What are the main codes and conventions of the documentary genre used in

Super Size? How is modern American society represented in the

documentary?
Super size Me' (2004) is an informative yet entertaining documentary that investigates the
effect of fast food, in particular McDonalds. The purpose of this documentary is not only to
investigate but also educate its audience about the health effects of eating fast food on a
regular basis. The participant, Morgan Spurlock, agreed to spend 30 days eating nothing but
McDonalds breakfast, lunch and dinner to see what the health implications would be. The
documentary is a mixture of performative and expositional mode. This is because the subject
and director, Morgan Spurlock, was in the documentary himself as a sort of human guinea
pig, but he also provided voice-overs, so he acted a narrator and he used direct address. This
allows the audience to see the full effects of his experiment without any distractions. The
narrative mode for this documentary is linear. This is because it follows in straight line, in
chronological order. The documentary also consists of many other conventional features such
as, both expert and vox-pop interviews, archival footage and statistics.
The target audience for this documentary would most likely be young people, specifically
Americans, a mixture of lower/middle class and anyone who generally eats fast food on a
regular basis. The target audience would be lower/middle class as they are most likely to eat
fast food, so they would most likely want to see the impact it has. This is the same for anyone
who eats fast food on a regular basis. The documentary would most likely be aimed at
Americans, as the participant, Morgan Spurlock is American himself and it is sets in America.
This means that the food eaten and the portions given will be more accurate to Americans
compared to anyone else.
The documentary starts with American school children singing, Fast Food Song by Fast
Food Rockers. The camera puts emphasis on two of the larger children by using a close-up.
This is show how obesity is a problem in the U.S. The children are only a small part of the
montage of archival footage used about obesity. As well as that, there is also a quote from
McDonalds founder, Ray Kroc, Look after the customer and the business will look after
itself. As we see in the documentary later, this is highly ironic as we see how bad the food
being served is to the customer, so they are not being looked after. As well as this we see the
food is addictive so the customers will definitely come back, meaning the business will look
after itself. After the quote, we are told how everything is bigger in America, including the
people. This shows how modern American society is being portrayed as lazy. The narrator
gives statistics about Obesity Trends Among US Adults from 1985 to 2002. From the
diagram, we see that 20-24% of people in more than half on the US are obese. The diagram
has been used as shock factor for the audience and further demonstrates a negative
representation of modern American society. The montage ends and is followed by a series of
vox-pop interviews with New Yorkers outside either McDonalds or other fast food
restaurants. A vox-pop interview is a usually quick interview with members of the public
asking their opinions. Almost 90% of those asked admitted to eating fast food regularly and
most those asked were overweight. After the vox-pops, Spurlock showed a graph
demonstrating the relation between the number of McDonalds in a state and the biggest
states. This once again emphasised the negative representation of American society and the
fact that McDonalds contributes to obesity.

Zainab Khalil

Throughout the documentary, there were three doctors monitoring Spurlock for the 30 days
and many other professionals. The doctors were represented as very professional and were
used for expert interviews, a convention for documentaries. The doctors were not only used
for advice for Spurlock and information for the audience, but they also showed a positive
aspect of modern American society. An example of this would be Jacob Sullum. Sullum is the
editor of Reason magazine. He argued that people should be tackling obesity in the same way
as tobacco. Later on in the documentary, 100 nutritionists were contacted and only 2/100 said
fast food should be eaten once a week. 45 out of the 100 said that fast food should never be
eaten. This represents modern American society in a more positive way as it shows that
people are trying to make a change, or at least acknowledging the problem. However, despite
the efforts of the doctors, the documentary showed that not everyone was admitting there a
problem. Spurlock interviewed Gene Grabowski, the deputy CEO at GMA. GMA is a major
American company that represents hundreds of food companies, such as Nestle and CocaCola. During an interview, Graboski admitted that the companies he represented were part of
the problem. This shows how some companies know they are part of the problem, however
are continuing to contribute to rising obesity levels to protect profits.
The mise-en-scene has carefully considered in this documentary. For example, during the
expert interviews, the professionals have been placed in front of bookcases or in a doctors
office. The vox-pop interviews however have all been held in front of the fast food restaurant
McDonalds. As well the vox-pops interviews being held in front of McDonalds, many of the
people were either overweight or obese. This added to the negative view of modern American
society. The music used is very mocking of healthy eating, for example, Fat Bottomed Girls
by Queens, Rock n Roll McDonalds by Wesley Willis and Yummy Yummy Yummy by Ohio
Express, as well as many others. The music used is a big part of mise-en-scene and it also
emphasizes the health aspect of the documentary by mocking it. The music selection also
shows how many Americans are careless when it comes to healthy eating.
During one vox-pop interviews when Spurlock asked Do you eat fast food? a French
woman answered. The woman admitted that back in France she used to enjoy fast food,
however did not eat it in America. This was because the portions are too big and she struggles
to finish them. She then said that the smallest size in an American restaurant is equivalent to
the largest size in France. This shows how excessive America is with its fast food. As well as
the statement made about size differences, the answers from the Americans compared the
French woman showed modern American society to be negative when it comes to fast food.
This is because every American asked said they eat fast food on a regular basis.
To conclude, the documentary Supersize Me' used the majority of the main codes and
conventions, if not all. The director and participant, Morgan Spurlock used vox-pops,
narration and voice-overs throughout, three of the biggest codes and conventions. The
modern American society was represented in both negative and positive ways throughout the
documentary, although more negative aspects when presented then compared to positive. As
well as this many people and companies were represented, including schools, parents, the
general US public, health care companies, doctors and lobbying companies such as GMA.

Zainab Khalil