More handpicked essays just for you.
Three effects of the fast food industry
Effects of fast food or eating unhealthy
Does fast food cause obesity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Most people would agree that the fast food industries are causing a major concern for the health of most Americans today. Because of this Morgan Spurlock embarks on a one month long diet, or as he would put it, "McDiet." In his documentary, Super Size Me, Spurlock decides to eat food from McDonald's to see how it would affect his health. Throughout the diet he has rules he must abide by. He can only eat food that McDonald's sells. If asked to super-size his meal, he must say yes. He has to have everything on the menu at least once, and he must eat three meals every day. In his film, Morgan Spurlock claims that the consumption of fast foods is largely responsible for many of American’s health problems and that eating McDonald's every day for …show more content…
In the beginning of the movie Spurlock states that since 1980, the total number of overweight people in America has doubled. Throughout the film, Spurlock utilizes the help of three doctors. In his primary exams and blood tests Spurlock has great results and is above average for a man his size and age. As he goes through this diet is health drops drastically. At the end of the month he gained a total of twenty-four and half pounds. Furthermore, his liver basically turned into fat and his cholesterol shot up to two hundred and thirty. He had two times the risk of having heart disease or heart failure. He often felt depressed and exhausted and had massive cravings and headaches. By the end of the month he consumed thirty pounds of sugar and twelve pounds of …show more content…
The film uses these statistics in just about every part of the movie. For example, the film shows the amount of money those fast-food corporations spend on advertising their products each year and the number of McDonald’s restaurants on the island of Manhattan. This information gives knowledge to the viewers. Spurlock will use this information during the interviews. The film will stop the interviews and then use those statistics found to either support or oppose what they had to say. By doing this, the viewers understand that even experts can be wrong or have different opinions from some of the statistics shown. The film also shows information that the audience might have thought differently about. For example, the film addresses that there are “healthy” options at fast-food establishments, such as the yogurt parfaits or salads. However, Spurlock explains how these options are actually not that much healthier for you. This shows that there is not a way to eat at a fast-food establishment and have a healthy
Fast food, while a quick alternative to cooking, has always been known to be less healthy than traditional preparations, but the extent of its health benefits or detriments was not known until a lawsuit came out which inspired documentarian Morgan Spurlock to engage in a 30 day experiment. The resultant documentary specifically targeted McDonald’s, the largest fast food chain in the world, which also happens to be a major recipient of lawsuits linking obesity and their food. Spurlock endeavored to spend a thirty day period eating nothing but food that came from the golden arches, with the rules that he would supersize only when asked, and every time he was asked, and that he would have everything from the menu at least once. In the 2004 film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock explores the concept that McDonald’s contributes to the nation’s obesity problem through the utilization of statistics and scientific evidence as a logical appeal, comedy and repulsive qualities as an emotional appeal, and s...
Even though on his own he may have been able to get his point across of how fast food can destroy a body, he still consults with all types of doctors and specialists. Spurlock even goes out to schools and the streets to interview random people to help his belief in the subject matter. McDonald's is one of the multiple fast food restaurants that serve greasy and oversized meals that are harmful to the human body. Throughout a thirty day McDonald's only diet, Spurlock surrounds himself with logos, ethos, and pathos to impact the viewer's opinion on the true cost of eating fast food regularly.
The negative representation of Spurlock is revealed in many instances in Fat Head. Firstly, Naughton mirrors Spurlock’s 30-day fast food binge, which he uses as a means of demonstrating the faults in Super Size Me. Another error the director analyses is Spurlock’s daily consumption of more than 5000 calories. By displaying the calculations on the side on screen as Naughton’s criticises the errors, the director accentuates the fact that none of the meal combinations that Spurlock could consume contain 5000 calories. He also manages to construct Spurlock as sinful, dishonest person, which is symbolised by the red background. While Naughton explains his calculations, the lyric ‘Something here doesn’t seem to add up’ is played in the background. This song works together perfectly with Naughton’s commentary of Spurlock’s errors, since it further emphasises the director’s biased argument, that is, Spurlock is a prevaricator. This ensemble of v...
Documentary films have become very popular in the last few years, with the success of Michael Moore’s films fueling interest in learning while being entertained. Two filmmakers have benefited from this new interest in the non-fiction film movement, including directors Morgan Spurlock and Lee Fulkerson. The two filmmakers both made documentaries regarding healthy eating, or the lack thereof, in North America. Spurlock’s film, Super Size Me, was about a healthy man who wanted to see what would happen to his body if he ate nothing but items from McDonalds for an entire month. On the other hand, Fulkerson’s Forks Over Knives is about a man on a quest to improve his health by consuming a plant and whole food based diet.
Super Size Me begins with Director and actor Morgan Spurlock being 32 years of age at the time of filming in 2003. Spurlock is recorded as being physically above average, which is attested to by several doctors as well as a nutritionist and a personal trainer. He asks these professional to track his health and wellness during the “McDiet”. Spurlock’s McDiet is a test where he will eat only food from McDonald’s for thirty days to see how it would affect his health. Throughout the filming of Super Size Me, Spurlock’s health g steadily degenerates until it eventually reaches a state of critical danger for himself, even before the experimental thirty days have concluded. While Spurlock is testing his McDiet, he also investigates further into particular
“Supersize me” is a film written and directed by Morgan Spurlock, this documentary observes the effects of the fast food industry on the American society. The premise of ‘Supersize me’ is an attempt to eat only McDonalds for a total of thirty days. This ‘Mc Binge’ was inspired by a trial evolving two teenage girls who were attempting to sue McDonalds for their obesity and the health. McDonalds, the number one fast food industry at the time, could be food almost anywhere you looked, the option of supersizing one’s food order gave the satisfaction In order to examine the effects of fast food on society. Spurlock decides to take on the challenge presented by a judge whom ruled that unless it could be proven that McDonalds could in one month make an individual physically sick, there would be no grounds for the case. Hired to test and prove that the girls had a case, Mr. Spurlock began his fast, imbibing nothing but McDonalds sold products. Spurlock provides many techniques in order to capture the attention of the audience; he uses logos, pathos and ethos throughout his film.
