Pajiba

This is one of those movies I kept telling myself I should see and never got around to. Now I guess I don't need to. Thanks!

Side note, I prefer the term "cakehole" rather than "piehole", but it's a complex question. Too complex to be worked out on a comment board like this, I'd say.

I prefer "piehole" only because it sounds dirty to me. But I concede there is merit, and not just a little smuttiness, to your own position. tb

Good Morning!

I watched this doc and enjoyed it; but it was ironically very much like the product Spurlock was so scornful about: It was tasty and entertaining while it lasted, but ultimately disposable--empty calories.

There was a germ of a good and informative documentary in the material focusing on school lunch programs. Unfortunately, it was eclipsed by Spurlock's douchebaggery.

Love Jack Daniels! Always reminds me of when I first started drinking. I didn't know any liquors, so the bartender started me on my drunken way with Jack and coke.

As for this movie, EVERYONE around me saw it, therefore I didn't need to waste my money. From what I was told the basic synapsis was: McDonalds = BAD. I refused to see it since I eat fast food, not frequently but often enough. Don't tell me it's bad for me. Don't care! It's tasty and that is what I'm looking for, douchebag.

Have a great morning!

Outstanding work, Ted. This is definitely one of your best, though I do hate to hear that your whiskey didn't go down well. That's nothing but a crying shame.

Mmmm.... whiskey...

Well, there is a lot of whiskey in the cupboard, but only one Morgan Spurlock. We'll get 'em next time. tb

Thank you so much for justifying my reasons not to see this "documentary". Spurlock seemed like an asshole from the start.

Wow, Boozehound, you've pretty much echoed my sentiments on Michael Moore. As much as I agree with these guys' worldviews, "smug, self-indulgent douchebag" about sums both of them up.

Oh, and I hate Spurlock's obnoxious mustache. I can't help but feel like it's an affectation, something he wears to give him credibility with the NASCAR set.

Huh, you did make me think with your argument that the fast food industry allows poor families access to cheap, nutritious meals that they otherwise may not get. I don't know, I think the measures McDonald's et al. uses to allow them to produce the food so cheaply (piss-poor wages, ridiculously low prices paid to producers) negates a lot of that good karma...but whatever the net effect is, can't deny the positives.

It's a sad commentary that we outsource the nutrition of our poorest and most defenseless to an industry that ultimately doesn't give a shit about them. But the tightrope walker doesn't really want you interfering with his frayed, crappy safety net until you get him down safely. tb

I've actually found that I don't mind his TV show as much as I minded him in this doc. Maybe it's because those shows are much shorter. Maybe it's because there are more people interacting with him on the show so he can't come off as a complete dickhole. Maybe it's because there are commercials for McDonaldsy goodness like that one currently playing every 4.318 seconds on my TV for their new breakfast burrito thing.

Morgan Spurlock...how can a guy named Morgan Spurlock not comes off as smug? He might as well be named Douchey McNuttsack. But still...i did enjoy the doc. It was a fluff documentary. Kind of like if they did a documentary on porn. Pointless, but what I'm watching is 'performing-monkey'-esque enough that I don't change it.

I just wish you had been able to enjoy your libations. Not enjoying a good Jack Daniels is like not enjoying a 'blowgie.'

I don't believe in McDonald's, but not because I think it's some evil entity out to rob me of my health and take over the world, or anything unhinged and crazypants like that. I don't believe in McDonald's because I think they're food tastes icky.

Excellent review, socalled. I saw this when it first came out, and I didn't like it very much. My mother asked me how it was and I tried to explain it, but it didn't go so well because my mother is crazy and not so good at The Listening, and I got frustrated and gave up. I haven't thought about it much since, but you managed (while liquored up, even) to illustrate its flaws.

Ugh...make that "their." Sweet Jesus, I think I gotta go back to bed.

Yeah, smirky guy not getting away with a handlebar makes an obvious hypothesis and pretends to be daring and acts like the fries have been forcibly shoved into his mouth. I've given this guy a wide berth and none of my time.
(The only picture that's bugged me more in recent times is Glenn Beck with a map of California hanging out of his mouth, which I guess is meant to be a provocative joke or something but I don't understand exactly what the joke is.
So.....zing?)

So I'm glad I'm not the only person that just got a bad vibe off this guy and didn't feel any need to hear anything he had to say.

When did these reviews become dissertations. You might want to leave the thesaurus alone a bit and get to what you want to say.

I agree that the idea of a an all McDonald's all the time diet is ill-advised, but truthfully, isn't that the optimal capitalist dream? Wouldn't The Gap want you to buy all your clothes there? Wouldn't Nike want you to only buy their shoes? The point Spurlock makes is that McDonald's has no regard for the health of its customer. It truly could care less about the quality of food it offers so long as the profit margin doesn't dip. Only after intense public pressure did McDonald's offer salads or actually include meat in their hamburgers again. Spurlock is after the greater picture here, not just trying to prove some self-satisfied point.

Also, yes, Americans are gluttonous, they have low regard to their health. That's why Spurlock is also showing why that diet is piss-poor. You fail to mention the fast-food mentality trickling down into our schools where children eat the bottom of the barrel discards of frozen whatever it may be. There is a fast food culture. And if you, dear, bitter, Mr. Boynton, were not so smug yourself, you might notice that.

This dude is found at the interracial club www.mixedfriends.com a moment ago. He has created a personal profile to seek young and hot girls out of his race there.

Someone's stalking you, duane. tb

I thought the documentary had some interesting points (though the book "Fast Food Nation" had a far, far more nuanced treatment of the subject). I was distracted, however, by my overwhelming desire to slap the shit out of Spurlock's vegan girlfriend. She struck me as that dimunutive makeup-less girl who tried to appear meek and sweet and easygoing, but was secretly a judgmental control freak.

Oh, what a surprise - their next vanity project addresses their "birth plan" and home childbirthing experience:

"We had the baby at home and Alex had no drugs, no sedatives, nada - yes, she is amazing. I don't know how she did it ... and she was in labor for 36 hours!"

Oh, yes. "Amazing" Alex and the "natural" (how I DETEST that adjective) childbirth you're going to have to hear about for the rest of your life, Spurlock.

'Natural' childbirth...hmm??

Does that mean his girlfriend is going to squat like she's droppin' a deuce and then Morgan is going to bite through the umbilical with his teeth. Then he'll wipe the amniotic residue from the child, walk him to the top of the hill, grunt, and present him to the god of the sun? No? Oh...well the SHUT THE FUCK UP Alex. You're nothing more than one of those 'can't wait to deliver this nugget of information that I stored in my brain just so I could lord my knowledge over you' type of swunts that needs to be punched in the vagina. So you're not having an epidural. Fucking awesome! My sister didn't have one cuz she's allergic to most anesthesias. She didn't call it natural thoough. She called it painful, because anyone who believes they need to have a natural birth is DUMB AS DOG SHIT!

Insanely funny and well analyzed review as always, Socalled. I wasn't quite as put off by Spurlock when I watched this documentary, but I did find his experiment pretty pointless.

"We had the baby at home and Alex had no drugs, no sedatives, nada - yes, she is amazing. I don't know how she did it ... and she was in labor for 36 hours!"

Ha! Yes yes, she's the first woman to give birth drug free ever.

Ted Boozehoundton, touche--love the tightrope walker analogy. Nothing's ever a simple quick fix, crappy as the status quo may be.

