Super Size Me - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

virgin · 10-10-2004, 07:45 PM

Hello Everybody

I try not to do this very often, but i just rented a movie called Super Size Me, it has a very Michael Moore , kind of feeling to it, but what an eye opener it is. OK we all know Fast food is bad for us but.....
If you don't know anything about the film keep reading, if you do, ignore me and just see it. This other wise healthy 30 something guy , has himself physically evaluated by three doctors/fitness experts/nutritionists etc. They report that he is in excellent health, low cholesterol, etc. He then embarks on a thirty day diet of nothing but Macdonald's food. In thirty days , he raises his cholesterol to dangerously high levels, his liver function, becomes questionable, his sex drive and ability markedly reduced, and his general mood and sense of well being ( hard to substantiate) is in serious decline. Watch the extras on the DVD. I made my kids watch some parts.
One of the extras shows, Macdonald's French Fries , kept in a bell jar, steadfastly refusing to show any signs of decomposition, after 70 days ! While regular home made fries started to seriously decay after a couple of days. Oh and did I mention in these thirty days, he puts on 25 pounds ! Super Size Me, and it did. I ate a steady diet of this crap for years. Frightening

Willravel · 10-10-2004, 07:57 PM

There are some interesting realities out there. I'm glad people are willing to risk themselves in order to help others. This is a great movie, and a good example of a hero.
Just thinking...if this guy posted on TFP, and didn't make a movie, people would have called him a liar. He probably would have been made to post on Paranoia. One man's reality is another man's fantasy.

gondath · 10-10-2004, 11:00 PM

I must be one of the lucky ones. I used to eat fast foood nearly daily for a couple of years and never put on any weight. I still wouldn't recommend it. On a side note, this movie is a big part of the reason McDonald's ditched their super size.

K-Wise · 10-11-2004, 03:35 AM

The thing about the McDonalds fries was definitely cool..but if anyones ever found an old fry from mickey d's under a stove or something you'd notice they get hard as a fuckin rock by almost the end of the day...so they were probably never going to break down. Although I think the fact that we actually chew our food and have a little something in our stomach called hydrochloric acid should have played some kind of role in that experiment. Ya know just grind it up and smush it down then throw it in a jar full a that stuff, then see how long it takes to break down. Yeah there were a lot of flaws in his research but the main message that fast food will fuck you up definitely got across...Even though it was evident before hand, sometimes it takes a movie like that to make you seriously think about it. I congratulate the guy.

Asta!!

Porkchop · 10-11-2004, 09:09 AM

Me aswell. Interesting if a little biased. Then again i dont think i will be eating there as much as usual.

matteo101 · 10-11-2004, 11:14 AM

Great documentary, opens your eyes to the fast food industry in general. I would like to see the special features.

Irishsean · 10-11-2004, 01:02 PM

Very eye-opening movie, not sure of its replay value, but definetely good to see once...

trickyy · 10-13-2004, 04:14 PM

i didn't think the movie was that great. good but not great. i never eat fast food anyway.

keep in mind the filmmaker was behind mtv's I Bet You Will

tom12 · 10-13-2004, 07:44 PM

oh just saying its very michael moore like ruins it for me, i cannot stand moore

mused76 · 10-14-2004, 07:07 PM

I'm not too sure about this movie. Who wants to see a guy just eat fast food for a month ?? If you don't realize the outcomes of eating McDonalds that much, 3 times per day, then you are: A. In a cave B. Very very obese C. A misinformed consumer

bingle · 10-14-2004, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mused76

I'm not too sure about this movie. Who wants to see a guy just eat fast food for a month ?? If you don't realize the outcomes of eating McDonalds that much, 3 times per day, then you are: A. In a cave B. Very very obese C. A misinformed consumer

It's actually very entertaining, though. The outcome is easy to see, of course, but it's actually surprising how incredibly unhealthy it is. Some of the doctors he goes to see in the movie predict the diet will be bad for him, and then are shocked to see exactly how bad it is.

