Don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of Morgan Spurlock. Until about three years ago, many had not heard of this director/screenwriter. But in 2004, he filmed a great documentary called Super Size Me. It was a film that starred Morgan setting out on what seemed like a simple mission – eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at McDonalds for 30 days. I am sure this is something many of us can relate to. I know there have been busy, crazy days when I ate McDonalds or some type of fast food three times in one day.
The premise was to show what eating McDonalds every day would do to your body. Oh yeah, and as the title suggests, every time a cashier said, “Would you like to super size that?” Morgan had to upgrade. He was in very good health at the beginning of the film, but as the film went on, his health deteriorated rapidly. By the end of the film, he had gained 25 pounds, suffered from a liver dysfunction, and suffered from depression. Some doctors even begged him to end the film to prevent from damaging his health further.
Now, I don’t agree 100% with his film. I see what he was trying to say – fast food is bad for us and I agree. But to pick on McDonalds more so than any other fast food establishment seemed a bit unfair. Also, he only included salads once every 10 days.
The film was a huge success for an independent feature, grossing more than $28 million worldwide, making it the 7th highest grossing documentary. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Because of the success from his film, he got a deal with the FX network for a television show called “30 Days.” If you have not seen this show, you really should make an effort to catch at least one episode. Morgan takes a person and immerses him or her in a totally different lifestyle setting for 30 days to see what happens. There have been people who weren’t very environmentally conscious who lived in a commune that ran on solar power, a Christian who lived with Muslims, and a naturalized citizen of Hispanic origin living with illegal immigrants in Los Angeles. Morgan himself even got into the act when he and his girlfriend Amy chose to live for 30 days trying to support themselves on minimum wage. It is a very eye opening show that I think can help break down certain prejudices.
You can pick up the first season of “30 Days” on DVD from Amazon.com.