Think that's why I don't trust politicians of any sort: they all seem like a bunch of snake oil salesmen/women claiming they can change the world if elected to a term in office.

Ahh, happy apathy. To paraphrase the Krusty Brand Seal Of Approval, the state of things is "Not just good, it's good enough!"

(Disclaimer: I'm really not as unaware of the world's many problems as the above paragraph would sound; I just think we have to make the best of our situations and not get worked up over the big picture problems that we can't change...ugh, just shut up now, Maureen.....hell, aren't you supposed to be working now, anyway?)

i have to comment on this 'natural' childbirth: if you decide to have a kid without the benefit of drugs, that's your fucking choice, but i don't fucking want to hear about it. and don't expect a medal because you chose to do something that's unnecessarily painful. there's a reason those drugs were invented. it's like saying that the next time you need a root canal, you're going to do it "naturally." come off it!

Sarina:

"I don't believe in McDonald's"

Like... you deny it's existence? You think it's a myth? Like fairies, or the Loch Ness Monster, or the clitoris?

I kid, of course. I'm just punchy cuz it's Friday.

Was I the only one who craved McDonald's fries like a mofo after watching this? Rhetorical question, as everyone I was with agreed, and we had to zip over to a drive-through immediately. Then again, I also wanted to try heroin after seeing Basketball Diaries, so maybe I'm just highly suggestible with the willpower of a toddler.
Spurlock's show was surprisingly interesting, the minimum-wage experiment especially so. IIRC, neither he nor Smug Vegan could make it the whole month. Sad. (but to be fair, they're also pretty privileged pansy-asses) Also, it was the first time I was happy to see someone get a bladder infection.
Oh and Alex? If you're all "natural" how the fuck can you be vegan? You have incisors, eyes on the front of your head, enzymes to digest meat. Your "natural" state is omnivore. Dumb bitch.
You know what else is natural? Arsenic. So eat an arsenic covered dick, Alex.

I saw this when it came out and thought it was OK. I agree with the premise that eating fast food for every meal is bad for you, but it might have been more believable if he'd followed someone who really ate that way around for a month and ate what they ate.

Yes, there are people who eat fast food for every damn meal. I used to be one of them. Chalk it up to a long commute and being single, and going through the drive through for breakfast, lunch and dinner becomes the easy way out. However, I never liked it. It was just convenient.

The cheapskate in me finally decided to cook for myself, in advance on the weekends, so I could have my own food ready to go during the week, and just needing a quick heat up. Not only was it MUCH cheaper, but much healthier, too. For this reason, I disagree with the theory that, "It is a distressing reality . . . that McDonald's and its brethren provide a high-efficiency nutrition machine for millions of economically disadvantaged Americans, allowing them decent-tasting meals on a poverty-level wage." If you are on a pverty-level wage, you cannot afford to eat fast food. Grocery store food is much, much cheaper. I know. My parents used to be poor and we ate home cooked meals every night, and were never allowed fast food because it was too expensive.

Like fairies, or the Loch Ness Monster, or the clitoris?

I'm not familiar with these words of which you speak.

Sigh. I'm bored and hungry for french fries.

there's a reason those drugs were invented.

Indeed. Here are those reasons: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Don't blame me, I just watched that Business of Being Born documentary last night. That was a pre-programed response sponsored by Ricki Lake.

I didn't like Super Size Me for pretty much all of the reasons stated in the review. That said, there's a lot soapboxing going on in this review I don't necessarily agree with, but that happens.

P.S. I'm a vegetarian now, not that it matters. It's not because I love animals, which I don't. It's because I hate vegetables. DIE CARROT DIE!

wait..dammit! Canines, not incisors. Fuck, I hate a rant ruined by careless typing.

Bweaves, I can totally see you gleefully chopping up a poor defenseless celery stalk.

You monster.

So BWeaves hates animals AND vegetables?

Wow.

See you in Hell.

Re: All this natural nonsense. I am forcibly reminded of a quote from the wonderful Terry Pratchett.

One character says, "I don't [approve of] things that are unnatural."

Other character says, "Then...you eat all your food raw, and sleep in a tree?"

Also, let's not forget that clothing is unnatural. And corrective lenses. And dentistry. Also, feeling love for your offspring past the time they become able to care for themselves.

Is there a countdown clock for today as to when the newest Tyler Perry flick will be reviewed? Or Drillbit? I am having murderous thoughts right now...and if i don't get my standard Friday 'venting'...well...Wilmington Dealware will be famous for more than just banks and chemicals.

I took this movie more as an excercise in Gonzo - a documentary less about how awful it is for everyone else, and more a log of what happens to someone when they undertake a ridiculous dare. The "legitimate" documentary points in it I took as secondary to the "Jackass" nature of the Spurlock footage.
I think, taken in this manner, the film goes down much smoother. I didn't watch super-size me to be educated, didn't expect to be informed about anything, didn't look for any hallmarks of journalistic quality - I was there for the entertainment of watching a guy put himself through an uncomfortable situation, with some quasi interesting factoids told on the side, as is convenient.
I find myself consistently on the side of people who create, in a traditionally journalistic medium, non-journalistic entertainment. I didn't think it was a big deal when that guy on Oprah presented his book as the true retelling of his life when it wasn't. Who the hell cares if it's true? Are you writing a case study? Let yourself be entertained. The guy was CREATING A CHARACTER to be used as a marketing and publicity tool - the merits of the book itself should be what determines the review of it, not the fact that the guy was telling the truth or not. We all want to be mislead.
Hunter S. Thompson made shit up and printed it as journalism. The only people that got upset were those that didn't "get it." It was never intended to deceive, but to entertain. It becomes even more entertaining when mislead or missing-the-point members of the audience become incensed, believing either that the "journalism" is flawed or that the ideas are outrageous. Joke's on the reactionary.
I'm really not saying that Spurlock is anywhere near the level of HST, but I do believe that playing by the conventions and rules is a ticket to stagnation. Just because something is a documentary shouldn't mean it has to be 100% journalistically accurate or play by the rules and restrictions of unbiased reporting. Nonfiction does not need to be "true" to be valid entertainment. People just get SOOO outraged by their own expectations. I say, play with the format, tweak people's expectations, and watch as they squirm.

This is all said, in the interest of full-disclosure, by someone who is currently editing a feature-length comedy documentary.

All those points aside, I think that some of the work he did on "30 Days" is far superior to "Super-Size Me," and I agree with everyone that his girlfriend/wife/attic-beast is a shrill evil annoying woman, and I swear I'd say that even if I didn't know she were a goddamned vegan.

Still, I look forward to "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden," with my expectations firmly set to suspension of disbelief. Give it a try. Maybe you'll enjoy it in that light.

Ha, "attic-beast"! I'm totally stealing that! tb

PissBoy's "I've actually found that I don't mind his TV show as much as I minded him in this doc." is dead on. I dug "Thirty Days", 'cause I could take Spurlock in small doses...

It would've been more interesting to show the fast food habits of a good chunk of the populace, as opposed to being a dipshit and chowing McDonalds three times a friggin' day. I've had coworkers that've come into work with a McMuffin, gone to lunch at Chipolte, and should they end up staying late, end up eating at yet another joint... They complain about chest pains, while I just nod and pour myself another drink for dinner...

As far as the having a baby thing at home? Yeesh. I saw something on TLC where this lady had the baby at home in a goddam inflateable pool in the living room. There were fucking people all over the place and sweat and kids running around and screaming and ooze and grunting and to top it off, the Golden Lab started drinking out of the pool as she was poopin' out a baby...

