It has been almost 20 years since this film first graced our screens yet I think what it talks about is still so prominent in today’s culture, and possibly even more because while people have tried to make healthy choices, the choice for fast food is never going to go away.

In Super Size Me we see a man conduct an experiment where for one month he has to eat McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner and he can only eat and drink what is on their menu. At this time Americans were quite sedentary as well so he stopped walking places like he normally would and simply drove everywhere, barely moving his body and working off the food that he was consuming. Throughout the experiment you see how his body changes but also his mental health and how basically he becomes addicted to this stuff because it is another form of a drug.

During his time he also explores how McDonald’s and other fast food places affect the world around us, from how often we should be allowed to eat it, what goes into the food we are consuming, and how McDonald’s is able to infiltrate schools to push their fast food ideals onto the next generation. The one thing that surprised me most about the schooling side of things was how physical education wasn’t really a thing anymore and children weren’t given time to play and relax and exercise even in a fun way because of statistics and tests that needed to be passed.

While this film is nearly 20 years old I do think it’s still as important today as it was back then. Maybe we don’t have super size options in the UK but I’ve seen children go into McDonald’s and order a fish finger Happy Meal and six chicken nuggets on the side because the meal is no longer enough for them. I know in England McDonald’s pushes the fruit bag and water and squash and stuff in their meals but no one’s actually going to eat that when the dopamine hit of some fries is going to be so much stronger and harder to combat. Even their salads have been proven to almost be worse than some of their burgers due to the amount of fat and sugar and salt in the dressings, which is absolutely insane to think about, there’s no way that you can be healthy while eating this sort of food.

But what can we really do about it? It’s been a conversation ever since fast food first popped up because it’s incredibly convenient, it’s incredibly addictive, and if your child is screaming for a Big Mac and refusing to eat their broccoli most parents would give in just to live an easier life. I think better nutrition and health and exercise needs to be pushed in schools to make sure that children are making the best decisions, but also I almost wonder because when you’re a teenager you don’t really care about that sort of stuff, just giving them more time to exercise, to walk, to run, to dance, to play could be the answer to it all because even if they’re still eating this rubbish food they’re counteracting it as much as they can with moving their body.

I think this is still a great piece of work to show children and adults alike what is actually happening in their bodies when they eat this sort of stuff, and I do think it’s paramount that people are given the education to be able to make food that may have always been gross because it was boiled or steamed or not seasoned at all, an understanding of how to make things delicious because vegetables can be made tasty, and I don’t just mean putting lettuce on a burger.

What do you think of Super Size Me?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding