Super Size Me (Review)

Super Size Me (Review)

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Anne Gilbert notes the increasing popularity of the “first-person diary-style approach” at documentary filmmaking in her review of Supersize Me. Like Murray and Heumann, Gilbert argues that Supersize Me's success comes mostly from Spurlock's charming performance. Even when Spurlock's 30-day McDonald's diet takes a turn for the worse, his persistent humor keeps the documentary from growing to heavy under the weight of the obvious health risks of the film's gimmicky hook. Gilbert also considers comparisons between documentary filmmakers Spurlock and Moore, but she argues that Spurlock's calm and fair approach is sufficiently effective “without invoking the in-your-face manner that makes Moore many friends and many more enemies”. However Gilbert also criticizes the narrow scope of Spurlock's film, the pitting of our personal responsibility to follow healthy diets against the corporate interests of fast food giants, stating “the choice for simplicity ignores the longstanding and complex web of complicity and causality that is deeply embedded within our cultural practice”. In spite of this Gilbert ultimately praises the film, concluding that real life actuation is the fundamental mark of success for a social exposé documentary and that Spurlock's singular focus against McDonald's influenced the company's decision to remove its “supersize” menu option.


Gilbert, Anne. "Super Size Me (Film)." Cineaste 29.4 (2004): 47-49. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

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