Rhetorical Analysis of Supersize Me - Fast-Food Restaurants: Who’s to Blame?

Sara Tully

COM 102-301

25 October 2016

Rhetorical Analysis of Supersize Me

Fast-Food Restaurants: Who’s to Blame?

        As an American, the facts are literally all around us that the U.S. has an obesity problem. It is now the second to smoking as a major cause to death by prevention (Spurlock, 2004). We have become the fattest nation in the world. The unthinkable became a reality when people began suing McDonalds, which most Americans know isn’t healthy to eat to begin with. In fact, in 2003, around 100 million Americans were either obese or overweight, which is more than 60% of America’s adults alone. In 2002, a lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s in New York on the behalf of two teenage girls. One of the girls at fourteen years old, weighing 170 lbs at 4’10”, and the other, nineteen years old, and weighing 270 lbs at the heigh of 5’6” (Spurlock, 2004). Lawyers from McDonald’s stated that the dangers of its food are universally known, and that they wouldn’t be able to show that eating McDonald’s was the sole cause of their heath problems. However, the judge offered if their teams of lawyers could identify that eating such food for everyman was unreasonably dangerous that they might be able to make a claim (Spurlock, 2004). What if someone tested it out for 30 days? McDonald’s for breakfast lunch and dinner, unable to eat or drink anything other than over the counter from this fast-food chain restaurant, must eat everything on the menu in this time period, and only upgraded to supersize when asked. That is what an ordinary, middle-aged man named Morgan Spurlock strived to experiment and accomplish while producing and directing a documentary along with it. It would exhibit to America the detrimental effects of eating fast food and exactly why we are the biggest country in the world. This challenge would greatly increase the awareness of obesity in the United States and awareness of the fast food industries in our country. The documentary was released in 2004 and is called Supersize Me produced and directed by Spurlock. His actions were filmed, documented, and released so that people could witness the toll that McDonalds took on his body in such a short amount of time.

        The film has particular focus on the increasing number of Americans whom are obese. Also, it looks deep into the general ignorance of eating fast food and whether the responsibility of one’s own health is the problem versus corporations’ consumer’s health problems. Interviews occur throughout the film from various people from citizens walking the streets to expert nutrition professionals. By series of interviews, logically documenting Spurlock’s activity, diet, and health during the experiment, gaining knowledge by providing statistics about the dangerous effects of fast-food, through humor and disgust Supersize Me shows in great detail how much fast-food industries are directly linked to America’s overweight and obesity issues.

        The interviews are particularly effective because they get the point of view on a topic from several different people. The interviews with ordinary people are anonymous and conducted in the streets of New York, where there so happens to be four McDonald’s franchises every square mile (Spurlock, 2004).  Spurlock asks these people questions such as how much fast-food they regularly consume, their favorite fast-food restaurants, and how often they think people should eat fast food. Answers when asked how often they purchase fast-food/McDonald’s ranged from once a week to five times a week. One man and his friend shared how sometimes they eat it more than once in a day. The fast-food restaurants that they claimed to be their favorites included McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell, all in which are cheap and fast ways to fill hunger yet not acknowledged on the harm it’s doing to the body. Spurlock visited a young primary school to see how familiar they are to certain images of various people, both real and fictitious. When showed a picture of George Washington, only some children recognized him and knew little to none about the historical figure. Not one of the students were able to distinguish a picture of Jesus Christ. However, every single student was able to identify Ronald McDonald and was able to tell Spurlock a lot about him. He after visited a secondary school in which he asked the students if any of them could define what a calorie is, which failed. He also asked citizens on the street, which none were able to as well. It was until he asked a nutritionist that he finally got an answer to what a calorie is—a measure of energy content in food (Spurlock, 2004). The point of these interviews was to emphasize the ignorance that people of today’s society feel about this serious health issue.

        By documenting and recording each day of Spurlock’s experiment, we follow him on this journey as he purposely harms his body to show the effects of a McDonald’s diet. Each time he is shown on screen either ordering or eating McDonald’s, the scene was always labeled with a day number. By the day two, Spurlock was already asked if he would like to supersize his meal, which he must say yes to as apart of the experiment’s rules, which showed he then threw up soon after eating. In fact, he was asked this a total of nine times within the thirty days. It shows how much eating too much fast-food takes a toll on the human body. He expressed how much his body ached, yet soon after eating, he wanted more. He was consistently fatigued, depressed, and moody. His girlfriend even shares how their sex life wasn’t what it used to be. Expressing how he feels several times throughout the thirty days allows the audience to see how the fast food diet is affecting him emotionally as well as physically. The film also shows Spurlock in several medical examinations. During these check-ups, medical information such as Spurlock’s weight and his cholesterol level are revealed to show the audience the effects the diet has on his health. However, Spurlock’s health gets worse than anyone had expected, and before the end of the thirty day period, he is in critical condition, which the doctors and nutritionists then strongly urge him to immediately put an end to the diet and return to eating healthy.

        In addition, the film expresses many statistics to prove why Spurlock chose to produce Supersize Me in the first place. This gives the audience a perspective on how much fast-food corporations are thrown in our faces daily. It also gives knowledge to the audience the severe consequences of eating too much fast food. Along with Spurlock, experts in the medical field and nutritionist give their opinion that sometimes even differ from statistics. For example, when Spurlock asked 100 nutritionist how often fast food should be consumed by people, 2% said once a week, 28% said once or twice a month, 45% said never, and all 100% agreed that fast-food is a major obesity epidemic that is sweeping the U.S. (Spurlock, 2004).  Another example is how Spurlock’s nutritionist throughout the film asked him to alternate the food choices he makes throughout the experiment such as a salad or parfait instead of a fry. However, the audience then is explained how they aren’t much healthier at all if the calories are added up. This effectively argues how one is not going to find healthy food at fast-food restaurant.