Rebecca Turner. Media Super Size Me essay

Using Supersize Me as a basis, identify the ways in which American Society is represented, both positively and negatively. In doing so, analyse the ways in which the producer utilises stylistic devices in order to create meaning for the audience.

Supersize Me is an investigative documentary that investigates and explores the effects of fast foods, in particular McDonalds. The documentary not only investigates but educates its audience, specifically Americans, young people and generally fast food eaters about obesity and the effects of regularly eating fast food. The documentary was created in a performative / expositional mode. This allows the audience to see first-hand the effects and thus it cannot be blamed or excused by other factors. The documentary also features other technical/ stylistic devices such as graphics, montages, facts and statistics, archival footage, vox pops, formal interviews and so on in order to make the aim of the documentary more prominent in order for any changes it provokes to be more significant.

For example the documentary begins with a montage of archival footage of obesity in America along with the presenter, Morgan Spurlock narrating facts and statistics about obesity within the United States calling it the” fattest nation in the world”. This provides the audience with the shock factor over this extremely negative portrait of America which further engages them into the reasons for these statistics. This is then followed by vox pops of people found on the street outside of McDonalds or other fast food outlets. The majority of those showed Americans confessing to regularly eating fast food and arguing against it being morally wrong for McDonalds to be forcing such unhealthy food upon society. To then provide evidence and back up the statement that McDonalds is contributing to obesity within society, the documentary featured a graphic of the United States which showed the correlation between the ‘fattest’ states and the number of McDonalds within that state.

However throughout the documentary we also see several professionals and experts featured in formal interviews. These begin to show a more positive aspect of American society. For example Jacob Sullum, the senior editor of reason magazine argues that people should be tackling obesity as they do for tobacco. Other experts are shown discussing their efforts in trying to tackle obesity or those who disagree with the way in which fast food companies are taking over people’s diets. This is a more positive portrayal of American society as it highlights that so many people are trying to fight for healthy diets and lifestyles. However the documentary also features an interview with Gene Grabowski, who states “we are part of the problem”. This shows a lack of consideration for American society as he admits they know they are helping to cause serious health problems, however their main priority is not the health, safety and well-being of their customers but the profits in which the unhealthy food is bringing them.

Also the documentary features a lot of visual aspects and effects that help contribute to the poignancy of the documentary. For example near the beginning of the documentary, Morgan

Rebecca Turner. Media Super Size Me essay

Spurlock tells us about two girls who attempted to sue McDonalds for making them obese from eating three meals a day, seven days a week of McDonalds. Spurlock introduces this with a graphic of two girls increasing in size to show their extreme weight for their age. This negative portrayal also provided the shock factor for the audience. Another example of this is nearer the end of the documentary when a montage appears over Gene Grabowski of all of the food companies that his company is involved with and that are contributing to obesity. This helps to emphasise how serious the situation is and how Grabowski is making an understatement. Yet this technique is also used to explore the other end of the spectrum within America. In order to show that the experiment and exploration is fair and un-bias there is also a montage featured over a teenage girl of all of the pressuring images the media puts onto young people.

During the documentary there are several visual aspects used when there are explaining the sizing system of the meals such as the differences between the original size fries and drinks and the escalation to supersize. These help emphasise the issue to the audience as they can clearly see the difference in portion sizes and thus the excess of the fats, sugars and so on that would be found within the food. Also the mise-en-scene used within the documentary has clearly been carefully considered. For example the professionals that appear in the formal interviews are featured in front of computer screens, in front of a bookcase or in a doctor’s office. Plus near the end of the documentary Morgan Spurlock is shown eating a McDonalds and an extremely obese person walks behind him, Spurlock hardly reacts but this allows us as an audience to think about the damage and harm fast food can cause. Also the music throughout appears as if it mocks the topic of fast food and healthy eating such as: Shimmy she Wobble, Fat Bottomed Girls, Rock n Roll McDonalds, Health Blues, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy and Oh Boy… The Damage that can’t be undone. All of these songs help to show the audience about Americans carelessness of the way in which they are treating healthy eating.

Yet another aspect of the documentary that gives America a negative portrayal is the difference in the responses of the Americans and the French woman featured in the vox pops. For example the Americans admit to regularly eating fast food such as ‘once every two weeks’ yet despite the fact that the French woman admits to eating fast food she also claims that she doesn’t eat it in America. One of the reasons she states for this is that the sizes in America are too large, for example the smallest size of drink in America is the large size in France which she struggles to consume. This shows how America has taken the sizing system of their meals to the extreme, which is beyond people’s want and certainly, their needs.

Yet towards the end of the documentary, the audience do begin to see more of a positive portrayal of America through the changes they have made. For example the captions that state the changes

Rebecca Turner. Media Super Size Me essay

that have been made such as John Banzahf who continues to fight for nutrition, how Gene Grabowski no longer works for the GMA and how Bruce Howlett has lost more than one hundred pounds. By placing this is a graphical form at the end of the documentary it makes it appear that these are the conclusive effects of the documentary, which makes McDonalds claim that the eradication of supersize meals had anything to do with Super-Size Me seem more defensive as they seem ashamed to admit they were in the wrong. These are positive representations as they show that America is willing to change and progress.

In conclusion I think the majority of the representation of American society is showing a negative portrayal, however there are several examples of positive portrayals of individual Americans. The use of graphics and montages was one of the most prominent techniques which is used in this documentary to re-enforce the issue being raised as well as the clever song choices. The use of vox pops and formal interviews with professionals helps to provide clear evidence for the fact that fast food is extremely harmful such as the obese civilians admitting to regularly eating fast food and the doctors clearly showing the effects of the fast food in scientific and medical terms. All of these help to back up the claims of Morgan Spurlock and provide evidence for his experiment and investigation.