Super Size Me

Hook, finding one’s place

Guiding thread: Finding one’s place in the world · Sub-thread: Giving and receiving, we can only give and receive from a place.

Finding one’s place in the world · Young people today

The film opens with two teenage girls who took McDonald’s to court, and Morgan Spurlock tests fast food on his own body. Today, how do young people act for better food and health at school?

Sentence starters

• The two teenage girls go to court because…
• Young people can act for better school meals by…
• To change eating habits, a school needs…
• Caring for others’ health means…

Visionary filmmakers. Back in 2004, Morgan Spurlock was already questioning fast food and school lunches, years before healthy school meals became a public debate.

Talk about the characters and about young people in general, not about yourself.

Then, a second question:

Can one person’s experiment prove something about everyone?

The film in three lines

Official synopsis (Samuel Goldwyn Films): “While examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald’s food for one month.” From 1 February to 2 March 2003, he eats three McDonald’s meals a day, accepts the “Super Size” option whenever it is offered, and limits his walking. Doctors follow his weight, blood and liver.

Your mission: understand the experiment, analyse how a documentary persuades, then judge its scientific value.

The trailerFilm study sheetJustice & the environment

Film credits

Film language, with examples from the documentary’s style

The official trailer is not freely available online: these examples describe techniques used throughout the documentary. Check them when your teacher plays the trailer or an extract.

Shots

• filmclose-ups of food, trays and cups: the size of portions
• filmmedical close-ups: scales, blood tests, the doctor’s face

Angles

• filmthe filmmaker looks into the camera: a direct address to the viewer

Camera movement

• filmhandheld camera in the streets of New York: a “real life” feeling

Lighting & colour

• filmthe bright red and yellow of fast-food signs
• filmcold clinical light in doctors’ offices

Sound

• filmthe director’s first-person voice-over, full of humour
• filmpop songs that make the subject entertaining

Editing

• filma day counter on screen (“Day 1… Day 30”): a diary structure
• filmcartoons and graphics with numbers: calories, weight, cholesterol

Step into the period

Historical landmarks

• 1940 The McDonald brothers open a restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
• 1955 Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald’s franchise.
• 2001 The US Surgeon General issues a Call to Action against overweight and obesity.
• 2002 Pelman v. McDonald’s: a lawsuit on behalf of two teenagers; dismissed in 2003.
• 2003 1 February, 2 March: Spurlock’s 30-day experiment.
• 2004 January: Sundance premiere. March: McDonald’s announces it will phase out Super Size portions (it says the decision is not linked to the film). 7 May: release.
• 2005 Oscar nomination.
• 2008 Linköping University (Sweden) publishes a controlled study of a fast-food overeating diet on 18 volunteers.
• 2010 The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act changes school meals.
• 2016 A new Nutrition Facts label is announced by the FDA.
• 2017 Spurlock releases Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!; in December he publishes a personal statement that raises new doubts about the first film.
• 2024 Morgan Spurlock dies, aged 53.

Sources: Samuel Goldwyn Films, Super Size Me · Kechagias et al., Gut, 2008 · FDA, Food labeling

Official trailer

Samuel Goldwyn Films, official page and trailer

Before you watch, the rules of the experiment

Spurlock set himself these rules: eat three McDonald’s meals a day; eat every item on the menu at least once; eat and drink only what McDonald’s sells, water included; say yes to “Super Size” only when it is offered; walk about as much as an average American.

1. Which rule seems the most extreme to you?
2. Which rule makes the experiment less realistic?
3. What would you measure if you were his doctor?

While watching, viewing grid

A first-person documentary

Spurlock is director, narrator and subject. He talks to the camera, uses cartoons, numbers and pop songs. Compare this style with Food, Inc. (narrators, experts, interviews).

The experiment in numbers

• 30 days: 1 February, 2 March 2003.
• About 5,000 kilocalories a day, according to Spurlock, about twice what is generally recommended for an adult man.
• He gained about 11 kg (24.5 pounds).

Critical thinking, is it science?

The film was a huge success and helped start a national debate. But its scientific value was criticised:

• it is an experiment on one person, with no control group;
• he ate far more calories than usual and walked less: critics said any diet with that many calories would make a person gain weight;
• he did not publish his complete food log;
• a Swedish study with 18 volunteers and a control group (Kechagias et al., Gut, 2008) found that doubling calories with fast food and little exercise for four weeks could strongly raise liver enzymes: overeating itself, not one brand, was the issue it measured;
• years later, the director’s own statements raised doubts about whether everything he consumed had been reported.

1. List three conditions for a reliable scientific experiment.
2. Does the criticism make the film useless? Why or why not?

1 · Design a better experiment, 2 minutes (groups)

Plan a fair version of the experiment: subjects, rules, measures, duration, ethics. Present it.

2 · Interaction, the TV debate

Four roles: a fast-food spokesperson, a nutritionist, a film critic, a TV host. 5 minutes.

3 · Debate, “Should junk food advertising be banned for children?”

Write

B1 · 150 words: Day 15 of the experiment: write Spurlock’s diary entry (as the character).

B2 · 250 words: “A good documentary must be scientifically accurate.” Do you agree?

• Listening: trailer · Reading: criticism, label · Speaking: experiment design, TV debate · Writing: diary / essay.

Project, “Read the label” campaign

In groups, design a short awareness campaign (poster + 30-second spot) teaching teenagers to read a Nutrition Facts label, with no brand names and no judgement of people.

Teacher notes

• Trailer: the distributor’s YouTube upload is private; link to the Samuel Goldwyn Films page (no embed).
• Critical-thinking point (verified): in December 2017, in a public statement, Spurlock wrote that he had been drinking alcohol since the age of 13 and had not been sober “for more than a week in 30 years”. In the film he tells the doctor he does not drink. Critics (e.g. Phelim McAleer, Wall Street Journal, May 2018) argued that undisclosed alcohol use could explain his liver results. Nuance: in 2024 his ex-wife Alexandra Jamieson said he had stopped drinking a month before the experiment and did not drink during it (The Sporkful, 2024). The scientific method was criticised anyway (one subject, 5,000 kcal/day, food log not published; Kechagias et al., 2008).
• Keep the discussion on the method and on media literacy, not on the director’s private life.
• Axes: 2nde « Défis et transitions » · 1re « Innovations scientifiques et responsabilité » · Tle « Fictions et réalités ».

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