"Supersize" is McDonald's code word for asking for large fries and a large beverage to "go" with one of their sandwich or salad entrees. It is an appropriate term to be included in the title of the 2004 documentary produced by Morgan Spurlock that shows his 30-day experiment in extreme fast food eating. Spurlock spends those 30 days eating nothing but McDonald's food. He gets fat, becomes ill and vomits a lot. He documents headaches, a 25-pound weight gain, lower sex drive and elevated blood pressure. It is supposed to teach people the problems in eating without thinking, particularly aiming at the horrors of fast food.
While it is interesting, it is just as clear that the experiment rests on a false premise. While the point is that people should choose a healthier diet and lifestyle, it does so from an extreme example, rather than showing the way that real people make their food choices could be hurting them over the long run. To achieve impact, Spurlock had to create a forced, "reality" style intensity, while there would be few, if any, people who would suffer the effects he did. He was trying to prove a point, and went to extremes to do so, trying to create a sensational result. He even includes a gastric bypass operation, to increase the horror for the young audience for which it is intended.
What Spurlock misses, and that keeps this movie from having significant impact on my own life, is that people need to be encouraged to truly value themselves and their health through real, not extreme examples. There is so much in the media that tries to influence by "scare" tactics (I think that there are even statistics that show that negative ads and scary political spots are considered to be more motivating than positive messages) that the public is becoming used to these types of extremes. The "scare" wears off quickly and does not produce significant changes in lifestyle.
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