Super Size Me

Yes, I know, Mr Pinky is a bit behind the times in reviewing this documentary. At the time of its release, Mr Pinky (with some prejudice), thought this film more of a caper than anything else, like something out of Jackass. It turns out I was wrong, and that Super Size Me is actually quite a serious film.

You have to hand it to Morgan Spurlock for taking on this subject. McDonald's is famously litigious. If anyone criticises them they take you to court.

The task Mr Spurlock sets himself is to eat McDonald's for 30 days straight. Nothing else. If he's asked to Super Size his meal, he must accept. For obvious health and safety reasons Spurlock has 3 doctors monitor his health.

I guess we all had some vague idea that McDonald's food was not really the best for you. This documentary confirms it. Spurlock's fatty diet meant his liver was at risk of packing it in. His worried GP at one stage strongly urges him to give up his new McDonald's diet.

You really have to feel for his poor girlfriend, a vegan chef, when Spurlock gets sicker and sicker, suffering headaches and lost libido.

Super Size Me is a nifty mix of facts and figures, interviews with industry heavyweights, critics and doctors, plus the film maker using his body as you would a laboratory rat.

The shocking thing is how many people regularly eat this food. It is obviously not good for you at all. Imagine if you were put on Spurlock's girlfriend's vegan diet. Would the same thing happen? No, of course not.

(Spurlock's girlfriend, Alexandra Jamieson, has now published her own book entitled The Great American Detox Diet. Also of note: the DVD has a 25 minute interview with the author of Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, which is also worth a look at.)