Super Size Me

The documentary that I chose to look at was Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me”, a documentary that had Spurlock eating McDonald’s for 30 days and seeing the effects it would have. Through music, colorful images, interviews, and Morgan ravaging his body the audience is able to get a glimpse at the fast food industry and learn the harmful effects that come with it. For me, this documentary not only keeps my attention the whole time but also got it point across.

The strongest aspect of this documentary to me is that it’s about Morgan doing the thing to show people and not just tell people what fast food is doing to them. When a filmmaker is able to slip into the role of the subject it is better than just showing facts and explaining what will happen. I also think that a strong aspect is how he is able to keep it light and funny even though it is a topic that can sometimes be taboo. He does a great job of editing and telling a story. All the parts of the documentary work well together, whether it be Morgan himself, interviews on the streets and in offices, or Morgan traveling to different schools and places it all flows nicely to create a story that works from begin to end. He uses many of the things that we have learned from this class and uses B-roll, interviews, and other footage to his advantage.

One big thing that stood out with me was how creative the documentary was. It had colorful and original animations. The music was also played a crucial role in the creativity of this documentary. The use of these songs also helped tell the story as each one went fit well with the montage being shown. I enjoyed how the movie was put together and flowed, I thought that movie had a strong momentum and had the Morgan stuff intertwined with the facts and taking a look at the food industry. Morgan was able to get his felling about fast food and the unhealthy world we live in, and was able to do it in a comedic and entertaining way. I think that this was also the reason that the documentary was able to gain such strong popularity with mainstream audiences. If it did not have these aspects as part of the film then the message could have been lost as well as the success that followed.