RIP Morgan Spurlock (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

Of Supersize Me fame
================

CNN) — Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker and former CNN series host whose McDonald’s documentary “Super Size Me” was nominated for an Academy Award, died of cancer complications Thursday, according to his family.

Spurlock, who was 53, died in New York, surrounded by family and friends, his brother said in a statement………

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/24/entertainment/morgan-spurlock-death?cid=ios_app

 

[Madmarsha]

 

[longtime lurker]

That was a great documentary that he made. RIP

 

[Saintman2884]

That was a great documentary that he made. RIP

Yeah, it was very revealing but I also heard that Spurlock gained a lot of weight, naturally of course due to his self-imposed diet of eating nothing more then McDonald's old, "Super-Size Me" meals for a couple of months while making this Academy-Award nominated film and it took him about a year to lose some of the weight he gained.

53 is way too young and too soon for a gifted, daring fillmmaker and adventurer.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I did watch Supersize Me when it came out and I did like it but I have read that there is some controversy about how accurate the doc was

 

[Sun Wukong]

I did watch Supersize Me when it came out and I did like it but I have read that there is some controversy about how accurate the doc was

It wasn't accurate at all. Numerous universities tried to replicate his findings and none of them could. Other individuals have adopted the exact same diet he had for 30 days as a test and found absolutely no change to their health or wellbeing. Every time he was asked to provide data about his diet and outcomes he refused. And it wasn't until years later that he revealed he had actually been a severe alcoholic for decades.

I'm not trying to speak ill of the dead, but the guy was very much a liar by omission. He made a documentary about how unhealthy fast food is while he was pounding back booze by the truckload and the vast majority of his health issues were because of liquor, not eating big macs for a month.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I did watch Supersize Me when it came out and I did like it but I have read that there is some controversy about how accurate the doc was

I mean that’s true for 90% of docs (I made up that %)
Sometimes it’s deliberate fudging, but more often it’s just result of having to make editorial choices to keep a narrative structure

Documentary is not laboratory science- it can’t be nor should it try

 

[Sun Wukong]

I mean that’s true for 90% of docs (I made up that %)
Sometimes it’s deliberate fudging, but more often it’s just result of having to make editorial choices to keep a narrative structure

Documentary is not laboratory science- it can’t be nor should it try

Eating fast food every day is obviously unhealthy, but he presented a fundamentally dishonest and inaccurate account of what it would do to you by failing to disclose his severe alcoholism.

Nobody that has done what he did since then has developed liver problems. He presented that as a major issue in the doc, while failing to admit that he had been binge drinking daily for three decades.

He also admitted to sexual misconduct during metoo, even admitting that he had been accused of sexual assault. It effectively ended his career.

He was not a good documentarian nor a good person.

 

[Saintman2884]

I mean that’s true for 90% of docs (I made up that %)
Sometimes it’s deliberate fudging, but more often it’s just result of having to make editorial choices to keep a narrative structure

Documentary is not laboratory science- it can’t be nor should it try

Some more cynical types then me, Guido might label your second paragraph to be more like "propoganda" to push a relentless socio-political, idealogical narrative in your docs to ignore or overlook certain information or details that might dispute or discount your "claims", you realize that but you consistently push that narrative, heavily-flawed and all. Selective editing and a few out-of-context statements from certain interviewees that give the impression of putting words in their mouths don't help either.

Documentaries like Juri dreams of Sushi, A Band Called Death, even silly, kind of ridiculous and maybe sad moments one like The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, and an outstanding heavy metal documentary about forgotten, early 80's Canadian metal band, Hammer: Heavy might have a few faults, but tell a coherent, more honest story.

The War Room is another great outstanding political documentary about the turmoil, challenges, joy and happiness and an insider's behind-the-scenes picture at 1992's Bill Clinton's run for Presidency and his team of advisers, like Paul Begala and James Carville hard at work and busting their arses for days and weeks on-end.

 

[zeetes]

It wasn't accurate at all. Numerous universities tried to replicate his findings and none of them could. Other individuals have adopted the exact same diet he had for 30 days as a test and found absolutely no change to their health or wellbeing. Every time he was asked to provide data about his diet and outcomes he refused. And it wasn't until years later that he revealed he had actually been a severe alcoholic for decades.

I'm not trying to speak ill of the dead, but the guy was very much a liar by omission. He made a documentary about how unhealthy fast food is while he was pounding back booze by the truckload and the vast majority of his health issues were because of liquor, not eating big macs for a month.

yep

 

[Saintman2884]

It wasn't accurate at all. Numerous universities tried to replicate his findings and none of them could. Other individuals have adopted the exact same diet he had for 30 days as a test and found absolutely no change to their health or wellbeing. Every time he was asked to provide data about his diet and outcomes he refused. And it wasn't until years later that he revealed he had actually been a severe alcoholic for decades.

I'm not trying to speak ill of the dead, but the guy was very much a liar by omission. He made a documentary about how unhealthy fast food is while he was pounding back booze by the truckload and the vast majority of his health issues were because of liquor, not eating big macs for a month.

Let me guess, some of these same universities who tried replicating his experiments and failed repeatedly were also the first ones to find out or suggest in their post-clinical studies analyses that were "other variables" Spurlock didnt mention or lied about that were also key, major factors in him, if not moreso, then just eating Big Macs meals for a month at McDonald's.

Did some of these university studies or other amateur documentations suggest being a severe, binge alcoholic was a more likely factor to Spurlock's claims that first laid doubt on his credibility?

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Eating fast food every day is obviously unhealthy, but he presented a fundamentally dishonest and inaccurate account of what it would do to you by failing to disclose his severe alcoholism.

Nobody that has done what he did since then has developed liver problems. He presented that as a major issue in the doc, while failing to admit that he had been binge drinking daily for three decades.

He also admitted to sexual misconduct during metoo, even admitting that he had been accused of sexual assault. It effectively ended his career.

He was not a good documentarian nor a good person.

I realize it’s easy to see what I wrote as a defense of Spurlock
It was not - more contextualizing documentaries bc that charge is leveled at all documentaries ever

But I do appreciate your contextualizing Supersize Me - I hadn’t heard much of that

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Some more cynical types then me, Guido might label your second paragraph to be more like "propoganda" to push a relentless socio-political, idealogical narrative

luckily no one around would ever engage in such a thing

 

[SaintInBucLand]

Let me guess, some of these same universities who tried replicating his experiments and failed repeatedly were also the first ones to find out or suggest in their post-clinical studies analyses that were "other variables" Spurlock didnt mention or lied about that were also key, major factors in him, if not moreso, then just eating Big Macs meals for a month at McDonald's.

Did some of these university studies or other amateur documentations suggest being a severe, binge alcoholic was a more likely factor to Spurlock's claims that first laid doubt on his credibility?

The funny thing about studies in general is that they will call eating a extra value meal eating red meat when a huge majority of the processed calories come from the fries, bread and soda and when people get sick from it they want to blame it all on the tiny patty(which from mcdonalds I would argue is also heavily processed).

I really wish I could remember which study it was so I could link it, but one had classified lasagna as red meat in their categories.

 

[Madmarsha]

Sometimes it’s deliberate fudging, but more often it’s just result of having to make editorial choices to keep a narrative structure

Well, that sounds like a ...... movie.

Now make up a stat about labatory science.