Again - AS SHE WAS HAVING THE GODDAMED BABY, HER DOG STARTED TO DRINK OUT OF THE POOL!

...yeah, let that sink in...

"... with dietary choices that no reasonable person would even want, much less actually choke down...no ordinary person would eat that way..."

I am actually from the same small town in West Virginia as Morgan Spurlock and I have to say that a good 25% of the population there eat three fast food meals a day, every single day. That's not even considered out of the norm, and these are the so-called "normal people." It's incredibly frightening and surreal to see. I'm sure it's not the only town like that.

Great review though. Spurlock is a douche, but I can't help but think his hippie girlfriend somehow put him up to this one...Hmm?

You're right; forgive the carelessness of that passage. It's not that I think no one eats most or all of their meals at fast food restaurants. It's the "rules" that make the film's conceit dishonest. I don't think any ordinary person is walking into McDonald's willfully trying to hurt himself, e.g., "I'm shoveling in 8,000 calories every four hours whether I'm hungry or not," or "I'm not drinking their water no matter how bad I want it!" tb

"It would've been more interesting to show the fast food habits of a good chunk of the populace, as opposed to being a dipshit and chowing McDonalds three times a friggin' day."

You're missing the point. That's not the documentary that this movie wanted to be. It could have been all dry and informational and accurate and stuffy, but it wanted to be entertaining, first and foremost, and educational as a side-effect. Whether or not you find this style of humor grating or even funny, the truth is that this movie was intended primarily as comedy.

Anyone can do research and write a paper and then read that paper to a background of cutaway shots of stock footage. And maybe they'll get played on PBS. And maybe a few thousand people will watched and "be informed." This movie is a double-edged Trojan horse (to mix metaphors) in that it sneaks comedy to the documentary crown while sneaking information to the comedy-going crowd.

Y'all are taking this too seriously. It's your own expectations that are the reason you can't enjoy this movie.

PissBoy, just think happy thoughts till the review is posted.

Muppets...baby bunnies...boobs...Muppet baby bunnies with big boobs...

Though I don't regularly indulge in fast food, the picture of the fries stuffing Spurlock's mouth on the cover/poster for this movie invariably gives me a craving for fries. I love when propaganda has the opposite of the desired effect on me.

I also found the Veganazi the most annoying part of this documentary. But then I find all vegans annoying (I have no problem with vegetarians or pescatarians).
I'm also from a similar ultra-liberal, rent-a-crowd, placard-carrying background, and consider myself a proud socialist-leaning Liberal to the end, but I have in recent years developed a huge problem with the myth that giant corporations are the only entities that can pull the wool over your eyes and deceive you for their own gain. While I agree that many giant corporations do just that, there is at least an honesty in it predicated on the fact that they are leading members of the capitalist machine and their duty to their shareholders is to make as much money as possible.
What rarely (I would offer "never") comes to light is that so many giant machines on the other side do exactly the same thing. Mega-charities push horrific rhetoric to make their cases against corporations (whether they be pharmaceuticals, tobacco, oil, etc.) in the interest of a cause or fund-raising, intentionally leaving out most of the nuances that are necessary to understand the real issues. We're left on both sides bereft of a chance to make an honest determination of the issue and decide where we stand. And on the charitable side, I have to posit that the sleight of hand is more dishonest because they don't answer to capitalist principles.
I'll be here at my desk until about 3 pm for those of you who are currently assembling a mob to lynch me for those comments. After that, try the closest bar.

Have not seen this movie, and being of a family tree of chest grabbers I do not frequent the fast-food temples often, so his movie had nothing to offer me.

I really do think that his 30 Days on minimum wage was damn good a made solid points. Being a high school teacher, I show this as a motivational tool for students to be involved in class and in school in general.

As for his other half, I just ignore her a wait for the show to move on.

"You think it's a myth? Like fairies, or the Loch Ness Monster, or the clitoris?"

Of course not, TK. That would be ridiculous, because two of those other things are real.

Hee.

Seriously, no, I just say I don't believe in stuff when I don't like it. Because since stuff I don't like is dead to me, and this little road show the world is running is all about me, stuff I don't like may as well cease to exist.

Other stuff I don't believe in:
Bandaids
Coffee
Oatmeal
Pantyhose
Vodka
Pepsi
Goddamn Cadbury Creme Eggs
Acrylic fingernails
Hairspray
Eyedrops

Richmac, I really liked the episode where the homophobic college kid stayed with the gay couple.

Richmac:

For a really good look at the minimum wage issue, read "Nickel and Dimed in America" (Spurlock stole the concept from the author). It's a short but very compelling read.

Sarina... you don't... you don't believe in Vodka? Whatwhat... whaddya mean you don't believe in Vodka? I'm flabbergasted. Simply flabbergasted. The fact that I'm even using the word "flabbergasted" should indicate how shocked I am at this... Nothing with Vodka? Bloody Marys, Martinis, Screwdrivers, Gimlets, Jello-Shots, Red-Bull Vodka, Cranberry Vodka, Lemonade Vodka, Others?

Well, I'm crossing you off my Vodkanukkah card list... Sheesh!

I really have to toss in some more love for 30 Days. You may like or dislike Spurlock and his "agenda" but that series of his was usually extremely interesting, and informative into the bargain. We could do with a lot more "reality" TV like that show.

There's a Vodkanukkah?!?!?!

WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED?

Apparently my douchebag radar has been off for a while because I really enjoyed this. In fact, after I read his book about the subject, I was encouraged to eat actually healthy things, and permanently give up fast food. It wasn't just a fad either, reading about how that stuff gives you cancer was enough to freak me out for the past 2 years. I realize I sound like goddamn Jared Fogle, but I can't be annoyed by a dude who saved me from life threatening illnesses from the crap mcdonald's serves.

Also, he pointed out about 11 times that of course it was ridiculous to eat mcdonalds three times a day for a month. He was making a point for dramatic effect, not engaging in some kind of scientific experiment.

Hopit:

No problem with your enjoying the film: many people did. But I need to ask: did he really "save" you from life-threatening illnesses? I mean did you really not have a clue how unhealthy McDonalds was until you saw that film? I ask not out of sarcasm but out of interest.

Richmac, for a second there, you had me wondering about your family's idea of entertainment! I thought, a "family tree of chest-grabbers" might certainly dissuade one from going to Hooters, but why should it stop you from frequenting fast food establishments...THEN I caught on!

Though not before getting a quick chuckle from picturing your family gatherings....

TK - Vodkanukkah came up during ATO's Tequilamas celebration. Being that I can't stomach Tequila (or at least can't anymore), I came up with an alternative holiday consisting of eight crazy days. It's truly a beautiful holiday, best enjoyed surrounded by loved ones.

Should loved ones not be around, enjoying it alone in a dank, smoke filled room scribbling names on various "lists" you may be working on at the time is also suggested. Industrial music should be playing at a volume that's almost uncomfortable, and pants are optional...

I saw "Super Size Me" a while ago and I enjoyed it. I saw the problems with his logic right away that no sane human would eat McDonalds 3 times a day for a month. But the movie was entertaining, like Jackass with a message. Spurlock and Moore are part of a new type of documentarian in that they don't make documentaries so much as long form editorials. I felt the same way with this as I did with "Farenheit 9/11", I was entertained but there was not a whole lot of objectivity.

It did inspire me to read "Fast Food Nation" which I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend that one for anyone interested in the food industry in America.

