| Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Documentary |
This documentary follows Morgan Spurlock (the film maker) as he eats McDonald's, and only McDonald's, for an entire month to make a point about obesity in America and the role fast food plays in the problem.
I was a little wary of this movie for a couple of reasons. First, I wasn't sure how interesting it would be. Second, I feared it would simply be a heavy-handed indictment of McDonald's.
I was very pleasantly surprised though. The movie is very entertaining. Spurlock has a good sense of humor and there is plenty of great candid footage throughout his ordeal. He also doesn't place all of the blame on McDonald's. He spreads it around, and doesn't overlook the role of personal responsibility in our nation's weight problem. That's not to say that he lets the fast food chains off easy though.
My favorite part, in terms of him putting someone in his sights, was actually when he shot footage at some high school cafeterias and interviewed some of the food service people. You'll be astounded by the crap these kids eat at school.
From a scientific standpoint, there are plenty of flaws with his little experiment. Sure, nobody would really eat the way he did during that month. I think it misses the point though to look at the movie with that critical of an eye. The bottom line is that Americans are very comfortable scarfing down lots of food that is really bad for them in ways that they are often unaware of.
In the end, though, the reason that I recommend that you rent this movie is that its just really entertaining to watch. It's not too long, and it's a lot of fun.  | your verbage makes you sound like a real movie critic....hehe....well i'm just gonna be blunt and simple....I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!! saw it in the theatre..it was great...i think kids should watch the movie and hopefully realize that eating McD's and other fast food/junk food isn't as good as it tastes...in the span of a month...it not only makes you gain weight, but it creates various health problems..that are DEADLY...the doctors in the movie told him to stop eating because it was honestly making him ill...yet he continued his 30-day experiment...proving that this is something we should not be doing to ourselves...imagine how clogged your arteries are after eating that consistently for years and years...yuck
watch the movie...besides being a health lesson...it's funny and just good to watch |
 | For a less humorous (and yes, probably more preachy) look at this, you should check out the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. A very compelling read. |
 | andy wrote on Oct 3, '04, edited on Oct 3, '04 This movie should be mandatory viewing every year for high school students!
What drove the point home for me was the statistic which stated that obesity will soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of death in the United States. |
 | ratel wrote on Oct 3, '04  For a less humorous (and yes, probably more preachy) look at this, you should check out the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. A very compelling read.  I would classify the book as more 'whiny' than 'preachy'. While I have no love for fast food, it is obvious that Schlosser is a very left leaning liberal who is using his book and the fast-food industry to attack big business and the Republicans.
Die hard liberals will most likely love the book ,but if you prefer logical, objective analysis you best look else where. |
 | tracy wrote on Oct 3, '04 There are so many reasons to not eat McDonalds. However, I'd have to say the scene where he was eating the yogurt parfait pretty much sealed the deal for me!!!! aghhhhhhhhhhh!
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 | baker wrote on Oct 3, '04, edited on Oct 3, '04 There are so many reasons to not eat McDonalds. However, I'd have to say the scene where he was eating the yogurt parfait pretty much sealed the deal for me!!!! aghhhhhhhhhhh!
OK, I haven't seen this yet, but is the yogurt parfait bad for you too?? |
| baker wrote on Oct 3, '04 I would classify the book as more 'whiny' than 'preachy'. While I have no love for fast food, it is obvious that Schlosser is a very left leaning liberal who is using his book and the fast-food industry to attack big business and the Republicans.
Die hard liberals will most likely love the book ,but if you prefer logical, objective analysis you best look else where. Haven't read this either yet, but traditionally aren't most muckraking books, books that expose unhealthy situations or corporate abuses (like Upton Sinclair's The Jungle), aren't they typically "liberal"? The "conservative" view would be the businesses out to maximize profit while sometimes hurting people to do so, the "liberal" view would expose those situations and sometimes actually creating change and forcing Business to be accountable or change their ways, changing societal norms along the way? |
| tracy wrote on Oct 3, '04 OK, I haven't seen this yet, but is the yogurt parfait bad for you too?? well, it was kind of bad for you because it was such a big serving and w/the granola it ended up pretty high in fat and calories.....however....that wasn't my issue.....they found this really long piece of hair in it!!!!!!!!! yUcK! it was so gross!!! |
| ratel wrote on Oct 3, '04 Haven't read this either yet, but traditionally aren't most muckraking books, books that expose unhealthy situations or corporate abuses (like Upton Sinclair's The Jungle), aren't they typically "liberal"? The "conservative" view would be the businesses out to maximize profit while sometimes hurting people to do so, the "liberal" view would expose those situations and sometimes actually creating change and forcing Business to be accountable or change their ways, changing societal norms along the way? Susan, I am not sure I would generalize all exposé type books as 'liberal', but even if they were I would have no issue with that.
We need liberal points of view to balance out the conservative ones, the problem I have with 'Fast Food Nation' is that Schlosser adopts a almost fanatical socialist / liberal point of view at the expenses of logic and objectivity. |
| baker wrote on Oct 3, '04 Susan, I am not sure I would generalize all exposé type books as 'liberal', but even if they were I would have no issue with that.
We need liberal points of view to balance out the conservative ones, the problem I have with 'Fast Food Nation' is that Schlosser adopts a almost fanatical socialist / liberal point of view at the expenses of logic and objectivity. I'll have to keep an eye out for that when I read it, it's on our list for book group this year! |
 | I actually know people who eat like this and aren't making a movie.
and I worked in a school cafeteria- it is just crap. I served more hot dogs, tacos, and pizza, softpretzle and cheese sandwiches, french fries and double portions of Lasagna then I did at any restaurant I worked for.
The school district I worked for, had the nerve to do Body Mass Index testing on students, siting it's concern for their overall health.
But never adjusting the menu -because it's cheaper to feed kids crap.
If they really cared, they would say, "we only serve healthy wholsome food here, if you want crap, bring it yourself. But that is expensive,
My children go to this school district, and my son wont eat the lunch because it's crap. NOt that he's got a great diet, but he's a free thinker.
I like your review, and I'm going to see this movie. |
| tracy wrote on Oct 5, '04 I actually know people who eat like this and aren't making a movie.
and I worked in a school cafeteria- it is just crap. I served more hot dogs, tacos, and pizza, softpretzle and cheese sandwiches, french fries and double portions of Lasagna then I did at any restaurant I worked for.
The school district I worked for, had the nerve to do Body Mass Index testing on students, siting it's concern for their overall health.
But never adjusting the menu -because it's cheaper to feed kids crap.
If they really cared, they would say, "we only serve healthy wholsome food here, if you want crap, bring it yourself. But that is expensive,
My children go to this school district, and my son wont eat the lunch because it's crap. NOt that he's got a great diet, but he's a free thinker.
I like your review, and I'm going to see this movie. You'll really find it interesting. There is a part in the movie where they go to a school for children with behavior problems. In this school they eat very healthy. The food is catered by a place that serves lots of vegetables, salads and whole grains, etc. They say the children's behavior improves a lot after they start eating healthy instead of filling up on fat, sugar and caffeine. |
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