Movies
'Super Size Me': Director's big beef is with lunch in schools

By Moira Macdonald
Seattle Times movie critic

AVI GERVER Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me" documents the 30 days he ate only at McDonald's.

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Morgan Spurlock, director of the much-buzzed documentary "Super Size Me" (opening Friday at the Seven Gables and Uptown), can talk faster than McDonald's can whip out a Happy Meal. And that's appropriate, because for his film, he spent a month eating only McDonald's food — three full meals a day, no super-size unless it was offered, and every item on the menu at least once — to the rapid detriment of his health.

A year after his experiment, the friendly 33-year-old chatted easily over a hotel breakfast (for the record: bacon and toast with blackberry jam, and it looked delicious). His film touches on a variety of subjects within the theme of fast-food culture, obesity and personal and corporate responsibility; Spurlock's rapid-fire conversation does likewise. Some outtakes:

How it all began

"It was Thanksgiving 2002, and I was sitting around on my mother's couch with the remote. Some spokesperson for McDonald's came on TV and was refuting the lawsuits (filed on behalf of two teenage girls, who said that McDonald's food caused their obesity). He was saying, 'You can't prove our food made these girls sick; you can't prove that our food made these girls obese; our food is healthy, it's nutritious.' (So I thought) if it's that good for me, I should be able to eat as much as I want, right?"

30 long days

"Day 21 was terrible. All three doctors told me to stop, to quit. My mother, everyone was saying, you've proven your point. So I called my brother in West Virginia, and asked him, and his response was the defining moment for me. He says, 'Morgan, people eat this (stuff) their whole lives. Do you think it's going to kill you in nine more days?' I said, that's the most logical statement I've heard yet. I'll press on, I can do it. I have him to thank."

Living on camera

"For me to make this film, I felt that I really needed to be completely honest. I wanted to let the viewer into my world, into my life. If I was going to be the person on screen experiencing this, they needed to experience it with me. I could have turned to someone else and just been a director and chronicled somebody else's story, but I knew that I couldn't ask somebody else to do what I wouldn't be willing to do, and I couldn't completely trust in someone to not falter in the course of doing this."

Starting early

"School lunch is such a big issue — the core of the movie really revolves around it. The food is atrocious in schools, terrible, and it has been completely inspired by this fast-food world we live in. The schools have ice cream, burgers, an Icee machine in the middle of the cafeteria for lunch. This is not what we should be feeding our kids for lunchtime. People say, test scores are lower, they don't pay attention in class. Well, they're all hopped up on sugar and caffeine, what do you expect?
 
"You can't offer a 12-year-old kid a choice between ice cream, pizza and a bowl of broccoli. When I was 12, 13, I'd have gotten the ice cream and the pizza. No, you give them all healthy items, and if that's all they've got, they're going to eat it."

A sudden impact

"Six weeks after the movie's premiere (at the Sundance Film Festival in January), McDonald's announced that they were doing away with Super Size portions. Last week they announced their new Go Active adult Happy Meals, which are hitting stores May 6, the day before our movie opens. So, as much as they say neither of these decisions had to do with that movie, you can't help but wonder. This movie has really lit the fuse, I think. I know a lot of these things were in discussion for a long time, but I think the movie has fast-forwarded a lot of plans, for preemptive measures."

Tarnishing the Golden Arches

"It's not like I'm trying to pick on McDonald's or blame them for the obesity epidemic. My whole goal is that they are iconic, they're the most visible. Every (fast-food) chain has modeled their business practice after them. If McDonald's does something, every other chain follows, from salads to chicken nuggets to Super Size. Now, by eliminating super-size options and then rolling out healthier menu items, now all the other chains are going to follow. Wait and see — by the end of this year, biggie sizes will be gone, king sizes will be gone, all the chains will get rid of these enormous portions."

How much is that Big Gulp in the window?

"The double Big Gulp is a half-gallon of soda! People don't think about that. Portions are completely insane. They're based upon an idea of wanting to get more for less, an idea of added value. We are getting our money's worth, because when you're served more food, you automatically eat more, because it's there. It's human nature. Restaurants need to get away from that, people need to get away from that in general. If you quit buying huge portions, you quit buying junk food, they'll quit selling."

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com