Why Bother With This Guy?

That's probably what you're asking yourself.

When I began to read Morgan Spurlock's Don't Eat This Book I sort of figured it'd be filled with many of the misleading and outright fallacious claims and representations he makes in his movie.  I figured I'd find enough examples to write an op-ed, or perhaps a book review.  I began by putting Post-It notes on pages with examples I might want to use.

By the time I'd finished two chapters, there were Post-It notes on every page Spurlock may chide McDonalds for the lack of nutritional value in its food, but Spurlock's book is completely bankrupt of intellectual value.

It's tempting to dismiss Spurlock as an unserious guy whom serious people don't take seriously.  That's probably true. But young people, people who aren't naturally skeptical, and people who are already suspicious of corporations do take him seriously.  His TV show debuted to 3 million viewers.  The NY Times recently fawned all over him.  And of course, Super Size Me was enormously successful.

There's certainly no questioning Spurlock's talent with a camera.  And he has a bit of charisma that makes him likeable, and believable.

The problem is that he's fast and loose with the truth.  He's consumed by a loathing of business and capitalism -- to the point of refusing to allow accuracy to get in the way of making his point. And I think someone needs to hold him accountable. I'd like to prime the people who watch his show, read his books, and take his advice to take in Morgan Spurlock, Inc. with a super-sized portion of skepticism.

This blog will primarily be devoted to debunking claims Spurlock makes in his book. But we'll also post critiques of his television series, public appearances, and similar Spurlockian lore as needed.

Comments

[Christopher Monnier]

You might want to check this site out, too:

http://www.techcentralstation.com/supersizecon.html

[Jason]

Maybe this will result in a Bullshit on Spurlock with you getitng royalties or something.

[Flyer]

Can't wait to see the evolution of this site. It used to be celebrities, like Meryl Streep with the Alar/apples scandal 20 years ago, who promoted these bogus stories to stir up fear and corporate loathing. Now we make clebrities of the ones who concoct the rumors. Good on you, Radley.

[Mike]

When I saw Supersize Me I thought it was pretty funny. It was the same kind of stunt some of my buddies might have pulled in college had they thought of it, except they would have probably had some sort of beer exception to the McDonald's only rule. I was horrified to find out that people were taking this as a serious social statement. When Johnny Knoxville stuck his nipple in an alligator's mouth I thought it was funny self-abuse but I didn't think it represented a greater threat to society. When Morgan Spurlock ate McDonalds only for 30 days, I thought it was funny self abuse not a greater threat to society.

[JD]

Good to see this site - yeah, maybe it's fighting the tide, but you might at least get quoted somewhere. I think part of the problem, culturally, is that people are still willing to believe in magic and evil spirits. Not literal magic and spirits, of course, but modern substitutes. It's not fairies who made your child sick by casting a spell anymore - it's big corporations who put chemicals in your food that made your sick! What makes it magical thinking is that people generally know bupkes about corporations, ingredients, science, etc., but they're still willing to believe these things because it suits their needs.

[MT]

>>>he's fast and loose with the truth

---It would appear you provide evidence that, at least, Spurlock is extremely sloppy.

>>>He's consumed by a loathing of business and capitalism

---This is pure speculation, and most likely untrue. Doesn't everything about Spurlock suggest that he's motivated by much more self-interested (and capitalistic!) motives than the crypto-socialism you ascribe to him? Is it communistic to make fun of fat people? He does that too!

[John T. Kennedy]

Good blog.

[ktfnwevehy]

testik cool 1

[jim]

thanks