Supersize me is a documentary revealing the ugly truth when it comes to McDonalds, whereas Food Inc. gives and up-close perception on America’s food industry. Supersize came out in 2004 with a budget of 65,000 and made 516K, whereas Food inc. came out in 2009 and made 60,500. Supersize me made way more than Food Inc. In fact, Food Inc. made the same as Supersize-me budget for the film. The movies are very similar in the way that both focus on the health of the individual that is enjoying the food. The movies also focus on how bad of food we consume and hoping to change individual’s perspective and help them to eat healthier containing fruits and veggies. It sheds light on Supersize me for setting an example for future filmmakers to take values away from it and use it in other settings of America. McDonald’s is not the only company advertising to children many other fast-food restaurants do as well. Food Inc. demonstrates how the food is made and how it gets to the restaurants.
According to the journalistic website Wikipedia the movie was conceived at Spurlock’s (main character) at his parents’ house while watching a commercial regarding two teenage girls who were blaming the fast-food chain for their obesity. According to Maire O Simington on her article ‘Supersize me’ and the rest of the fast-food nation. It focuses on the problem of obesity. The scholastic article mention “Supersize Me” as a funny rendition on the impact McDonald’s has on a relatively normal body weight. It also mentions increases on obesity over the years and how to eat healthier. McDonald’s is an easy face to pick on but there are many other fast-food joints doing the same thing.
The single element form “Supersize me” would be Ronald McDonald the clown. Ronald McDonald brings the film together as it represents how we’re poorly advertising to children to eat unhealthy food. Ronald McDonald is found on commercials as well as he is the creator of the “happy meal” even though it doesn’t contain anything healthy. Ronald McDonald is dressed in red and yellow which are McDonald’s main colors which represent ketchup and mustard. Ronald McDonald always demonstrates the play place for children. The play place is an obstacle place set to entice children to want to come to McDonald’s because then they can play with all the other children.
Roger Epert gave Super Size me two thumbs up saying that it packaged a serious message in a way that was digestible to audiences. Robert Davis of the NYT praised the film saying Spurlock took incredible risks to bring a public safety announcement about the danger of high calorie cheap fast food. Audiences seemed to enjoy the movie with many claiming that it affected how they thought about fast food and their unhealthy relationship with it.
Another element of Super Size me that stands apart is how Spurlock went toe to toe with such a powerful mega corporation. McDonalds has reigned supreme as the #1 fast food eatery in the world for so long and Spurlock forces us and them to take a good hard look at the kind of foods they were offering and the effects of frequently eating those foods. Famously, McDonalds discontinued their super size as a response to the criticism in the film and now offers some marginally healthier options like salads and plant based burgers as well as offering sensible alternatives to French fries like apple slices and baby carrots.