Friday, April 10, 2009

Super Size Me: Review and Commentary

Hey, tell me I'm not completely late to the party on this one, and I will gladly call you a liar, however, I wanted something to write about, and boy is this it. Wow!.. just wow. First, I will not say that all of this gentleman's research and facts are wrong, nor will I say that it wasn't entertaining, but as a serious education piece, it left more than a bit to be desired.

Are we sure this isn't a "Mockumentary"? The host was not afraid to poke quite a bit of fun at the subject, nor was he afraid that swearing or sexual discussion made his story seem less relevant. I understand that in many ways what he was really trying to put together was more of a "Shockumentary," but it didn't really do it for me. Mr. Spurlock's discussion points, while often, though not always, valid were difficult to swallow in that his style was very preachy, and overblown. I will be the first to admit that I am aware he has his finger pointed directly at people like me. I won't even disagree with the placement of said finger. I am overweight, and much of this is because of my eating and fitness habits, but here's the deal: I made those decisions. Not McDonald's, not KFC, not Blue Bunny, and not Coke. I am the woman that chose to pick up banquet meals for lunch most days at work. I am the woman who usually skips both breakfast and exercise for the five extra minutes of sleep in the morning. I admit it. Am I proud? No, not really. Am I responsible? Absolutely. Do I need a snotty New Yorker calling me out on it? No, thank you.

I feel that Mr. Spurlock, like most documentary producers, had not come into this to test a theory, but to prove a point. He already knew what he expected to find when he started. He may not have expected quite the consequences that he experienced, but on some level, he was expecting something like this to happen. He expected this "experiment" to affect his health and his mood. I can't help but wonder how much of his "mood swings" and "feeling sick" were actually caused by the food, and how much was caused by the idea of the food. I just can't be sure that what he "felt" wasn't merely because he expected to feel it. On the other hand, some of the doctor's reports are fairly scary if they are true. All in all, I just couldn't take the piece seriously.

I know this fairly short "review," doesn't really address any of Mr. Spurlock's discussion points, but that's probably not why you read my blog. If I am guessing correctly, you probably come here because you already know me, and are shocked by the spectacle of me writing anything more than I absolutely have to, and taking the time to ensure proper typing. Really I guess I just needed to see this once in my life, and then I needed to judge it on my blog. I never would have paid to watch it, but it was interesting, though not in an "I want to change my life because of this" sort of way. It was more of a… "Wow, what an arrogant jerk" thing really. However, that being said, this is my first blog post for the month, so we can thank Mr. Spurlock for that. I was casting far and wide for a topic, and he dropped one right in my lap.

So, now that I have made my opinion known on that load of… questionable content, I feel that I must mention that I do feel the need to begin some sort of weight loss plan. Certainly not because of the "documentary" though. It actually came about because I have seen the pictures from the NABS student seminar. I really looked quite a bit larger than I realized, and that makes me unhappy. So, I think first things first, I am going to look into doing a food diary for a while, just to see what I am eating, then if I can afford it, maybe Weight Watchers. If not, well I should be able to come up with something. Those of you who care, feel free to ask me about it, those who don't… well you know what to do.

Good evening for now, and I'll see you all on the flip side.

By the way, if anyone wishes to watch this "cinematic masterpiece" here's the link:

Super Size Me

Have Fun!

(I just found this "response" to the Super Size Me vid on Youtube. It proves two things. First, Youtubers will "respond" to anything that's been promoted or popular, just to get hits. Second, kittens make me much happier than arrogant New Yorkers do. Enjoy!)


No comments:

Post a Comment