Super Size Me
Super Size Me
Alrighty. The nice folks at Netflix sent me Super Size Me over the weekend, and I've just taken the opportunity to start watching it. I'm not one who likes to speak ill of movies very much, but this one's boring the hell out of me. I've never been a big documentary person, and that's part of it. But I've decided that I don't like the director/subject Morgan Spurlock a whole lot.
In case you're not familiar with the thing, here's how it works: Spurlock, upon hearing about two obese girls suing the McDonald's company over their condition, decides to embark on a month-long binge of the McDonald's food. To see the ramifications. And he makes a movie out of it.
It sounded interesting, in that human study kind of way. I made an aborted attempt to actually see the movie in the theater back in the summer (aborted because, on that day, I somehow forgot how to tell time).
I got the Netflix people to send me a copy.
Like I said, I'm about halfway in, and it's not doing a lot for me. With the Yankees and Twins getting ready to play here in a couple of minutes, I think I'll turn it off. I don't think I'll turn it back on. So far, the only thing that's really appealed to me is the Wesley Willis song "Rock n' Roll McDonald's."
-----
A pause, so that I might change the channel to Fox.
A couple of thoughts I had from the TV back to the chair:
1.) Like I said, I don't think I like Spurlock a lot. Maybe I'm proving myself to be part of the problem when I say: What kind of pantywaist can't handle a double quarter pounder and an order of supersize fries? Now, I don't make a habit out of eating a double quarter pounder and supersize fries. I'm not a big McDonalds fan. But if it came down to it, I'm confident I could do it with a smile on my face, and do it without puking out the side of the car, like Spurlock did. It seemed a bit melodramatic to me. That did a lot toward affecting my liking of Spurlock...eat the sandwich, you pansy...you've never had a 12 ounce steak and a baked potato before? That's, weightwise, roughly equivalent.
(As an aside, I'm finding myself enjoying the sound of the word and name "Spurlock.")
2.) From what I've read, apparently Spurlock came out of the whole thing with dramatically increased triglycerides and a dramatic gain of weight, and decreased liver function and all that jazz. Maybe that's part of my inattention, that I've already read most of the end result. But the whole while I'm watching this, I'm thinking "Duh, Morgan, what does it prove?"
Maybe I need to watch with undivided attention, but I just never really got a grasp of whom (if anybody) Morgan was trying to implicate in the whole process...but I watched him eat three meals a day at Mickey D's, and thought that he's not really proving either party's argument, that "yes it is fast food's fault we're such fatasses" or "no, it's our fault." Because yeah, Spurlock's eating a bunch of fast food, and he's getting fat and unhealthy, but he's doing it of his own free will. McDonald's didn't make him eat it.
Unless they reveal later in the movie that McDonald's did in fact make him eat their food. Under threat of torture.
Like they did that one time, with me. I mean, McNuggets are tasty enough, but I really didn't need to eat 341 of them. I still have impacted styrofoam McNugget poop impacting in my lower intestines, and that little hostage crisis was abated during the Atlanta Olympics.
I joke, but I finish by saying I just didn't like this one very much. Maybe I missed the point...but even if I did, I think I'll just send it back to the Netflix people. (And it's rare that I actually say something negative about a movie here...I try to keep it as positive as possible around these parts, at least where it comes to the movie stuff.)
(Briefly, a couple of other things I got off of Netflix:
I enjoyed Mean Girls very, very much. I've thought Tina Fey's been just about the only bright spot on Saturday Night Live for a couple of seasons now, and I enjoyed both the writing and her performance in Mean Girls. Check this one out, if you haven't already. Easily one of the best comedies this year.
And, Mr. Show season 4 is out on DVD, and I'm moving toward the second disc when it gets here tomorrow. I've seen everything here before, but it's great, smart sketch comedy, and I just couldn't resist.
I like exaggerated exasperation, and Bob Odenkirk is one of the best. The talk show on the life raft sketch is one of my favorites. Can't recommend Mr. Show enough.)
