Movie Analysis: Supersize Me

The movie "Supersize Me" portrayed some astonishing results on the individual performing his "experiment." It gave some definite ideas as to why the United States is currently the "fattest" country in the world. However, when one takes into account this mans dietary habits and exercise habits before beginning the experiment, and realizes that all this fattening food and lack of exercise was completely out of character for him, it seems obvious that he would gain an astonishing amount of weight.

The drastic change of diet and exercise (from an almost vegan diet and strict workout routine to no work out routine and all high fat, high calorie foods) was a shock to his metabolism, his brain, his kidneys, his liver, his stomach, and I am sure a variety of other bodily organs that one couldn't even begin to imagine. One could liken it to a person who leads a very healthy active life and who has never taken an alcoholic drink in their lifetimes. When someone of this caliber is persuaded to drink they immediately feel the worst effects of the alcohol, and if drinking in excess this one time may even experience alcohol poisoning. As with suddenly changing your diet to nothing but McDonald's food, the person would have to tolerance to this type of
thing, and would be more at risk of getting sick and possibly even developing dependence then someone who had been eating over a lifetime.

Another striking notion of this movie to me was the idea of suing a fast-food company because the food has made people sick.
Fast food is not like cigarettes in the aspect that the public was unaware of the dangers from the beginning. Fast food restaurants have never claimed that their food was healthy, nor have they denied that it could make you sick if you are a habitual customer. This should be left to personal responsibility. If you decide to eat all your meals exclusively from places like McDonalds, then you know the risks and should not be able to hold anyone other than yourself personally liable. However, parents who feed their children too much fast food should be held liable for endangering the health of their
children.

I do feel that fast food chains should realize the problems that they are causing in our society that relies so strongly on convenience and begin to make healthier food alternatives readily available to their customers. If this were to happen no one could claim any fault but their own. The sue happy nature of Americans is amazing and people will look for any opportunity to make some fast cash at someone else's expense. The fact that these girls were attempting to sue because McDonalds made them fat is reminiscent of the woman who spilled hot coffee onto herself and sued McDonalds for the coffee being too hot and not being warned, or the woman who sued a store for allowing children to run wild through the isles and causing her to trip and fall when it was her own child that she tripped over. The general public in the US needs to seriously reevaluate the realm of personal fault and responsibility and take some responsibility instead of always pointing the finger at the next person.

Overall, this movie "Supersize Me" made a valid point. It may be true that some McDonalds etc. customers may be somewhat unaware of the health dangers fast food restaurants present. However, I believe that most are aware, like drinkers and smokers, of what they are doing to their bodies. What I think it comes down to is moderation. People have no restraint when it comes to pleasurable experiences. If society taught people to use caution and exercise moderation, perhaps we could slow the rate of obesity in this country. After all, no one wants to sue Tasty cake for making them fat because they know that it is something that they are not supposed to eat in excess. The same is true with fast food. As with all things, perhaps education would produce the best results.