Supersize Me
The definitive moment of Supersize Me came at about an hour and twenty minutes into the movie, at day 25 or so: the camera was just fixed on director and gastronaut Morgan Spurlock for about 5 or 10 seconds, just before he stuffed yet another bite of some McDonalds’ concoction into his increasingly unenthusiastic maw.
He looked utterly strung out and miserable; his body, bloated, wan and haggard. It was at that point that it really hit me just how far he had descended from the cheerful, easy-going person who is introduced at the beginning of the movie.
Going on a 30-day, McDonalds-only binge was a great vehicle for documenting the sad state of American dietary trends and the food industry that fosters and enables it.
This film should be shown in every school in the country. Spurlock should really consider making a G-rated version of the movie available to elementary schools, etc. It would only require the removal of three or four scenes which I’m sure could be replaced with other material he already has.
Why no comments? Is everyone embarrassed? Clearly Western culture’s to blame, but McDonald’s should be run out of town on a rail. Consider this aspect of the movie: Young Western women are depressed and disillusioned by how far they fall short of the image presented by fashion models, actresses and female pop stars. So they give up trying to achieve the impossible and sink into clinical depression.
But for us Western men, white women over-feeding us with unhealthy food is clearly dangerous to our collective health. When you look at what’s on offer in the West as a future life partner: well the word is despair.
So before you say “goodbye cruel world” or take up some dangerous, totally absorbing activity like motor racing, you owe it to yourselves to check out the other end of the ranch. Namely non-Muslim Asian women, although you might want to give them Bangkok bargirls a miss. As well as being more attractive (although beauty is in the eye of the beholder), they come with a far more loving attitude, and face it the Asian food they cook is far healthier. In another three generations, it may be hard to find 100% Caucasian kids in school on the US West Coast. Like Asian auto imports, the West Coast catches on to a good thing before the Mid West. That said, the concept of a foreign-born spouse seems far from a mainstream notion in any of the 50 states. Correct me if I’ve got it wrong.
I’m really sorry to speculate that Western women will be marginalised, particularly as it’s not entirely their fault they turn into over-weight slobs. They could try to make the best of their advantages, particularly in the intellectual department, as it’s all about self-esteem. Also, guys that value this level of intellectual contact don’t exactly grow on trees. Admittedly, us boys aren’t exactly oil paintings, so perhaps we all need to raise our game. But I’m not on a crusade to save or condemn US social culture, just looking for my own bit of heaven before the great time-keeper in the sky announces: “Game Over”.
» Posted by Andrew Milner on February 27, 2005 08:54 PM