Mostly, though, it's an entertaining, well-thought-out look at the fast food industry. You can watch it for the funny stuff even if you already know the outcome.

Bingle

mandal · 10-15-2004, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mused76

I'm not too sure about this movie. Who wants to see a guy just eat fast food for a month ?? If you don't realize the outcomes of eating McDonalds that much, 3 times per day, then you are: A. In a cave B. Very very obese C. A misinformed consumer

haha... very true. I really have no idea what the guy was thinking I mean risking your health for something like this.

I haven't seen it, but I dont really want to see a guy who destroys his health just to make a movie. I mean if he did it to prove that McDonalds is HORRIBLE for your health then.. kudos, but if it was for the money or anything like that, the guys doesn't deserve any sort of recognition.

bingle · 10-16-2004, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandal

I mean if he did it to prove that McDonalds is HORRIBLE for your health then.. kudos, but if it was for the money or anything like that, the guys doesn't deserve any sort of recognition.

It's a scathing look at the fast-food industry as a whole - their deceptive advertising tactics, the way they aim their food at kids, hide nutrition information, and generally contribute to the decline of health in America. He eats it for a month to make his point, not for cash or anything :-) It's also not just him eating McDonald's and being unhealthy, it discusses a lot of other topics related to the fast-food industry, and includes interviews and so forth. Very entertaining.

Bingle

mused76 · 10-16-2004, 08:42 AM

Anyone can make a documentary these days including people who eat McDonalds now. I don't see it as being entertaining or informative the least bit. At least I find Moore's documentaries to be entertaining but not honestly informative. But this McDonalds one.. c'mon guys.. who in their right mind can eat that much from their menu in that many consecutive days unless you knew there was a cash payoff. I give props to this guy for coming up with the idea before I did though or else I would've done the same for the cash he made. Me < - Wonders if it's too late to use Arby's, Burger King, Wendy's, White Castle to make a documentary.

mandal · 10-16-2004, 04:33 PM

definitely try white castle and taco bell out. Those leave room for interesting things. As for him not doing it for the cash... is this true? Dont just speculate either i'm sure he made some money.

charlesesl · 10-16-2004, 08:21 PM

I think the film just stated the obvious, though in a very humors way.
What is interesting, but largely ignored in the film is that the food industry is largely profit driven.

IckUber · 10-17-2004, 01:30 AM

he came and spoke and my school ( the director) at O.U. and then showed the movie. I loved it, I though it had alot of good things to say.

FoolThemAll · 10-17-2004, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlesesl

I think the film just stated the obvious, though in a very humors way.
What is interesting, but largely ignored in the film is that the food industry is largely profit driven.

Well, yeah. It's an industry. Was that supposed to be a slam?

jamessh1 · 10-17-2004, 08:49 PM

i found the film very enjoyable and a little eye-opening. when one of the doctors predicted the guy wouldnt gain very much wait because of his organs (kidney i think) ability to adjust to the higher fat/caloric intake i wasn't expecting the complete transformation that took place. I'm not an expert on nutrition but i was shocked when he kinda went into a depression that could only be alleviated from eating more fast food. quite the vicious cycle.

beofotch5 · 10-17-2004, 09:08 PM

i wan't wait untill they do one for chinese restuarants dealing with msg related sickness

bingle · 10-17-2004, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandal

definitely try white castle and taco bell out. Those leave room for interesting things. As for him not doing it for the cash... is this true? Dont just speculate either i'm sure he made some money.

I'm sure he did, but I think making a documentary to make money is kind of like playing the lottery to get rich - sometimes it happens, but you have to spend a lot and get really lucky :-) No one could have predicted how successful his movie would be (and it's not THAT successful... Mostly an underground hit. I haven't seen it playing anywhere but the art-house/foreign movie theaters.)