Morgan Spurlock decided to make this documentary to investigate the fast food companies, and the effects of certain fast food chains products, particularly McDonalds, on the health of society. This Documentary explores the United States growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes as well. Morgan decides to eat nothing but McDonald's food for thirty days. He must eat one of everything on the menu at least once, and when asked to super size his meal he must do so. Another stipulation of Morgan's experiment is that he can only take 5,000 steps a day to replicate the exercise that most average Americans get on a daily basis. He must also eat three meals a day, no exceptions and if McDonalds doesn't serve it Morgan can't eat it.
McDonald’s is killing Americans, at least that is what Morgan Spurlock believes. In his documentary Super Size Me he embarks on a quest to not only describe and use himself as an example of the growing obesity trend, but to offer the viewers with base-line nutritional knowledge that will allow them to draw their own informed conclusions. Spurlock's primary intention is to prove through self-experimentation that eating solely McDonald's food is dangerous. His secondary intention is to denounce the rising obesity rate in American by using statistics, his own research, and the opinions of experts. His broader message is for a general audience while he tailors select chapters towards more specific demographics such as parents or McDonald's themselves.
... the health risks that are caused from eating McDonald's and other fast food, Spurlock incorporates many visual and textual pieces into this documentary. This includes documenting his personal life throughout the experiment and his final health analysis graph from the start to the end. He also includes many instances of evidence to help support his argument. He includes his own personal experience, the experience from other individuals, and expert testimonies. By including all of this, Spurlock was able to justify his reasoning towards criticizing the fast food restaurants for their role in the obesity epidemic. The techniques used by Morgan Spurlock is very effective in detailing the causes and effects of obesity in order to make people more aware of the situation.
As consumers, we like to believe that the information we are told is truthful and unbiased however, this is not always the case in relation to the fast food industry. In his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko builds a convincing argument by using logical reasoning that fast food companies should be more truthful with their caloric content. Zinczenko also uses this logical reasoning to show how ease of access and family structure can affect fast food consumption. However, Zinczenko’s use of hasty generalizations and cause and effect fallacies render his argument unconvincing overall.
The United States of America has long been considered a “big nation”, whether is has the biggest cities, houses, and on a negative note, biggest people. In 2003, Morgan Spurlock, a healthy-bodied film director, set on a quest to show America the detrimental effects of the fast food industry and raise awareness on the controversial issue. He produced the documentary “Supersize Me”, where McDonald’s meals were consumed for every meal of the day for thirty days. His film was released to movie theatres so that people could understand the devastating effects of McDonald’s on his body in a very short time span. At the end of his experiment, Morgan gained twenty-five pounds, developed a thirteen percent body mass increase, cholesterol skyrocketed immensely, and fat accumulation in his liver rose to. He became depressed and he only felt happy and in no pain when he was eating the fast food. By using ethos, logos, and pathos, “Supersize Me” became one of the most watched documentaries in the United States. Without these appeals, this documentary would not have developed the effect that it did.
Spurlock explains the corporations’ way of justifying their business and even defending against allegations that their products are causing consumers medical problems. For example, Spurlock explains that the McDonalds’ Corporation stated that fast food can actually be a part of a healthy diet. Also, Spurlock interviews a representative from a corporate lobbyist organization that defends the interest of several major food and beverage corporations. Despite what he has already proven, Spurlock then challenges the corporations’ opposition to his arguments by showing the audience information that contradicts the corporations’ claims. This further strengthens Spurlocks arguments by showing that some of the oppositions arguments are not entirely
These sources include a research on obesity from 1989-2004 and the help from a cardiologist, gastrologist, and general practitioner. Utilizing these sources help boost Morgan’s credibility by showing that he has done research and the information he provides are professional. In addition, Morgan also utilizes his project of eating Mcdonald's for a month to portray the devastating effects of fast food places such as by listing how he has gained 24 lbs and 8% of body fat. By including these statistics, Morgan is able to display to the audience the terrible effects of eating fast food constantly and set an example of what would happen if they don’t stop. Thoroughly by utilizing these sources, the claims of America being the fattest country and fast food being unhealthy for the regular body can be seen as very true, as his results and research has thoroughly proved his
Director Morgan Spurlock was present all throughout the documentary Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004.) Morgan Spurlock was the centerpiece to this puzzle of a documentary. Morgan Spurlock was included in almost every scene. The film focused on the body's reaction to consuming nothing but Mcdonald's for 30 days, and the director was involved in the whole experiment. There is no star bigger than the director in this mid 2000’s documentary, other recurring characters include his girlfriend (Alex Jamieson) and the doctors that helped him along the way. The way Morgan Spurlock conducts this documentary is very interesting, he was involved in mostly everything hands on. He interviewed people, asked doctors for questions,
First, my personal reaction to this is documentary is an eye opener. I knew McDonalds was more harmful to than other fast food places, but I never knew about the lawsuit between McDonalds and it consumers. I never saw McDonalds as having big impact on my life; this is probably because the McDonald’s in my hometown never had a super-size option. In the video, Spurlock conducted interviews to gain ...