Morgan Spurlock’s death and legacy are a reminder that skepticism is a necessary part of any balanced diet.
Morgan Spurlock, the documentarian whose film Super Size Me attempted to expose the perils of fast food as it followed him adhering to a monthlong McDonald’s-only diet, has died from complications of cancer. He was 53.
Spurlock went on to make several other films. But nothing would eclipse the hype around Super Size Me, which catapulted him to fame and attracted an Academy Award nomination for best documentary feature. If you’re a millennial like me, there’s a chance the movie, which was released in 2004, was a part of your education diet, whether in high school or college, touted as an example of groundbreaking investigative reporting. The problem is that it wasn’t.
The movie tracks a 32-year-old Spurlock from February 1 to March 2 of 2003 as he ate McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day, with no exceptions. The name of the film comes from the chain’s erstwhile supersize option, which Spurlock pledged to acquiesce to every time a service worker offered. That happened nine times over the course of filming. (Shortly after the film’s release, McDonald’s discontinued the option, although the company insisted it was unrelated to the documentary.) In total, Spurlock gained a little under 25 pounds, experienced increased cholesterol, and had elevated liver enzymes.
