Using Supersize Me as a basis, identify the ways in which American Society is represented, both positively and negatively.

In doing so, analyse the ways in which the producer utilises stylistic devices in order to create meaning for the audience

Like traditional documentaries Supersize Me takes the same angle by reeling facts and figures into the audiences mind from the beginning of the film to the end. The presenter Morgan Spurlock is a healthy American presenter who is raising awareness about obesity in America. The beginning of the film shows the audience montages of overweight Americans eating and lying around on beaches or walking into fast food shops, while this reel is playing, Morgan voices over with facts such as 1 in 4 Americans visit a fast food restaurant daily and McDonald's feeds more than 46 million people a day which is more than the entire population of Spain. However this documentary is not serious which is typical of most documentaries, the presenter engages the viewers with his goal of showing the effects of a fast food diet. Showing the before and after effects of his McBinge influences the audiences opinion to relate negatively to fast food and empathise for Morgan as he put his wellbeing at risk to prove a point to the public, also by showing him vomiting and daily recording his physical state the viewer feels like part of the production which helps them see Morgans side of the argument. Throughout the documentary America is represented negatively as it is shown as the fattest nation in the world and one of the states (Texas) has the worlds top 10 fattest cities alone. There are many voxpops in the film, most of the people being interviewed are standing on a high-street with a fast food restaurant behind them, making the audience think that all Americans do is eat as they are always outside junk food shops. Morgan also wonders the streets asking peoples opinions on fast food restaurants, most of the people that answered him agreed with his point of view showing the audience that many people believe he is right so they should as well, however the only people that disagreed with him did so in a comedic manner showing that their opinions are not to be taken seriously, once again showing Americans as negative influences because they know the harm that the food does to their body yet they laugh it off and continue to eat it. One woman from France was shown telling the interviewer how the large in France is the small in America which gives the audience a clear representation of the vast amount of food intake in America. In another long shot 3 women and a little girl are singing the American national anthem however they keep getting it wrong and have to start again. But once Morgan asks them to recite the McDonalds advert tune they all know it straight away and one lady chuckles thats really bad. This portrays Americans negatively once again because it shows they dont know their countries anthem but they can easily join in fast food theme tunes. This screenshot shows a voxpop of a child being questioned with a game of guess who, the children were shown pictures of famous people such as George Washington and Jesus but they found it hard to say who the person was and no child could say who Jesus was, however when shown pictures of Ronald McDonald and Wendy the children knew who they were straight away. This once again portrays America negatively showing they have a bad education system and an obsession with junk food as the children of the country dont know famous American heroes but they know characters from commercials for junk food. The background in this clip is of a blackboard in a school which is ironic as it shows the children as students at a public school but they dont know the basics of education. The child is in the centre of the

camera which shows that the director wanted all attention to be on him so the audience could listen intently to the answers he had to give Morgan, the editing of this clip jumps continuously from one child to another while they are mmmming and ahhhing about the question which gives the impression that all the children had to think a long time about the answer even though the majority got it wrong. Overall the editing and stylistic devices used in this film represent America negatively as a dumb and obese nation, from the beginning where there was a lawsuit shown with two unhealthy American girls trying to sue McDonalds for their weight problems which straight away shows America in a negative light, especially when the voiceovers say doing what America does best, suing the problem which is shocking as the man is American himself yet he has no problem bad mouthing his own nation for the state they are in. Also there are cartoon pictures used to divide each topic in the film including the infamous junk food mascots such as Ronald McDonald being shown as Jesus in a picture called The Last Meal which other mascots seated beside him. These pictures also help to illustrate a picture in the audiences heads as the clown is not shown as a happy comedic clown but with an evil horrified grin on his face like a clown from a nightmare to be feared, which shows Ronald to be a scary influence to children and not a happy mascot. The way the many montages are strung together also give an illusion that the majority of America is fat and unhealthy as everyone featured in the various clips are large and eating junk food, the music being played is of a tune that is mocking them such as big bottomed girl and fat, this plus the facts and figures about most of the population eating out and 1 in 10 being obese already persuade the audience to think from the producers point of view so that they are already siding towards Morgan and his opinion of overweight America.