Super Size Me: A Q&A with Morgan Spurlock

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock made headlines when he ate nothing but fast food from McDonald’s for his 2004 documentary, Super Size Me. The Academy Award-nominated feature is now available on Hulu, where you can witness Spurlock stuff his face with Big Macs and fries for 30 days straight. In between the Egg McMuffin sandwiches and apple pie desserts, the film shows us the toll the diet took on Spurlock’s health and explores the fast food industry’s influence on our society. Spurlock gained more than 24 pounds during his month-long experiment; it took him 14 months to lose the weight — and he hasn’t been back to McDonald’s since. Below, the director answered some questions about the film and his latest projects for us. — Rebecca Harper, Hulu.com

What prompted you to create a film about McDonald’s?

The idea came up around Thanksgiving 2002, when we heard about the girls suing McDonald’s [alleging they were overweight because of McDonald’s food]. At the time, we thought it was insane that someone would sue McDonald’s when they were choosing to eat the food. But McDonald’s then came out and said “our food is healthy and nutritious,” and I realized both sides were wrong.

Many documentaries explore a subject by following other people going through an experience. But you put yourself into this story:  you put yourself on an extreme diet. What led you to do this?

The goal was to have someone else go on the 30-day McDiet, but I couldn’t trust that someone else would stick to the plan and not sneak in some broccoli when they got home. Having myself eat their food — and only their food — for 30 days was the only way to do it.

What did you learn about yourself during the project?

I learned that I have a stomach that can take a lot of abuse and that the liver is very resilient. At the end, when the doctors compare my liver to that of an alcoholic’s, they just couldn’t believe the damage could happen so quickly.

What did you learn about our society?

We’ve not only embraced the fast food culture, we’ve adopted a fast food mentality. Our time has taken front seat to our health and families. We set out to maximize our time to make more money.

How did you feel about the options presented on the menu? Was there enough variety?

I think I went through everything on the McDonald’s menu three or four times during filming — there are only 20 or 30 items on the menu, so it doesn’t take long to cycle through. You can’t help but get bored. At first it was an 8-year-old’s dream, but it quickly became a 35-year-old man’s nightmare.

McDonald’s has been in the press lately for its “recession-proof” menu. What are your thoughts on that?

I think McDonald’s sales went up when people started losing their jobs. And the McDonald’s in the U.K. recently posted its highest profit in five or six years. The people I spoke to in the film look at McDonald’s as their best option — the cheapest option. I think some of the people who think this way don’t really know how to cook. They don’t realize there are cheaper ways to cook, and they consider the affordable options “peasant food.” But you can cook things like rice and beans for less than $5. It’s all about time now, and people are thinking, “My time is more important.”

Read the complete interview with Morgan Spurlock at Hulu.com.

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