Bingle

inharmony · 10-22-2004, 09:48 AM

I saw this and yeah it makes you think twice before eating fast food ever again. Of course he ate it breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

DJLaurieB · 10-22-2004, 12:41 PM

The thing I found most disturbing is how badly our kids are eating. I'm a teacher in a private school, but a previous one I worked at had McDonalds for lunch 2 days a week, Taco Hell 1 day, and I think the other 2 days were pizza and hot dogs. THIS is a healthy lunch program?????? I like to use a line from Say Anything when I see what some of my kids eat: there's no FOOD in your food!

Since I've seen that movie a few months ago, I've been off soda. I eat way less fast food too, but the soda thing also got to me.

Great flick.

1slOwCD8 · 10-22-2004, 01:18 PM

They had taco bell and mcdonalds for a school lunch 2 times a week, was it a middle school or high school? That is really disturbing, especially if it was a middle school.

DJLaurieB · 10-24-2004, 07:27 AM

It was a K-8 school, so elementary and middle. Needless to say, discipline was a REAL problem in that place. Gee - pump the kids full of fat and sugar? GREAT idea!

Val_1 · 10-24-2004, 03:24 PM

I enjoyed this movie very much. Very FUNNY. The guy that shot is is a pretty humorous guy. My friends and I laughed out loud more often than we do during most "comedies". And it made some really good points about nutrition, food additives, and over eating.

Personally, I think the overeating was the principle cause of the health issues, not the fact that the food was McDonalds. I think that that was the point he was trying to make. He could have picked Wendys or Dominoes, but McD's is so omnipresent in our society it did make sense to pick them.

renaldorick · 10-25-2004, 08:34 AM

I thought it was great. I saw it at sundance and thought some of the best parts were not just his journey for 30 days eating that crap, but the exposes on how poorly we eat in america, where american schools are being paid to serve fast/bad food, how kids perform after eating good/bad food, etc...
Very compelling

evilbeefchan · 10-29-2004, 06:30 PM

I rented it the other night expecting something really disgusting and unbearable, but it was actually pretty funny. It's nothing groundbreaking, since we all know how unhealthy it is. But it basically answered the question that we've all probably asked ourselves, "I wonder what it would be like to eat this stuff everyday." His vegan gf was a bit annoying, though. I was actually shocked by the piece about children's school lunches, and the physician's suggestions on when it's ok to eat fast food.

macsmith230 · 10-30-2004, 12:17 AM

It was definitely a decent movie to watch. Of course any well-reasoned human being already knows that eating too much fast food isn't good for you, but maybe you don't ever sit down and actually think about it critically like this movie makes you do.

I haven't eaten at McDonalds since I saw it 3 weeks ago. Not that I don't ever plan on eating it again, but I'm taking a little MdDonalds break right now.

StormBerlin · 10-31-2004, 10:49 PM

Totally had to pause it right in the middle and get a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal. And an oreo McFlurry.

Seriously.

but I liked it. it was definately an eye opening movie.

dynamite · 10-31-2004, 11:30 PM

yes...it was a very good film to watch, but didnt any one alse think that nothing was really accomplished, it just showed something we all knew any way, much like watching the titanic film. I thought he could have dug deeper into the marketing and advertising side of the mcdonalds corp. This movie recieved a large portion of press coverage in australia, yet it failed to expose the industry for its unheatlthy mass consumable culture. I am saying this as Mcdonald's Australia recorded a huge annual profit this financial year....

stbeston · 11-01-2004, 10:02 PM

in the 70s there was a study involving rats and life cereal. the rats who ate the cereal lived significantly shorter lives than the rats who ate the cardboard life box. the source of study isn't readily available, but can get it for those interested.
point is, the food that is being essentially force-fed to anybody who doesn't take the time to learn about it, is all very bad for living things. most foods from the mcdonald's burgers, to 10% juice drinks, to white bread rolls, to yogurts are merely vehicles for sugar with any value nullified by the high fructose corn syrup and preservatives. the food-eating of those in our population, of which i am one, are in a hole and we are often left to eat the dirt and shit that is readily available and that is supplied by the companies that created, using the fda as a mouthpiece, the ridiculously unhealthy "daily recommended allowance" food scheme. there should be more movies like this so people can be held accountable for their actions, both the higher-ups who bleed greed, and the consumer who has been mislead ever since he/she learned the word "popsicle."