As far as the having a baby thing at home? Yeesh. I saw something on TLC where this lady had the baby at home in a goddam inflateable pool in the living room. There were fucking people all over the place and sweat and kids running around and screaming and ooze and grunting and to top it off, the Golden Lab started drinking out of the pool as she was poopin' out a baby...

Again, on behalf of Ricki Lake, I just watched her documentary and there were several home births, some in inflatable pools, some in bath tubs, some just in bedroom or whatever. Sure, there was sweating, ooze, yelling, grunting, and ole that, but, hey... that's the Miracle Of Life, yo. Shit's painful. Shit's messy.

Note: I had to close my eyes each time the baby squirted out. Just the night before I watched the thoroughly unenjoyable Wolf Creek without batting an eye (man, did that movie suck), but the watching the honest-to-goodness real life Miracle Of Birth? Scary.)

Again - AS SHE WAS HAVING THE GODDAMED BABY, HER DOG STARTED TO DRINK OUT OF THE POOL!

...yeah, let that sink in...

Meh. My dog eats his own poop. He once ate some spagehtti sauce, went to bed, puked it up, and ate the spagehtti-laced vomit without moving, and went right back to sleep.

Dogs eat gross stuff. That was just water with blood and the baby fluid and whatever else comes out during the process. Gross? Yes. Totally. But that's just a dog being a dog.

I don't think it's so much "not having a clue" as it is not really thinking about the consequences of our little every day actions, and how they build up over time.
You're running late, you're hungry, oh look, a McDonald's. It's quick, cheap, convenient. And you don't realize how much it adds up.
I used to tend bar, and at 4 am, nothing else was open, I was too tired to cook, and who wants to make a meal for one? So I'd hit the local Whataburger, go home and watch TV and fall asleep.
OK, at the time I was also doing massive amounts of cocaine, so obviously healthy living was not my thing.
So yeah, it isn't a conscious lifestyle choice, necessarily. It kinda just happens for most people, I think, and sometimes a book or movie or whatever is enough of a catalyst for them to look at their own lives and make changes.

I was forced to watch this at school (thanks to richmack and his ilk. Ha! Kidding). I'm not sure what irritated me more, the fact that personal responsibility has come to such a low that we blame other people for what we put in our own goddamn mouths, or this douchebag's vegan girlfriend who equated a balanced (aka omnivore) diet with eating McDonalds three times a day. Actually, mrs.douchbag, meat comes in other forms than greasy and overcooked. I respect your personal choice not to eat any meat products, awesome for you, how about you stay out of my business and keep your smug self congratulatory smile to yourself?

However, I disagree with the reviewer in one respect. I actually believe that it is much more expensive to eat at fast food places than to shop around and cook at home. I may be wrong, I haven't done real research on the subject, but it's just been from my own personal experience. Also, in the end it fucks with the people that eat there (and I mean often not a burger now and again) by creating long term health problems they will have to pay for down the line.

Skits, I just don't really like it. I'll drink it when it's mixed in something so I can't really taste it, like in a long island or in Jello shots, and I'll somewhat reluctantly drink a vodka cranberry. There's a good reason why I don't like it, though: the first vodka I ever tasted was Karkov (Dude, don't look at me like that! I sure as hell didn't pick it) and I think it tainted the whole concept for me forever. I've since had good stuff, but I still don't really like it.

You know how a lot of people are about tequila? Including you? You had some disgusting stuff years ago and now you just dislike it on principle? I'm that way with vodka, I guess. I love tequila, though. Not Cuervo, which kinda tastes like ass on fire, but good tequila like Patron. One of my favourite drinks is a prairie fire.

PaddyDog you beat me to it. Nickel and Dimed is an amazing read if you want to know anything about how hard it is to survive on minimum wage in the US. The Canadian minimum wage on the other hand is going up in a few days, bringing us that much closer to it being a livable wage!
I also saw this documentary in a class, I viewed it more as entertaining than educational. I think the movie does bring to light some important facts, but it could have been done so much better.

Sarina - I just had too much one night (years and years ago). I woke up with a severe hangover having to pee and as I was trying to go back to sleep, a friend thought it witty to wave the empty bottle under my nose, thus making the very smell of Tequila... gagtastic.

I rather feel as all this "no sane person" talk is a bit of privileged crap. I'm sure it's not meant to be, so I feel it necessary to point this out.

In many areas, healthful food is not really a choice. I work in Detroit, and most of my clients do not have access to fruits and vegetables. Before anyone mocks my hometown, it's pretty common for urban areas. The problem is amplified in Detroit due to the lack of a comprehensive public transit system that would allow people to go to the grocery store.

Most of the stores surrounding my clients do not stock fresh (or often canned) fruits or vegetables. They also do not have quality sources of lean meat, whole grains, or low-fat dairy.

Many of my clients suffer the effects of poor nutrition, despite the fact that they are all under 18. Some of them are too thin, but a lot of them are morbidly obese. They have difficulty focusing in school, so they don't graduate, which leads them to low-wage jobs. They then perpetuate the cycle with their own children.

I bring this up not be a bitch, but because a lot of people don't realize that it isn't as easy as planning ahead. I grew up in an upper middle class house, and I've always had access to healthful food. Even now, working as a social worker and making nothing, I can still afford to shop for food that is good for me. If I choose to eat McDonalds, that is my fault. However, for people where fast food is often the only choice, or the cheapest choice, the effects of that food is not their fault.

I appreciate the fact that you acknowledge this Ted, but I feel like some of the comments are possibly unaware of the reality for a huge portion of the population in this country.

I'm going to reiterate what some other people have commented. Nickeled and Dimed (Barbara Ehrenreich) is a much more articulate explanation of the problems of low-income people in the US. She talks quite a bit about the issues associated with food.

Skits, that tequila thing is sad for you, because a prairie fire is like magic in a cup.

I never had a vomitous fiasco with vodka, but anyone who has ever tasted Karkov can probably sympathise with my plight, because that shit is sick. My best friend keeps telling me I should give vodka another try because I might like it now (I haven't voluntarily had any in years that wasn't mixed in something) but I haven't worked up the nerve yet.

Yep, saved me like jesus, only with a Fu Manchu mustache.

I'm from the rural south, so if there isn't a widespread movie about it, I pretty much had no clue. I even had to buy the book (which was a huge deal) because it wasn't stocked by any library within fifty miles.
Think about it, if you don't live in a city with hipster douchbags telling you everything you eat will kill you, how the hell else do you know? The news? Local media doesn't care. Schools don't really care (my health class was about the virtues of abstinence), parents don't know any more than you do, and the fast food joints definitely aren't telling.

"I work in Detroit, and most of my clients do not have access to fruits and vegetables"

I lived in Detroit too with my family for about 5 years and if you went the Arab and Polish markets near by you could get plenty of very affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. I think the problem is less about availability and more about knowledge and responsibility. I do, however, agree with you that the problem is amplified in D-town because of the horrific lack of public transportation. Without a car, yes, you are screwed. Still, a documentary on where to shop and how much cheaper it is would have been more helpful than simply another self-congratulatory retarded "documentary". Oh, and before anyone accuses me of having been born in some upper middle class family I emigrated from Romania when I was seven with my family. We had a return ticket and 200 dollars. I know what living in poverty means, cooking at home is still cheaper. I am heartened by the fact I've seen some attempts in poor urban areas to create after-school programs that encourage exercise and healthy eating.

