| Revision as of 12:32, 13 December 2005 editBdj (talk | contribs)19,739 edits rv POV section. See talk.← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:53, 13 December 2005 edit undo8bitJake (talk | contribs)1,659 edits Revert Anti-Spurlock MediaNext edit → | ||
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| Comedy Central says that they are developing a new series called Public Nuisance with Morgan Spurlock | Comedy Central says that they are developing a new series called Public Nuisance with Morgan Spurlock | ||
| ==Anti-Spurlock Media== | |||
| In the first half of the decade in 2000 there was resurgence in the ] of politically challenging documentaries that have serious criticisms about the political and corporate power structures of the day. | |||
| Examples of this are ] winning director ]'s documentaries ] and ], ]'s films, ], the ]'s ] and ]. The ] and ] critics of these movies feel threatened and claim these films have an existing political idea and selectively edit to express that idea. | |||
| In order to criticizes Morgan Spurlock's documentaries several websites have been created by members of the right wing in the United States. Most of these websites have a existing idea that the work of Morgan Spurlock is bad and they have engaged in many of the same kind of activities that they criticize Spurlock for allegedly engaging in. | |||
| ⚫ | * ]'s criticism of "30 Days" episode on religious tolerance. | ||
| ⚫ | * Les Sayer's , an Anti-''Super Size Me'' website attempting to debunk Spurlock. | ||
| ⚫ | * a self-proclaimed Anti-Spurlock Website. | ||
| ⚫ | * , a blog critical of Spurlock's actions and work, currently on hiatus. | ||
| ==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
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| * | * | ||
| ⚫ | * ]'s criticism of "30 Days" episode on religious tolerance. |
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| ⚫ | * Les Sayer's , an Anti-''Super Size Me'' website attempting to debunk Spurlock. | ||
| ⚫ | * |
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| ⚫ | * , a blog critical of Spurlock's actions and work, currently on hiatus. | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 19:53, 13 December 2005
Morgan Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American independent film director and screenwriter, known for the documentary film Super Size Me, in which he attempted to demonstrate the negative health effects of McDonald's food.
Rejected five times by the USC film school, Spurlock graduated with a BFA in film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1993.
Spurlock was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and lives in Manhattan. Before making Super Size Me, Spurlock was a playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000. He also created I Bet You Will for MTV.
I Bet You Will
I Bet You Will began as an popular internet webcast of five-minute episodes featuring ordinary people doing disgusting, unusual, or embarassing stunts in exchange for money. Examples include eating a full jar of mayo ($235 dollars), and taking shots of corn oil, pink bismuth, lemon juice, hot sauce, cold chicken broth, and cod liver oil ($450 for all nine shots). The webcast was a success, with over a million hits in the first five days. The show was later bought and aired by MTV.
Super Size Me
Spurlock was of above-average health for his age in 2003, when he undertook the project shown in Super Size Me, which was released in the U.S. on May 7, 2004. In the film, he ate three McDonald's meals a day every day for 30 days, taking the 'super-size' option whenever it was offered, the end result being a diet with twice the food energy recommended by the USDA. Further, Spurlock attempted to curtail his physical activity to better match the exercise habits of the average American (he walked about 3 miles a day whereas the average American walks 1.5 miles). His health declined dramatically: he gained 25 pounds (11 kg), suffered severe liver dysfunction and developed symptoms of depression. Spurlock's supervising physicians noted the effects caused by his high-fat, high-carb diet—one even comparing it to a case of severe binge alcoholism.
Spurlock's critics contend that his movie is a dishonest depiction of how fast food fits in with a regular diet. These critics point out that obviously such a drastic and critically unhealthy diet-exercise regimen would ultimately cause deleterious effects on health.
After the completion of the project, it took Spurlock several months to return to his normal weight of 185 pounds (84 kg). His then-girlfriend (now fiancée), vegan chef Alexandra Jamieson, took charge of his recovery with her "detox diet," which was the basis for a later book, titled The Great American Detox Diet.
30 Days
Spurlock's current project is a television program called 30 Days. In each episode, a person spends thirty days immersing him or herself in a mode of life markedly different from their norm (working at Wal-Mart, being in prison, etc.), while Spurlock discusses the relevant social issues involved. FX began airing the show on June 15, 2005. In the premiere episode, "Minimum Wage," Spurlock and his fiancée lived for thirty days in the Bottoms neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio earning minimum wage, with no access to outside funds.
As with his film, this program has not been without its critics, among these right wing columnist Debbie Schlussel, who claims Spurlock seeks only to illustrate preconceived conclusions with his televised documentaries.
Public Nuisance
Comedy Central says that they are developing a new series called Public Nuisance with Morgan Spurlock
Anti-Spurlock Media
In the first half of the decade in 2000 there was resurgence in the film genre of politically challenging documentaries that have serious criticisms about the political and corporate power structures of the day.
Examples of this are Academy Award winning director Michael Moore's documentaries Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, Robert Greenwald's films, The Corporation, the BBC's The Power of Nightmares and Super Size Me. The right wing and corporate critics of these movies feel threatened and claim these films have an existing political idea and selectively edit to express that idea.
In order to criticizes Morgan Spurlock's documentaries several websites have been created by members of the right wing in the United States. Most of these websites have a existing idea that the work of Morgan Spurlock is bad and they have engaged in many of the same kind of activities that they criticize Spurlock for allegedly engaging in.
- OpinionJournal.com Debbie Schlussel's criticism of "30 Days" episode on religious tolerance.
- Les Sayer's McDonald's-For-a-Month, an Anti-Super Size Me website attempting to debunk Spurlock.
- Kevin O'Connor's McDiet a self-proclaimed Anti-Spurlock Website.
- Spurlock Watch, a blog critical of Spurlock's actions and work, currently on hiatus.
Bibliography
Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America ISBN 0399152601
External links
- Morgan Spurlock at IMDb
- Morgan Spurlock's weblog
- Super Size Me Official Site
- "The Real Price of a Big Mac": Newsweek interview with Morgan Spurlock
- Morgan Spurlock on The Daily Show
- Morgan Spurlock interview on the Paul Harris Show
- Film Threat interview with Morgan Spurlock
- Sundance Channel interview with Morgan Spurlock