10-10-2004, 07:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
virgin Upright	Super Size Me Hello Everybody I try not to do this very often, but i just rented a movie called Super Size Me, it has a very Michael Moore , kind of feeling to it, but what an eye opener it is. OK we all know Fast food is bad for us but..... If you don't know anything about the film keep reading, if you do, ignore me and just see it. This other wise healthy 30 something guy , has himself physically evaluated by three doctors/fitness experts/nutritionists etc. They report that he is in excellent health, low cholesterol, etc. He then embarks on a thirty day diet of nothing but Macdonald's food. In thirty days , he raises his cholesterol to dangerously high levels, his liver function, becomes questionable, his sex drive and ability markedly reduced, and his general mood and sense of well being ( hard to substantiate) is in serious decline. Watch the extras on the DVD. I made my kids watch some parts. One of the extras shows, Macdonald's French Fries , kept in a bell jar, steadfastly refusing to show any signs of decomposition, after 70 days ! While regular home made fries started to seriously decay after a couple of days. Oh and did I mention in these thirty days, he puts on 25 pounds ! Super Size Me, and it did. I ate a steady diet of this crap for years. Frightening

10-11-2004, 03:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
K-Wise It's All About The Ass!! Location: In a pool of mayonnaise!!	The thing about the McDonalds fries was definitely cool..but if anyones ever found an old fry from mickey d's under a stove or something you'd notice they get hard as a fuckin rock by almost the end of the day...so they were probably never going to break down. Although I think the fact that we actually chew our food and have a little something in our stomach called hydrochloric acid should have played some kind of role in that experiment. Ya know just grind it up and smush it down then throw it in a jar full a that stuff, then see how long it takes to break down. Yeah there were a lot of flaws in his research but the main message that fast food will fuck you up definitely got across...Even though it was evident before hand, sometimes it takes a movie like that to make you seriously think about it. I congratulate the guy. Asta!! __________________ "I love music and it's my parents fault (closing statement)." - Me..quoting myself...from when I said that...On TFP..thats here...Tilted Forum Project *It ain't goodbye, it's see ya later! I'll miss you guys!* - Asta!!

10-11-2004, 09:09 AM	#5 (permalink)
Porkchop Psycho Location: Good ol Blighty	Me aswell. Interesting if a little biased. Then again i dont think i will be eating there as much as usual. __________________ Be cool btch now btch be cool Sport 1976 Taxi Driver.

10-11-2004, 01:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
Irishsean edited for content Location: Austin, TX	Very eye-opening movie, not sure of its replay value, but definetely good to see once... __________________ There are no absolute rules of conduct, either in peace or war. Everything depends on circumstances. Leon Trotsky

10-14-2004, 07:07 PM	#10 (permalink)
mused76 Crazy Location: NE Ohio	Unsure I'm not too sure about this movie. Who wants to see a guy just eat fast food for a month ?? If you don't realize the outcomes of eating McDonalds that much, 3 times per day, then you are: A. In a cave B. Very very obese C. A misinformed consumer

10-10-2004, 07:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	There are some interesting realities out there. I'm glad people are willing to risk themselves in order to help others. This is a great movie, and a good example of a hero. Just thinking...if this guy posted on TFP, and didn't make a movie, people would have called him a liar. He probably would have been made to post on Paranoia. One man's reality is another man's fantasy.

10-10-2004, 11:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
gondath Insane Location: Alton, IL	I must be one of the lucky ones. I used to eat fast foood nearly daily for a couple of years and never put on any weight. I still wouldn't recommend it. On a side note, this movie is a big part of the reason McDonald's ditched their super size.

10-11-2004, 11:14 AM	#6 (permalink)
matteo101 In transition Location: north, no south abit, over to the right, getting warmer...there!	Great documentary, opens your eyes to the fast food industry in general. I would like to see the special features.

10-13-2004, 04:14 PM	#8 (permalink)
trickyy ►	i didn't think the movie was that great. good but not great. i never eat fast food anyway. keep in mind the filmmaker was behind mtv's I Bet You Will

10-13-2004, 07:44 PM	#9 (permalink)
tom12 Tilted	oh just saying its very michael moore like ruins it for me, i cannot stand moore

10-16-2004, 08:42 AM	#14 (permalink)
mused76 Crazy Location: NE Ohio	Anyone can make a documentary these days including people who eat McDonalds now. I don't see it as being entertaining or informative the least bit. At least I find Moore's documentaries to be entertaining but not honestly informative. But this McDonalds one.. c'mon guys.. who in their right mind can eat that much from their menu in that many consecutive days unless you knew there was a cash payoff. I give props to this guy for coming up with the idea before I did though or else I would've done the same for the cash he made. Me < - Wonders if it's too late to use Arby's, Burger King, Wendy's, White Castle to make a documentary.

10-16-2004, 04:33 PM	#15 (permalink)
mandal Crazy	definitely try white castle and taco bell out. Those leave room for interesting things. As for him not doing it for the cash... is this true? Dont just speculate either i'm sure he made some money.

10-16-2004, 08:21 PM	#16 (permalink)
charlesesl Psycho	I think the film just stated the obvious, though in a very humors way. What is interesting, but largely ignored in the film is that the food industry is largely profit driven. __________________ It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. Dr. Viktor E. Frankl

10-17-2004, 01:30 AM	#17 (permalink)
IckUber Funran Location: Norman, OK	he came and spoke and my school ( the director) at O.U. and then showed the movie. I loved it, I though it had alot of good things to say. __________________ How much is y'all Piolkles?

10-17-2004, 08:49 PM	#19 (permalink)
jamessh1 Crazy	i found the film very enjoyable and a little eye-opening. when one of the doctors predicted the guy wouldnt gain very much wait because of his organs (kidney i think) ability to adjust to the higher fat/caloric intake i wasn't expecting the complete transformation that took place. I'm not an expert on nutrition but i was shocked when he kinda went into a depression that could only be alleviated from eating more fast food. quite the vicious cycle.

10-17-2004, 09:08 PM	#20 (permalink)
beofotch5 Upright	i wan't wait untill they do one for chinese restuarants dealing with msg related sickness

10-22-2004, 09:48 AM	#22 (permalink)
inharmony Psycho Location: happy place	I saw this and yeah it makes you think twice before eating fast food ever again. Of course he ate it breakfast, lunch, and dinner. __________________ "You can't shake hands with a clenched fist." Ghandi "Things do not change: We change" Henry David Thoreau

10-22-2004, 12:41 PM	#23 (permalink)
DJLaurieB Upright	The thing I found most disturbing is how badly our kids are eating. I'm a teacher in a private school, but a previous one I worked at had McDonalds for lunch 2 days a week, Taco Hell 1 day, and I think the other 2 days were pizza and hot dogs. THIS is a healthy lunch program?????? I like to use a line from Say Anything when I see what some of my kids eat: there's no FOOD in your food! Since I've seen that movie a few months ago, I've been off soda. I eat way less fast food too, but the soda thing also got to me. Great flick.

10-22-2004, 01:18 PM	#24 (permalink)
1slOwCD8 Psycho Location: chicago, illinois	They had taco bell and mcdonalds for a school lunch 2 times a week, was it a middle school or high school? That is really disturbing, especially if it was a middle school.