Actually, ashleigh , I think your points are quite accurate (not to mention eloquent). When I worked in inner city Philly, I saw much of the same - most of the local markets had canned veggies at best, heavily fatty meats, and kool aid was the cheapest thing in the store.

Sarina, I am willing to give you a pass on not loving my beloved Vodka as per your story above, but coffee?

Woman, I need an explanation.

Wow, Boozehound, you've pretty much echoed my sentiments on Michael Moore. As much as I agree with these guys' worldviews, "smug, self-indulgent douchebag" about sums both of them up.

MO, you summed up my feelings about both. While I realize that each have their own devoted followings, I cannot see anything other than a self-indulgent asshat with a look-at-me complex.

I am have family heritage like you, Ted, but there is no JFK love in my family. FDR absorbed all of that years ago. Then came Bill.

He has a hardcore vegan girlfriend? I smell girlfriend-pressure.

You know how a lot of people are about tequila? Including you? You had some disgusting stuff years ago and now you just dislike it on principle? I'm that way with vodka, I guess. I love tequila, though.

Yep!
Though I *did* have some vodka apocalypses too in high school. Now, unless it's in a Long Island I just don't need it comin near me. Sure as shit ain't in my martini.

I'd be agog at some other items on your list, but I refute the existence of onions, sandals and summer, which some people apparently think is odd. What can ya do? At least you said oatmeal rather than grits, which just makes me sad when someone denies their magic.

I didn't know Detroit was as laughable, or even more so, than Atlanta with lacking transit, and that's even more of a real city! It's sure hard to come home from London or New York to *this* crap.

I just about never go to McDonald's or Burger King or wherever not because of health or taste. Far from it. I know it's not very healthy and it tastes great (though the McDonald's salads are nice when you don't want something very heavy and there's no salad bar in your vicinity, and don't mind paying a few bucks for it), but when I want junk I want more a mass of it. A bunch of Chinese food or fried chicken and potato salad or pizza, something that lasts a while. When I go, I go large! Spending the money for a single serving isn't satisfying when I feel like being a glutton. I'd rather have a big restaurant hamburger if I want a hamburger.

Besides, if I do want a single serving fast food meal, I go to Zaxby's. Texas toast! Come on!!

ashleigh, I work in Detroit too. Out of the 30 largest metropolitan areas, it's the only one that doesn't have some sort of rail system. (The People Mover doesn't count.)

There's a lot going on at the moment regarding efforts to improve that in the city. If you're interested head to www detroittransit org. The group there "Transportation Riders United" is really active in trying to get support for mass transit in The D.

"So BWeaves hates animals AND vegetables?

Wow.

See you in Hell.

Posted by: TK at March 21, 2008 11:32 AM
"

Why would I want to go to heaven? None of my friends will be there.

Actually I don't like telling people I'm vegetarian (and I eat mostly vegan style) for the same reason that some Christians I know don't like tell people they are Christian. They don't want people to think their one of THOSE Christians or Vegetarians. I frankly couldn't care less what anyone else eats. I eat what I love, and it just turns out that it happens to be food that's good for me. My mom always complained that I ate all her "diet" food. Well, duh, buy it for everyone in the family, then.

Thanks for the heads up on Nickle and Dimed PaddyDog, I will dig that one up ASAP.

MO, yea the family gatherings are a bit scary...it sort of like Dharma and Greg meets the Sopranos but held in Dubuque, Iowa.

Ah yes, Super-Size Me. Hey, Spurlock, I'm pretty sure everyone already knew that McDonalds is bad for you. Just sayin'.

"Ah yes, Super-Size Me. Hey, Spurlock, I'm pretty sure everyone already knew that McDonalds is bad for you. Just sayin'."

ACK! It's not about the information!

richmac, now THAT sounds intriguing. Much better than the boob-grab-fest I was picturing. (heehee)

I never had the desire to go see this movie since the premise reeked of Captain ObviousPants. Seriously, the fact that constantly eating rich and fatty foods is unhealthy is not a mystery of the cosmos.

Growing up without a lot of money meant mostly home cooked meals as well: meatloaf, lots of rice, fish sticks, mac-and-cheese. For a while, my parents had a little garden. Eating out, even at McD's, was considered a luxury and not the standard. Mr. Pink, on the other hand, grew up with significantly more wealth, but he and his dad ate out nearly every meal. When his dad did cook at home, Mr. Pink said nothing was consumed without a considerable amount of butter or cheese.

What fast food purveyors provide us with is convenience, the ability to dine and dash. I know a large number of middle and upper middle class families who take advantage of fast food because they don't have or won't make the time to cook at home. As long as there are fast food joints enabling us to live our lives on the go, we will gladly cruise through the drive through for fried goodness, no matter how many time we are told it's a heart attack in a paper wrapper.

It's like Denis Leary once said about cigarettes: They could put them in a black box, slap on a skull-and-crossbones, and call them Death, but people would still be lining up around the block to buy smokes.

Hopit:

Thanks: that's helpful. I'm actually doing a project right now on eating habits and trying to understand different perspectives. I didn't come from a wealthy background at all but was lucky enough to grow up in a place with lots of farm-raised meat and produce available cheaply so we ate well and saw McDonalds (which only arrived in our town when I was 15) only as a quirky place one might go once or twice a year (that's actually changing now).

"Sarina, I am willing to give you a pass on not loving my beloved Vodka as per your story above, but coffee?

Woman, I need an explanation."

Well Melody, it's like this. Coffee tastes like liquid tar and battery acid, and smells like fumigated hell. It grosses me out and kinda makes me gag. I do not enjoy it in any form, at any time. I don't even like the "aroma" and I don't like tiramisu or coffee flavoured ice cream, or anything else that's been consorting with its foulness.

Jay, you can dislike onions and summer and sandals all you want. I'm a big believer in letting people get their irrational hate on for inanimate objects. I think it keeps you sane. Or in my case, as sane as a basket of crazycakes can be.

More stuff I don't believe in:
Chocolate ice cream
Chocolate syrup
Chocolate cake
Chocolate frosting
Chocolate truffles
Chocolate milk
Any milk that isn't skim
Capers
Metal nail files
Clocks that blink or flash

"Sarina, I am willing to give you a pass on not loving my beloved Vodka as per your story above, but coffee?

Woman, I need an explanation."

Well Melody, it's like this. Coffee tastes like liquid tar and battery acid, and smells like fumigated hell. It grosses me out and kinda makes me gag. I do not enjoy it in any form, at any time. I don't even like the "aroma" and I don't like tiramisu or coffee flavoured ice cream, or anything else that's been consorting with its foulness.

Oddly enough, Super Size Me arrived in my mailslot yesterday.

And I'm with Sarina on the vodka. Ick. Though I did go through a vanilla vodka phase - it's good with Dr. Pepper or San Pellegrino Aranciata.

High-Fives to everyone who has had to endure the self-important rantings of some baby-blaster who thinks her placenta doesn't stink. They just go on and on about how awful you are--I don't even HAVE children! Why are you talking to me? At least now I know to never let myself get wrangled into a room with more than five women over age 25, because it ALWAYS turns to discussions of the tortures of their ovarian bastilles--like I care.

I've even used the 'you want a medal?' line. And trust me, that's not my go-to mode. I have to have been seething quietly for quite a while before I get to that point. Women have this thing with their children, so you have to hold it in. I'm certainly not drinking that 'it hurt like eight bitches on a bitch-boat--but it was a good pain.' I don't know the good kind of pain.' Kool-Aid--I'm allergic to dogs.

