FM4 - Documentary

1. ‘Super Size Me’ (2004) Morgan Spurlock
Modes of Documentary Representation of
“reality”
Presence of film
makers (Morgan
Spurlock)
Conventions of
documentary
By simply taking on the
“challenge” of
consuming nothing but
McDonalds for 30 days,
Morgan Spurlock is
“clearly committed” to
exposing the dangers of
fast food, as well as the
massive obesity issues
that face US society. This
is a convention of the
Expository Mode. The
verbal code “I feel
horrible today”
emotionally appeals to
the spectator and
demonstrates the
negatives associated to
this food and the brand
itself. By also taking on
the “challenge” and
putting himself at risk for
the sake of getting his
point across passionately,
Spurlock is representing
the documentary to be
highly per formative as
well as highlighting his
participation to be the
key to the success of
tackling this problem in
society.
The verbal code at the
end of the documentary:
“Their loyalty isn’t to you,
its to the stock holders”
connotes the reality of
multi-billion $ brands like
McDonalds, who are there
to provide a service to
their customers, are
continually letting them
down by putting their
customers at risk every
time they buy their food.
Spurlock clearly takes a
hands on role with the
documentary, through
taking on the challenge
of dieting on McDonalds,
through his “voice of
God” authority when
visually engaging the
spectator with statistics
and emotionally
appealing to ‘Caregivers’
(Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs) with the personal
perspective of having his
girlfriend involved in the
experiment, who just so
happens to be a Vegan
chef opposed to
Spurlocks eating habits.
- Voice of God
commentary
- Variety of
interview
techniques and
visual imperatives
employed by the
film maker
- The 30 day diet
demonstrates the
essence of a good
documentary as
being “The
recording of events
as it happens”
- Spurlock regularly
and consistently
addresses the
spectator directly
- It animates the
personal so that it
may become our
port of entry to the
political
- Matter of fact and
clearly committed
Kelly Brownwell, a PHD
Professor from Yale
emotionally engagers
with the spectator and
The non diegetic “voice of
god” commentary “The
bottom line: they’re a
business, no matter what
Spurlocks presence in
front of the camera
connotes the Per
formative and

2. directs his view through
the verbal code “I
believe we live in a toxic
food environment”.
Therefore this ‘social
actor’ is conveying
“important information”
to the spectator, which
conforms to the ideal
opportunities for the
Expository Mode to do
this.
they say”, which supports
the non verbal code of the
image of McDonalds salad
range demonstrates the
brands willingness to
change its image, however
Spurlocks “biased”
perspective does not allow
the spectator to buy into
this message of “change”,
which is emphasised
through the verbal codes
“no matter what they
say”.
Participatory methods
of his film making, for
example constantly
trying to get in touch
with McDonalds CEO Jim
Cantalupo.
His presence behind the
camera through his
“voice of God”
approach, connotes the
documentary’s sole
desire to be an
Expository text for the
spectator in damning US
eating habits, society in
general and the lack of
corporate responsibility
form McDonalds by
making $billions every
year whilst millions
suffer as a result from
countless illnesses such
as respiratory problems
and diabetes.
There are “a variety of
interviews” in the text,
that “differ from
ordinary conversation
and make use of
interviews to bring
different accounts
together in a single
story”, for example the
Prof. Kelly Brownwell to
‘Big Mac’ enthusiast
Don Gorske, to regular
people on the street. This
ability to gather as many
perspectives as possible
connotes Spurlocks
desire to create an
Observational
documentary, however
his collective negativity
(apart from Don Gorske)
conveys his lack of
impartiality to the
spectator in damning the
brand of McDonalds.
In conclusion the reality of
the documentary is
simple: Fast food has a
significant impact on
society far exceeding the
obesity issues associated
to fatty food.
The non verbal code of
Spurlocks physical and
mental changes at the end
effectively demonstrate
this to the spectator.
The final weigh in is
Spurlocks opportunity to
not only demonstrate
the physical changes he
has gone through
(gaining 24 ½ pounds
and increasing his body
fat by 7%) but to “weigh
in” with his own
conclusion that “there
are people who eat this
food regularly”.
“Why not do away with
your super size options?”
– The impact of the
documentary changed
McDonalds corporate
policy straight away.

3. Spurlocks reliance on
visual imperatives, such
as animated statistics on
the most obese states in
the US to the cartoon
outlining the marketing
budgets for some of the
biggest beverage and
food brands, connotes
his desire to make the
documentary
Expository. The Final
Blood tests also reveal
some of the “outrageous”
transformations of his
body internally and
externally to add further
shock value to the
documentary and
successfully “gives the
viewer and idea of what
it is to be like the
filmmaker” according to
the Participatory mode.
The verbal code “Some
people only see one option
for their last remaining
hope for health” connotes
the true reality of US
societies excesses leading
to excessive decisions by
operative measures to
“cure” their problems, as
well exposing the
problems that face the
Worlds most obese nation.
This is shown in the
“doubling of obese
children in the US in the
last 10 years”. Spurlock
adds shock value to the
documentary when he
declares that “1 out of
every 3 children born in
the year 2000 will develop
diabetes”, which is very
exposing but also
conforms to the
Observational mode’s
conveying of
“uncomfortable”
information to the
spectator as this directly
tackles real issues in
society.
The use of non
diegetic music to
support the archival
footage gathered
effectively
demonstrates
Spurlocks emotional
engagement with the
subject of obesity,
which is supported by
the lyrics in the music
“I’m your pusher”
whilst anchoring the
images of the
figurehead of
McDonalds Ronald
McDonald dishing out
burgers to overly
utopian children!
This connotes the
“avant garde” feel to
the documentary as
Spurlock is trying to
explore new ways of
getting his message
across.
This convention also
demonstrates the
Performative mode
use of a “combination
of the actual and the
imagined” to engage
and interact spectators.
“If this ever growing
paradigm is going to
shift, it’s up to you”
connotes the concluding
message of the
documentary that it’s
not McDonalds that are
going to change but it
has to be “you”. This
also conforms to the
conventions of the
Expository mode in
“addressing the viewer
directly” as Spurlock
Neal Barnard, MD –
explains “there is drug
effect in the brain that
keeps us coming back
again and again” – this
connotes Spurlock’s
excellent investigative
skills as a filmmaker in
conforming to the medium
of documentary being
“cinema verite” (Rouch
and Morin), which is then
conveyed to the spectator
when visitng another

4. emotionally appeals to
them to change their
ways so they can change
society.
doctor when he says he
feels “100% better” when
eating the food. Clearly
there will always be doubts
about the filmmakers
perspective on matters such
as these as he is
deliberately trying to
expose a “problem” in
society, however the
constant referral to experts
and showing the physical
effects this is having on
him does present reality
effectively to the spectator.