The Effect of Supersize Me on a McDonald’s Addict, Essay Example

McDonald’s has received a great deal of bad press for contributing to the poor eating habits and obesity of Americans.  However, just because people know something is bad for them doesn’t necesarillymake it easy to stop detrimental behaviors.  Take, for example, the case of Beth, a young woman who spent her most formative years learning of the benefits of healthy eating.  In Beth’s household, there were three ironclad rules at the dinner table:  use a napkin not the tablecloth to wipe your mouth; eat all your vegetables; and no dessert unless it was fruit.  Beth’s family believed staunchly in brown rice, organic vegetables, and avoiding saturated fat long before such dietary practices became trendy.  And although Beth’s eating habits were largely shaped by the decisions of her parents, she had one small rebellion, a secret vice that began when she was in middle school:  an undying love for fast food.  Her town presented many options to satiate her hunger for all things greasy and salty:  Wendy’s, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, and , best of all, McDonald’s.  It wasn’t often that Beth was able to sneak out from under her health-conscious parents’ watchful gaze, but when she did she found herself transported to a world where everything tasted delicious and vegetables weren’t a mandatory side dish.  Beth’s private childhood fantasy was the belief that when she finally became an adult she would be able to eat McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner without worrying about anyone else’s opinion or disapproval.  However, an event occurred last year that cured her of her addiction in an instant, ensuring that she will never eat at the famed Golden Arches, or any fast food establishment, again.

Unlike her parents, Beth’s best friend Jonah was well aware of her love for Big Macs, Chicken Nuggets, and crispy French Fries.  Partially as a joke, and partially because he was concerned about her health, Jonah prepared an intervention of sorts.  He invited her over to his house to watch a movie called Super Size Me.  The film, directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, documents the filmmaker’s quest to spend a month eating only at McDonald’s.  Over the course of his experiment, Spurlock gains almost twenty-five pounds and finds himself experiencing lethargy, mood swings, and a dangerous increase in his cholesterol levels.  He begins the film upbeat and excited at the idea of eating an unlimited amount of fast food, much as Beth would enjoy weekends as a child when she was set loose at the mall with a pocket full of babysitting earnings and no parents to witness her surreptitious visits to the Food Court.  However, Spurlock’s experiment quickly loses its novelty as the film documents him having to force feed himself in order to consume his daily allotment of Big Macs and Egg McMuffins.

Jonah was very serious in his attempts to cure Beth of her addiction.  When Spurlock discussed the manner in which McDonald’s practices unethical corporate behaviors by selling food that is both addictive and unhealthy, Jonah took pains to point out that Beth was as much an addict as any smoker or heroin junkie.  As the movie went on, Beth grew increasingly silent.  She didn’t take very kindly to Jonah’s advice; not because he was wrong, but because it was difficult to watch her own personal obsession play out on the television screen.  With every bite of food Spurlock took, Beth’s own desire for fast food decreased.  By the end of the film, when Spurlock vomits in the McDonald’s drive-through lane, she felt queasy at the knowledge that she’d put such food into her body.

To cap off his intervention, Jonah ended the evening with a trip to McDonald’s.  Beth didn’t argue, desiring instead to prove that she was still capable of eating whatever she pleased.  She wasn’t about to let one little film change a lifetime of bad eating.  The smell of french fries permeated the car before Beth and Jonah had even reached the drive-thru order box.  When it was Beth’s turn to place her order, she had difficulty speaking.  Eventually, she found the words to say, “A small Diet Coke, please.”

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the ones that stick.  Super Size Me had an immediate atavistic response on Beth, who can no longer find the slightest joy at the thought of putting such calorie-ridden, greasy food into her mouth.  Consequently, she’s found that she had more energy and a little extra money in her pocket without the multiple trips to McDonald’s that had become a bi-weekly occurrence.  To reward herself for this change, she bought herself a new bike with the money she’d saved on fast food.  Almost every day, she rides past the McDonald’s that used to be her own personal pleasure dome.  The sight of those Golden Arches and the unique smell of McDonald’s french fries makes her head pound and her mouth go dry.  There are other routes she could take across town, but she is compelled to remind herself that sometimes the things we love most can be dangerous.  Beth understands that she’s better off without the McDonald’s addiction, but she still misses how happy McDonald’s food used to make her when she was ten and didn’t understand the meaning of high cholesterol.