10-24-2004, 07:27 AM	#25 (permalink)
DJLaurieB Upright	It was a K-8 school, so elementary and middle. Needless to say, discipline was a REAL problem in that place. Gee - pump the kids full of fat and sugar? GREAT idea!

10-24-2004, 03:24 PM	#26 (permalink)
Val_1 Addict Location: In a State of Denial	I enjoyed this movie very much. Very FUNNY. The guy that shot is is a pretty humorous guy. My friends and I laughed out loud more often than we do during most "comedies". And it made some really good points about nutrition, food additives, and over eating. Personally, I think the overeating was the principle cause of the health issues, not the fact that the food was McDonalds. I think that that was the point he was trying to make. He could have picked Wendys or Dominoes, but McD's is so omnipresent in our society it did make sense to pick them. __________________ I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. -Frank Sinatra

10-25-2004, 08:34 AM	#27 (permalink)
renaldorick Upright	I thought it was great. I saw it at sundance and thought some of the best parts were not just his journey for 30 days eating that crap, but the exposes on how poorly we eat in america, where american schools are being paid to serve fast/bad food, how kids perform after eating good/bad food, etc... Very compelling

10-29-2004, 06:30 PM	#28 (permalink)
evilbeefchan Addict Location: Alhambra, CA	I rented it the other night expecting something really disgusting and unbearable, but it was actually pretty funny. It's nothing groundbreaking, since we all know how unhealthy it is. But it basically answered the question that we've all probably asked ourselves, "I wonder what it would be like to eat this stuff everyday." His vegan gf was a bit annoying, though. I was actually shocked by the piece about children's school lunches, and the physician's suggestions on when it's ok to eat fast food.

10-30-2004, 12:17 AM	#29 (permalink)
macsmith230 Tilted Location: Portland, Oregon	It was definitely a decent movie to watch. Of course any well-reasoned human being already knows that eating too much fast food isn't good for you, but maybe you don't ever sit down and actually think about it critically like this movie makes you do. I haven't eaten at McDonalds since I saw it 3 weeks ago. Not that I don't ever plan on eating it again, but I'm taking a little MdDonalds break right now.

10-31-2004, 10:49 PM	#30 (permalink)
StormBerlin Happy as a hippo Location: Southern California	Totally had to pause it right in the middle and get a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal. And an oreo McFlurry. Seriously. but I liked it. it was definately an eye opening movie. __________________ "if anal sex could get a girl pregnant i'd be tits deep in child support" Arcane

10-31-2004, 11:30 PM	#31 (permalink)
dynamite Upright Location: Adelaide, Australia	yes...it was a very good film to watch, but didnt any one alse think that nothing was really accomplished, it just showed something we all knew any way, much like watching the titanic film. I thought he could have dug deeper into the marketing and advertising side of the mcdonalds corp. This movie recieved a large portion of press coverage in australia, yet it failed to expose the industry for its unheatlthy mass consumable culture. I am saying this as Mcdonald's Australia recorded a huge annual profit this financial year.... __________________ "were stranded on sequel island yeah!"

11-01-2004, 10:02 PM	#32 (permalink)
stbeston Upright Location: ny,ny	in the 70s there was a study involving rats and life cereal. the rats who ate the cereal lived significantly shorter lives than the rats who ate the cardboard life box. the source of study isn't readily available, but can get it for those interested. point is, the food that is being essentially force-fed to anybody who doesn't take the time to learn about it, is all very bad for living things. most foods from the mcdonald's burgers, to 10% juice drinks, to white bread rolls, to yogurts are merely vehicles for sugar with any value nullified by the high fructose corn syrup and preservatives. the food-eating of those in our population, of which i am one, are in a hole and we are often left to eat the dirt and shit that is readily available and that is supplied by the companies that created, using the fda as a mouthpiece, the ridiculously unhealthy "daily recommended allowance" food scheme. there should be more movies like this so people can be held accountable for their actions, both the higher-ups who bleed greed, and the consumer who has been mislead ever since he/she learned the word "popsicle."