Fine, you don't like drugs, bully for you. I happen to think they're the greatest. They sure helped with the dental surgeries. Oh, I knew that the pain of the surgery would result in my infections subsiding, I'd stop getting fevers and throwing up, and I'd be able to eat solid food again. But the surgery itself? Most unpleasant.

I always hear that it's better for the baby to not use drugs, I'm not an OB-GYN, so what do I know? But would all of the health care services purposely do harm to all of the poor l'il unnatural bastards out there? This is one I honestly don't understand. But as a chronic pain sufferer, I know all about Tylenol-1.

I remember getting dragged to this film. I have impossible friends with terrible taste (this is one of the best things I've seen with any of them, and I didn't really care for it), and I just wanted to stab his girlfriend in the face so hard and repeatedly. THAT'S what I remember most.

You know the type: some faux-martyr, plaster of paris saint who purposely twists her lifestyle into knots, so that you'll never have an opportunity to forget WHAT YOU DID? Yeha, whatever. Enjoy your ride on the Bitter Old Bitch Bus, I'm going to eat some non-vegan ice cream, and then maybe I'll smile, or laugh at something.

I did think that the mood swings were interesting, that would have been an interesting investigation.

Ugh, can you imagine what their kid is going to be like? They should just name it 'Jack-Hole McMoth-Soul', and save us the trouble of having to find out who to avoid. Or maybe it's a girl, and her name is Neptune MoonMist, and she'll make all of her dresses out of wheat. I hate a person who doesn't exist.

Oh, and also when we saw it, it was a few days after my birthday, and SOMEONE forgot to lock her car, and MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT was stolen out of the thing. That was the only thing they took.

Lucky, huh?

Who forgets to lock a car door? That's like forgetting to wipe! I had forgotten all about that, now I'm mad.

AlabamaPink:

You may be too young to remember this, but in the 1980s, there actually was a brand of cigarettes called DeathSticks packaged in a black box and they couldn't keep them in the shops. The self-aware trendy club set wouldn't be seen without them. Then some parental lobby group had them pulled.

I have to have been seething quietly for quite a while before I get to that point.

You must be Southern.

I'm childless myself, so I try to be polite to the world's mamas...usually. Sometimes when they start that monologue about how their water broke in the Organic Shampoo aisle at Whole Foods and blah blah blabbity, I admit, I start thinking, "Y'know, cats manage to pull off this basic biological function several times a year without expecting parades to be thrown for them..."

Childbirth is a miracle, but it's one of those mundane miracles. Besides, from what I can see as an outsider, it's the EASIEST phase of parenting. Once you get 'em out of the labor room they just keep getting worse and worse.

isabelle, this movie made me crave burgers and fries too! after going to see this, my friends and i immediately went to the restaurant next door and ordered bacon cheeseburgers. and i don't go to fast food restaurants often--my weaknesses being chik-fil-a lemonade and the mcrib (yes, the mcrib) when it's "in season".

i agree with everyone that his girlfriend is one of the smarmiest, most irritating people i've ever encountered. i wanted to shove her vegan feast down her throat so i wouldn't have to hear her mealy mouth anymore.

There are some coffees that do not smell like fumigated hell. They smell like caffeinated goodness and sunshine and rainbows.

Black coffee is not great, but you add skim milk and sugar, it is heaven.

While I agree with you that Spurlock is an self-righteous douchebag, I don't think it's okay to let McDonald's and other fast food corporations completely off the hook. The real problem with fast food is the complete devastation it wreaks on animals and the environment, a point which is much more movingly made in books like Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma than it is in this crapfest.

While I agree with most of the points about how much of a douchebag Spurlock is in this documentary, I find it especially amusing how the ways Spurlock is described could also be used to describe the author of this review perfectly.

A snarky man who is not funny, nor is he charming, though he clearly considers himself to be both. Someone full of long-winded complaints and yet provides no real solutions. Do these words better describe Morgan Spurlock or Ted Boynton? You decide.

Melody, I don't like the smell of any coffee, regardless of quality, and the taste is even worse. You could put sixteen sugars and a half gallon of cream in a pitcher with a single shot of first-rate espresso, and then it would just be a sweet and creamy kind of disgusting on top of the regular bitter and acidic disgusting, and at best I might experiment with it as garden fertilizer. I hate anything that tastes or smells even vaguely like coffee. I just can't stand the stuff.

I'll decide! Morgan Spurlock. Because TB cracks my shit up every Friday.

Paddy:

Funny junk, indeed.

In my college days, we snapped up GPCs because they were less than a dollar a pack. We called them Good Punk Cigarettes, and thought we were so cool and gutter for smoking cheap cigs that tasted like refried ass wrapped in cardboard.

Ah, the follies of the young.

Greg:

I'm with Julie. Don't be busting on my Ted or I'll have to dispatch my personal ninja, Little Pink, all over your grouchy ass.

And while I don't go throwing it around like common knowledge, I do get a kick out of telling people that I went through popping out my Pinklet sans drugs. I do it not because I am a sanctimonious La Lechesque crusader, but because I just love to shock people. It's all part of maintaining my sheen of insanity.

As a freshman in high school I took a little class called Home Economics that taught the basics of nutrition and cooking along with home budgeting and sewing. So I pretty much know that the Big Mac and fries I crave periodically have little to do with the fresh veggies and organic meat that my (completely non-hippy) parents produced on our farm but it must be the crack they put in that special sauce because sometimes I just have to have it. I will admit I don't crave the fries nearly so much since they took most of the salt and all the beef flavor and delicious trans fat out.

Sarina: We must share some genes. I can't abide coffee (I do love the smell). For a while I worked for an Italian company where only espresso was available so I would chug it down without tasting it (like medicine), but I just don't get the appeal. I do use phrases such as "let's grab a cup of coffee" or "I haven't had my coffee yet" but I really mean tea. Lovely, warm, comforting tea.

RE: Jack Daniels as a bourbon: Did they rescind the rule that the term bourbon only applies if the spirit in question is produced in Bourbon County, Kentucky? Yeah, I know, it also has something to do with corn mash. I wish I could remember but that loving creator's gift to humanity, Maker's Mark, has addled my brain.

"Neither as barbecue-sweet nor as caramel-smooth as top shelf bourbons, JD is a hard-nosed whiskey distilled like bourbon, then jacked up with demon piss and the blood of Johnnie Rebs killed in the First Battle of Murfreesboro." And it's Morgan Spurlock who is the smug jackass? Umm, ok.

Wow, the term "demon piss" is now apparently smug, who knew.

FH (I refuse to type your full moniker, since it's retarded), this is the Boozehound Cinefile, hence the lovingly and heavily worded odes to alcohol.

Wow, Greg G, let me think about that for a while...yeah, that's a toughie....

Dammit, WHY ARE THERE NO HTML TAGS FOR SARCASM???

Sorry dude, I think I'm not alone when I say the Boozehound rocks my world.

Apparently our own socalledted has hisself an enemy.

An enemy who believes that using a different name for each post will make us all think that he's a bunch of different people, and that there is a groundswell of dislike for The Boozehound Cinephile--and Pajiba will cancel the column.

I am not terribly worried about the fate of The Boozehound Cinephile.

Ted, who'd you piss off?

