long as animals are killed and tortured. So long there will be wars too. Because killing must be trained and perfected on smaller objects, morally and technically." Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz Animals, My Brethren (written in the Concentration Camp Dachau, in the midst of all kinds of cruelties)

Earthlings

Earthlings is an award-winning documentary movie written and directed by Shaun Monson and narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. The film analyzes the relationship that people have with animals in today's world; specifically pointing out the negative ways that animals are used inhumanely for human profit. Over the course of the movie the narrator discusses the cruel ways that animals are treated for the pet industry (backyard breeders and unwanted homeless animals), for the food industry (filthy, vile and horribly cruel conditions and treatment), for entertainment (wildlife animals in zoos and circuses), fashion (fur), and science (animal testing).

The images and video used in the documentary, which were obtained over a five year period with undercover cameras, are powerful and disturbing. Almost no narration is needed; the video lens unflinchingly tells the whole story for the animals. Joaquin Phoenix's somber narration puts the horrifying video in context with well-researched facts and narratives. Moby, a dedicated vegan, provided the eerie, haunting soundtrack for the Earthlings documentary. His beautiful yet melancholy tones serve as an allegory for the innocence and beauty of domestic and wildlife animals subjected to the cruelest treatment.

A measure of a society is how it treats animals.

Super Size Me (Full Length)

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock makes himself a test subject in this documentary about the commercial food industry. Rigorously eating a diet of McDonald's fast food three times a day for a month straight, Spurlock is out to prove the physical and mental effects of consuming fast food. Spurlock also provides a look at the food culture in America through its schools, corporations, and politics as seen through the eyes of both ordinary citizens and health advocates.