Morgan Spurlock's Super Sized sequel

IN HIS INITIAL documentary, 2004's Super Size Me, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock took on one of the most popular brands in the world in McDonald's, charting a month-long diet of the fast food chain's culinary offerings for every repast and reporting on how three 'McMeals' per day could affect the human body. Now the documentarian is back, taking things one step further by filming the establishment of his own convenience food outlet in Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!
The idea for the sequel, 13 years or so after the first installment, originated when another well-known chain approached Spurlock to advertise how nutritious their products were, in short, aiming to capitalise on how far the industry had evolved since his first expose. In his opinion they had done anything but, which gave birth to a plan for a new movie to show how food brands, from the film's point of view, manipulate their wholesome image in an effort to appear a more healthy option in consumers' eyes. This time Spurlock focuses on the poultry industry and looks at what goes into opening a "crispy" (the business's apparent new term for "fried") chicken shop. We found out more when he visited the Dubai International Film Festival this week.

How do you think people, after seeing your documentaries, still eat fast food?
Because it's easy. I think that's the main reason. We live in a time when we're all busy, we're going all day long and we suddenly realise we haven't eaten. We go to grab something and we put our faith and our trust in these companies that it's okay for us, that it's well-sourced and well-prepared; that it came from an environment that took care of the people who made it. We may not put all that (literal) thinking into it, but we do say 'I like these guys, I'm going to do this' and the fact is most of the time those things aren't true.

How does this film address the problem with that?
It dives into the corporatising of fast food: how our food is marketed to us, how it makes us believe it is better for us and how it gets us to buy it. Along the way you find things you can't believe and things you're shocked by.

Do you think you've become desensitised to corporate practices in making these films?
I think you do become desensitised to things and you do start to see things in a very different way. You begin to have a different outlook on the world.

Are you worried the food companies might come after you now you've done this twice?
We'll see! After the first film they left us alone, so we'll see what happens. We made a difference (last time) at least to consumers.

What difference do you think this movie will make?
What I was very proud of with the first movie was people took a look at their own habits and said, 'I need to take care of me. I need to make better choices'. At the end of the day you need to realise corporations aren't going to change unless we change, unless we look at them and make different decisions. What I hope out of this is people start to examine how these companies operate and how they target us. Hopefully something will come out of that that is better for you and I.

What do festivals such as DIFF offer movies like yours?
I'm getting to unveil my film to an audience in the Middle East. I've been very fortunate over the years that my movies have been able to travel around the world and appeal to a global audience. To go to a place like this, to meet other filmmakers and people who care about things the way I do, who look at the world in a similar way and think that through a creative engine we can have an impact on people is inspiring.

Do you think the appetite for documentary has increased since the first Super Size Me?
It's bigger than ever with the Netflix-isation of entertainment. HBO kicked it all off, spreading the love of docs, and that has moved through to Showtime, Amazon and Netflix. More people have seen what we've done on Netflix than anywhere else. It's a force. It has changed a documentary's accessibility.

Do you have any advice for people trying to get into your line of work?
You have to find something you're passionate about. Docs take a long time. These movies aren't quick to make. Most of the time a lot of young filmmakers I meet put barriers up because of money. They say they don't have enough to hire a crew. The first film I made, I made for $65,000 which is nothing by comparison. You can always find people to help and pitch in. So find something you love and go after it!   
david@khaleejtimes.com