Sorry folks. Count me in with the people who actually liked this movie. And I'm with Richmac (I think it was Richmac, I'm too lazy to scroll back up and search), I think this movie really did point out something that is clearly obvious to many of the commenters on this thread, but definitely wasn't obvious to a lot of other people. Denial (or simple ignorance) is powerful.

I don't remember being put off by his girlfriend. I am, however, a bit put off by the level of vitriol being directed at her in this here thread. I don't know, it just seems like some of you are being unnecessarily harsh. [ducks]

As for the whole childbirth (and relatedly, child raising) issue, that, my friends, is one whole hell of a messy can of worms. People have some serious, serious opinions about the right way to do both of those. It is INSANE! I am so glad that I am not having kids, 'cause even without them, I find that I have my own strong feelings about such matters. Go figure.

Oh, and I really don't understand why you would automatically write off the possibility of the joy of drugs to ease the pain. I am all about options.

Since when did opting out of drug-aided childbirth make you some sorta hippy bitch? Eh? Do these women really rub this "achievement" in other peoples' faces?... or.. are they simply proud of themselves and the rest of us have taken it upon ourselves to mock and scorn their self-satisfaction?

Personally, no force on earth will stop me from getting an epidural if/when my time comes, but I have nothing against those who don't. All the women I know that have given "natural" childbirth have barely made a peep about it. They only tell me when I ask. Then I make them describe the pain in all its grotesque glory, so I know for SURE I'll be getting the drugs.

P.S. Whoever said that they HATE vodka... DITTO. That stuff is unholy. And I can sum up my hatred for the stuff like so: Bacardi 151. No chaser.

*shudder*.. I can still taste it, just thinking about it!

Greg G:

Make whatever points you wish: it's a free world and Pajibans respect free speech.
BUT, know this: the Boozehound has a rabid following of regulars who like him just fine and who will tolerate negative comments as long as they don't come across as idiocy.
Your biggest issue is that he is "someone full of long-winded complaints and yet provides no real solutions?"
Em, is he running for office or writing an entertaining entry on a blog?
I've posted this before in response to similar comments on other reviews: if you don't like a thread or a review, by-pass it, no problem. Just move on to something that interests you. No-one makes you come here and no-one forces you to post. If you have something interesting or entertaining or analytical to post, post it regardless of whether it dissents from or supports the original review. But why on earth waste your time and ours posting snippy, childish personal comments?

Uhh...is there more than one kind of Bacardi 151, or did I wake up in bizarro world? Cuz in the reality which I inhabit, Bacardi 151 is rum.

Yes, Sarina, 151 Bacardi 151 is rum. I don't know where that vodka thing came from.

One of the worst drinks I've ever seen anyone down: 151 and SoCo. I believe it is drawn from a lake in HELL.

Oh God, I once knew a guy named Joel who got me so wasted at a Saints game off some 100 proof SoCo he had in a thermos. He has since moved to some cabin in the woods or something in Washington or Oregon or one of those upper-left-corner-ish states, but if I ever see him again I'm gonna kick him in the nuts. That stuff is nasty. I cannot even imagine the fiery concoction of torture and damnation which would result in its mating with Bacardi 151.

@monkey_b

P.S. Whoever said that they HATE vodka... DITTO. That stuff is unholy. And I can sum up my hatred for the stuff like so: Bacardi 151. No chaser.

The kind folks at Bacardi would be happy to inform you that Bacardi 151 is, in fact, rum and not vodka.

(They would be lying -- Bacardi is actually fermented swimming pool water, heavy on the chlorine. But still)

Sarina

I was about to jump on the 'how can you not drink coffee' murderwagon, but if you're a Saint's fan, all is OK

I need to intervene, here, to let you nice young people know that people who refer to Southern Comfort as "SoCo" are immediately and irrevocably identified as worthless trendoid douchebags by everyone within earshot. Unfair, perhaps, but true.

So don't let that happen to you. Use all four syllables.

Mmmmkay?

Pajibill, if I had any sense I wouldn't go messing with a reprieve, but which Saints do you mean? Because I meant the St. Paul minor league baseball variety. If you meant the New Orleans football variety, then I don't care about them because football makes me sooooo sleeeeeepy.

And Jerce, under normal circumstances, I do not use any syllables to refer to Southern Comfort or SoCo or whatever you want to call that filthy swill. It is an abomination in the bloodshot eyes of the bawling baby Jesus.

Sarina: I'm with you, babe. Coffee is *nasty*. Even the smell turns my stomach. My sister had me try it a couple times as a teenager. No go. First time I was on the couch for half a day in massive abdominal pain. She went out, rummaged through the grocery store shelves for the freshest can. Cleaned, nay, *scoured* the coffee pot. If it was larger it could've been an operating room. Tried again. Only 3-4 hrs of agony. No mas, please, no mas......

Oh yeah. Wanna see me lose my shit in a restaurant? Have one of those people who shows up at the table and automatically, without asking, dump that crap in a cup I need for tea.

Paddydog: Were we separated at birth? I operate on tea like other equipment runs on electricity. Nice tea. Lovely tea. Anything from generic/Salada sludge to single-estate high-mountain Ceylon. Or Dragonwell. Tea tea tea. I am so glad I wasn't born before tea.

I caught this a while back on DVD (it was on my Netflix queue, and its number came up). It's fluff--entertaining, but still fluff, with a huge serving of DUH. Really, is anyone above the age 10 who do not know that fast foods are not healthy? If I'm going to eat saturated fat and salt, I want something that tastes better than Micky D's.

But there was _one_ part which has stuck in my head (this was only on the DVD, not shown in the theaters). Spurlock got himself a bunch of glass jars and put various McDonald's food items in them, in room temperature, and waited. Fish Filet went first, of course--we paused the DVD to take a good look at it (it looked like a white-greenish snot burger). After a month or so, everything went BAD (and I mean it in capital letters). The only thing which retained its look--french fries, which didn't even grow any mold. I wonder how much preservatives McDonald's put in those suckers.

bjs1109:

I drink about 20 cups aday of tea. I start off on a green or black, move to a green with mint, move to verbena and jasmine as the day goes on. Unless, I'm at home in Ireland in which case, it's Lyons Gold Blend all day everyday. There's something about the water over here that just doesn't mix well with Lyons.

"What Spurlock and his panel of ringer/experts fail to mention is that the fruit and vegetable industry doesn't need marketing - 90% of their sales are not direct sales to consumers but upstream sales to the other commercial entities that convert fruit and vegetables into other consumables."

Exactly - many people are not eating fruits and vegetables but rather processed foods derived from them, sometimes only distantly related.

Paddydog: Maybe it's the fluoridation, or mineral content? Yeah, I know it's Lake Michigan water (unless you're in an outer burb, or have a well?), but still, it's not just H2O. Maybe try the Lyons with rain water (or maybe not, if you're in the actual city....)?

I've had to cut down on the caffeinated stuff, which is a bit of a shame. But still. Even as generic sludge, tea tea tea! Besides, it's a much more civilized swill. Can't just dump it in a container. Gotta boil, brew, and enjoy. Does coffee have anything near as civilized as tea time?

Pajibill, if I had any sense I wouldn't go messing with a reprieve, but which Saints do you mean? Because I meant the St. Paul minor league baseball variety. If you meant the New Orleans football variety, then I don't care about them because football makes me sooooo sleeeeeepy.

There is a cure for football sleepiness, but it involves coffee.

