Super size me !!

Just saw the documentary "super size me" by Morgan Spurlock. Have to say its a great feature film/doco that exposes a lot and shocks you about maccas's and fast food.

In case you weren't aware, the movie is an experiment by Spurlock about the effects of eating Macca's for 30 days. He eats everything on the golden arches menu, and only that for a month. The effects are shocking, besides getting sick he experiences a weight gain of 25 pounds (equivalent to 11 Kilos) , mood swings stemming from an addiction to the food, high cholestorol levels and reduced sex drive.

Throughout the 30 days where we watch him eat, the movie is interwoven with facts about obesity, comments from the various doctors that are monitoring his health, the junkfood that kids are eating at school canteens, and the big business dollars/lobbying that are driving kids into fastfood and other junkfood. Further comments from authority figures/academics/experts are added into the film and gives it a nice balance.

I have to say that I stay glued to the action the majority of the time - even where he vomited after eating too much. After seeing the film, I am very reluctant to eat fast food now and if given a choice between healthy food and fast food, I think I'd take the healthy option.

The film is hilarious yet also serious, a good balance to keep you engrossed - the stupid jokes and corny humour by Spurlock do add a lighter mood to the story.

All up though, I'm not sure if I agree with people suing macca's for making them become obese. What you eat is your choice. Advertisements and marketing strategies do target and influence people, however at the end of the day the customer makes the choice to consume the product. Everyone knows that eating fastfood is't good for your health and you don't need a documentary to tell you that. Should these corporations accept more responsibility for their actions? Should they warn people that consumption is dangerous to your health? Maybe greater warning is required - as in greater disclosure of nutritonal information at the stores. Ultimately at the end of the day, the consumer has to bear the cost of choosing to eat fast food.

I'm still a bit skeptical about some of the aspects of the experiment - such as some of the effects he experienced and I felt he did play up a bit for the cameras, however I'm not suprised that he felt so terrible after eating so much Macca's. Sometimes after eating fastfood, I feel pretty lethargic and just don't feel to well in general. So why do we keep eating it? Because it's convenient, cheap, taste good, and has good marketing which attracts us to the food. BTW I think eating fastfood every now and then is ok -once a week or a fortnight, combined with regular exercise.

Movie rating - I'd give it thumbs up, 9 out of 10. Definetly something that kids should watch to show them about the effects of eating junk food.