Messages distributed by institutions such as the media have the potential to reach very large and anonymous audiences in a process called mass communication. In the movie Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock documents a month of eating McDonald's, only to prove how food media affects the way Americans are living extremely unhealthy lives. According to The Mediated Communication Process (modified Westley-MacLean model) communication starts with an event, which in this case is the two teenage girls that decided to sue McDonald's for their obesity, then there are sources, a message, a communicator, another message and then the audience.
There really are people in our country that are suing a food company for "making" them fat. This is the events portion of the communication method. This case was taken to court and the judge decided that if they could show that McDonalds was the only reason they were overweight then they would have grounds for a trial. When Spurlock takes information from these teenage girls he has to then interpret what they might be feeling or thinking, this is all part of the mass communication process, in science, this would be called human error.
Morgan Spurlock uses many different sources, but the main source remaining McDonalds. McDonalds was where Morgan was to eat three meals a day for a month and at the end it would be determined whether or not the McDonalds binge was life threatening. McDonalds advertising is mostly directed towards children through merchandise, television, toys, etc. "a child sees 10,000 food advertisements on television per year" and those are only food advertisements. McDonalds spends over 1.4 billion dollars a year on advertising and according to Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, Chair of Nutr...
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...I like fish" some might think that I like fish for pets, or that I like to eat fish, or maybe even the band Phish. This is only to show that when Spurlock provides us with information on McDonalds no can predict how the documentary affected each and everyone who viewed it.
The communication process has many steps involved that people do not take into consideration when they hear or read something. To go from an actual event to the sources, and messages, and to the communicator, and their interpreted message, and finally to the audience is not a simple process. With all the information that is lost or gained through this process who knows what to believe!
Sources:
1. Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Prod. Morgan Spurlock. DVD. Kathbur
Pictures, 2004.
2. Folkerts, Jean and Lacy, Stephen. The Media In Your Life. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon, 2004.
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...
Media, the plural form of medium, describes various ways in which we communicate in society. A phone call, email, radio, computer, news on TV, etc. are all forms of media. In our society today, the media plays a significantly large role in influencing society negatively, twisting one’s perspective of the truth. In author Brooke Gladstone’s, The Influencing Machine, she discusses how media is looked at as an “influencing machine,” that’s controlling the mind of its viewers. Throughout the reading, Gladstone guides her readers through perceptions of media and how it influences them to get readers to understand the truth about media and the manipulation behind it.
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
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.
In the documentary, Food Inc., we get an inside look at the secrets and horrors of the food industry. The director, Robert Kenner, argues that most Americans have no idea where their food comes from or what happens to it before they put it in their bodies. To him, this is a major issue and a great danger to society as a whole. One of the conclusions of this documentary is that we should not blindly trust the food companies, and we should ultimately be more concerned with what we are eating and feeding to our children. Through his investigations, he hopes to lift the veil from the hidden world of food.
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
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.
He was involved in so much that he basically made the film, directed, and starred in it. Every fact that Morgan Spurlock aimed toward the audience regarding fast food and its damages hit home. Peter Bradshaw who is a british writer for The Guardian explains that “Morgan Spurlock has produced a very funny and disquieting film about McDonald's in the Mooresque style”(2004). The overall performances by everyone in this movie were all put together to convey a serious message about the fast food corporations and how they're affecting the
Morris, A. M., & Katzman, D. K. (2003, May). The impact of the media on eating
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 ...
Mass Media. Ed. William Dudley. Farmington Hills, MI: Thompson Gale, 2005. 121-130.
Hingle, Melanie, and Dale Kunkel. "Childhood Obesity and the Media." Pediatric clinics of North America 59.3 (2012): 677. Print.