Hey, just keep the tea to yourself and we'll be okay. Anyone with violent reactions to coffee should just never be around me. I'll have a random bag of herbal sometimes when I'm sick, but ordering a little pot of black in a cafe leaves me with a painful, nauseous feeling when I was planning on having a cozy moment, yet I can drink coffee's acid all day and night. So you could say tea doesn't like *me*.

Besides, it's a much more civilized swill. Does coffee have anything near as civilized as tea time?

As Magnus Buchan would say, now you're gettin nasty, brother.

Don't let any other baristas hear you talkin about no time and craft in coffee! As for a scheduled ritual, coffee makes *any* time Coffee Time! It's a big 28 oz mug of portable joy! I can drink it hot-to-cold over several hours and it goes from hot caffeine to a sort of dessert (provided it *isn't* sludge that was brewed and left on the hotplate hours ago like the Russian roulette of Waffle House, when no amount of milk or creamer will ever lighten it. That's when you dump it and go looking for a modern gas station at the next exit)

Say, Jay, maybe we can cut a deal.

You take on all the coffee the world meant for me, and I'll deal with your tea.

Nobody sick, everybody happy.

Win-win?

Right on

Maybe there is something to this power of suggestion. I'm having a maaaaad craving for coffee right now ... mmm rich delicious dark piss of Beelzebub ... because Jesus drank wine ... decaffeinated wine ...

I can personally attest that the act of dropping concrete blocks on my car to test their quality is, coincidentally, ALSO a terrible way to test the quality of the roof of my car.

I enjoyed Supersize Me, mainly because I despise Micky Dee's, but I can see why so many people are turned off by Spurlock. That mustache is a bit smug.

I have a feeling that Spurlock edited the piece to make his girlfriend seem so judgmental. Even if that wasn't the case, it seems reasonable that a vegan and a chef (not to mention Spurlock's significant other) would be a little disgusted by his plan to eat nothing but crap. Give the woman a break.

As far as "natural" childbirth goes, I delivered my two daughters without any medication. While not completely painless, it was nowhere near the nightmare that people expect it to be.

Hell, if you want drugs, have them. I won't judge another woman for her choices.

"...along with her humongous baby-jugs and Stargate labia"
What a delightfully dehumanizing description (ooh, alliteration).

This is exactly how I thought about the movie when I saw the previews and that's why I didn't go see it. You cornered it. The whole test that's the premise of the movie is bullshit.

You can introduce yourself to Alex (the girlfriend) in advance if you'd like. She is a vegan chef and got a makeover when Morgan went to the Emmys in 2005 on How Do I Look? on the Style Network.

Unfortunately, I know this because I love that channel. Though I must say that I saw her makeover before I saw Super Size Me and I disliked her 100 times more once I found out who she was dating.

I thought he was a giant pussy from the moment that he couldn't finish his first burger and vomited it in the parking lot.

I've been obese since childhood; at age 25, I've only recently felt confident enough to start changing my life, and I'm down 62 pounds so far. That said, I get very tired of constantly hearing obesity pinpointed to so many sources and corporations when the issue always, ALWAYS begins at home. I've never eaten McDonald's, or any fast food, more than maybe once a month, tops, while growing up and through now. McDonald's is just one very, very tiny speck in one very, very large picture that revolves entirely around lifestyle, upbringing, and quantity, not so much quality. I don't really feel either championed or vilified by this guy's ridiculous endeavor to destroy his body for a month to prove a point everyone knows (fast food is unhealthy!) but I do think he's more than a bit misguided and melodramatic.

The Joey B. My thoughts exactly. It struck me as being very goddamn pretentious. As if he'd never had a damn burger before in his life ...

I intend to make a documentary where I eat nothing but lettuce for a month. My predictions, I'll be really really sick by the end ... but I KNOW there are people in the world that think nothing but lettuce is a good thing and I MUST educate them. What can I say, I'm a pioneer that way ...

In Spurlock's defense, I think that the three-meals-a-day conceit came up b/c of something a judge noted in one of the decisions. I don't think it's something he came up with from out of nowhere.

One of the worst drinks I've ever seen anyone down: 151 and SoCo. I believe it is drawn from a lake in HELL.

TK That's over in East Hell, right? This ones from the West side: Watermelon Vodka and Coke. Mmmm, mmm good. We were young and desperate.

I would say more, but after reading all of the comments I can't really remember what I was going to say...

I could SWEAR, I've seen Spurlock's girlfriend in some all anal..mmmm..."art films," yeah.

151 Bacardi 151 is rum.

... what the hell. So it is. *scratches head* Clearly I know NOTHING about liquor other than how to drink it.. but in my defense: I was very young, I'm pretty sure someone told me it was vodka, and the night passed by so quickly and in such a blurry haze that I was never able to remedy that misinformation. Especially since I VOWED never to touch the stuff again and have dutifully kept that oath.

I must say that I'm really fucking sick of all the assholes on this thread that dislike Alex's admittedly overbearing ideas about veganism so much that they feel the need to employ ridiculously harsh (and gendered of course) language (bitch, etc. "You type of swuntz that need to get punched in the vagina was especially vulgar and idiotic).

Just as you have pointed out that if one doesn't like McD's then one shouldn't eat there, if you don't like Spurlock and his wife then DON'T WATCH THEIR SHOWS/FILMS! Alex isn't coming to your house and making you listen to her. So stfu with the sexist bullshit.

^^ Not addressed at the actual, substantive complaints about Alex/Spurlock that didn't devolve into "stupid uppity bitch with opinions!!!11!"

I met Spurlock in 2004 at a screening of this movie in NH. I got to speak with him afterward, and at first I felt slightly mean since my friend and I are graduate students in animal nutrition, but after talking with him and listening to his total misinformation, I no longer felt mean. I told him he needs to do find better "sources" of info: PETA doesn't count.

Great review, especially the part about subsistence farming vs. modern US agriculture. People LOVE to bitch about food production. Do they REALLY think they could buy their flat screens and SUV's and 4000 sq foot McMansions (excuse the Mc) if they had to grow their own food?

All y'all have to check out "In Defense of Food", a book that has the best advice on eating I have heard in a while:

- Eat, but not too much
- No processed food
- Mostly plants, please

That's it. No friggin' calorie-counting or carb-jumping or whatthehellhaveyou.
Once a week, I get the strongest cravings for McDonald's fries and Arby's roast beef. And Taco Bell. I gotta have it! No shame in that.

Last thing: Vegans annoy the hell out of me. At heart, they are control freaks who get off being smug about what they allow themselves to eat. And they really are the most sickly people!

A Dutch journalist repeated the experiment in the Netherlands and actually lost weight. But he cheated by eating salades and stuff as well (and I think over here there's a leeetle less grease in... well everything). How dare he not almost die to make a point!

I found the movie vaguely entertaining but getting fat is just not art to me.

The only 2 things enjoyable about Super Size Meh
is the guy who lives off big macs and claims perfect health (yea right that guy has been pissing from his ass for the last 100 big macs) and in the special features section of the DVD 'the smoking fry' where samples of Mc D food is left out for six weeks to test decomposition everything turned to pukemush EXCEPT THE FRIES
They stayed in perfect form for beyond six weeks
(and that is slightly disturbing)

Posted by Jerce: "I need to intervene, here, to let you nice young people know that people who refer to Southern Comfort as "SoCo" are immediately and irrevocably identified as worthless trendoid douchebags by everyone within earshot. Unfair, perhaps, but true."

How utterly pretentious! I wonder, which of these is more douchey, abbreviating a drink name or branding those whose choice of vocabulary does not please you as "worthless"?