Alrighty. The nice folks at Netflix sent me Super Size Me over the weekend, and I've just taken the opportunity to start watching it. I'm not one who likes to speak ill of movies very much, but this one's boring the hell out of me. I've never been a big documentary person, and that's part of it. But I've decided that I don't like the director/subject Morgan Spurlock a whole lot.
In case you're not familiar with the thing, here's how it works: Spurlock, upon hearing about two obese girls suing the McDonald's company over their condition, decides to embark on a month-long binge of the McDonald's food. To see the ramifications. And he makes a movie out of it.
It sounded interesting, in that human study kind of way. I made an aborted attempt to actually see the movie in the theater back in the summer (aborted because, on that day, I somehow forgot how to tell time).
I got the Netflix people to send me a copy.
Like I said, I'm about halfway in, and it's not doing a lot for me. With the Yankees and Twins getting ready to play here in a couple of minutes, I think I'll turn it off. I don't think I'll turn it back on. So far, the only thing that's really appealed to me is the Wesley Willis song "Rock n' Roll McDonald's."
-----
A pause, so that I might change the channel to Fox.
A couple of thoughts I had from the TV back to the chair:
1.) Like I said, I don't think I like Spurlock a lot. Maybe I'm proving myself to be part of the problem when I say: What kind of pantywaist can't handle a double quarter pounder and an order of supersize fries? Now, I don't make a habit out of eating a double quarter pounder and supersize fries. I'm not a big McDonalds fan. But if it came down to it, I'm confident I could do it with a smile on my face, and do it without puking out the side of the car, like Spurlock did. It seemed a bit melodramatic to me. That did a lot toward affecting my liking of Spurlock...eat the sandwich, you pansy...you've never had a 12 ounce steak and a baked potato before? That's, weightwise, roughly equivalent.
(As an aside, I'm finding myself enjoying the sound of the word and name "Spurlock.")
2.) From what I've read, apparently Spurlock came out of the whole thing with dramatically increased triglycerides and a dramatic gain of weight, and decreased liver function and all that jazz. Maybe that's part of my inattention, that I've already read most of the end result. But the whole while I'm watching this, I'm thinking "Duh, Morgan, what does it prove?"
Maybe I need to watch with undivided attention, but I just never really got a grasp of whom (if anybody) Morgan was trying to implicate in the whole process...but I watched him eat three meals a day at Mickey D's, and thought that he's not really proving either party's argument, that "yes it is fast food's fault we're such fatasses" or "no, it's our fault." Because yeah, Spurlock's eating a bunch of fast food, and he's getting fat and unhealthy, but he's doing it of his own free will. McDonald's didn't make him eat it.
Unless they reveal later in the movie that McDonald's did in fact make him eat their food. Under threat of torture.
Like they did that one time, with me. I mean, McNuggets are tasty enough, but I really didn't need to eat 341 of them. I still have impacted styrofoam McNugget poop impacting in my lower intestines, and that little hostage crisis was abated during the Atlanta Olympics.
I joke, but I finish by saying I just didn't like this one very much. Maybe I missed the point...but even if I did, I think I'll just send it back to the Netflix people. (And it's rare that I actually say something negative about a movie here...I try to keep it as positive as possible around these parts, at least where it comes to the movie stuff.)
(Briefly, a couple of other things I got off of Netflix:
I enjoyed Mean Girls very, very much. I've thought Tina Fey's been just about the only bright spot on Saturday Night Live for a couple of seasons now, and I enjoyed both the writing and her performance in Mean Girls. Check this one out, if you haven't already. Easily one of the best comedies this year.
And, Mr. Show season 4 is out on DVD, and I'm moving toward the second disc when it gets here tomorrow. I've seen everything here before, but it's great, smart sketch comedy, and I just couldn't resist.
I like exaggerated exasperation, and Bob Odenkirk is one of the best. The talk show on the life raft sketch is one of my favorites. Can't recommend Mr. Show enough.)
posted by Tommy at
19:52
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