Monday, October 31, 2005

Super Cynical Me :-)

Its official... I am the worst Blogger In the world... Sorry people, I never meant to ignore you all... [Both of you! ;-)]

OK, so what's been going down recently? Umm... A lot of work stuff and some 'Chilling' at Home with RB :-)

So I thought I'd just make a few observations about the film "Super Size Me" as I managed to catch Morgan Spurlock's offering this weekend, and yes I did find it very compelling watching... [I know it's been out years, but I'm a busy Guy!]

Right then, the soon to be largest form of preventable death (above smoking), in the US is going to be obesity. And apparently, if my understanding of the general argument of the film was correct, the biggest cause of obesity in the US is because 'Ronald MacDonald' is not putting nutritional 'Labels' on his Burgers.

Umm... This sound odd to you? Surely the average person that weighs in at 40stone and that can't quite manage the simplest of link between eating a couple of 'Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese, Super Size Fries and a Quart of Coke' every day, to their apparent weight problem isn't really going to be 'bright' enough to able to read any label you put on it anyway! Let alone decipher the difference between Saturates, Mono-Unsaturates and Polyunsaturates :-/

Oh and then there is the diabetes 'epidemic' caused by some people drinking 2 gallons of Soda a Day... 16 Pints of Coke, each day, FFS! I can't even manage that in Guinness, and I like Guinness!!! Now call me cynical here, but wouldn't the fact that both Coke and Pepsi are widely available in a 'Diet' varieties kind of give the game away to you that maybe this drink contains an incy wincey amount of Sugar? (Also available is caffeine free!)

Attacking MacDonald's for producing a cheap food 'substitute' for the masses is just a nonsense.
This is just the American culture of Blaming (and attempting to sue!), everyone else for individuals inability to take a reasonable interest in their own lives, the inability to take responsibilty for their own actions and the inability to accept they might have a slight responsibility to themselves, maybe to ask themselves every once in a while, "Shit, I'm a 40stone fat person, maybe I'm not eating as well as I should be!"... [Very non-PC sorry ;-)]

Or maybe the Blame lies with the social system that doesn't afford the people a healthier option? (Surely its no coincidence the majority of obesity found in the US is in poorer classes who can't afford 5 fresh vegetable portions a day!).

Either way, after all is said and done, you pays your money, you takes your choice... [I had a Quarter Pounder with cheese meal at Lunchtime and it was Scrummy :-) ]

Ciao Caio
Confused from Chichester

I BLOG There4 I am

4Comments:

Blogger gemmak said...

You...cynical?? ;o)

Yayyy for McD's tho. lol.

6:08 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with some of what’s being said here – you do have some influence in how and when you want to die…. Burger or salad for lunch? You decide that not Mc D’s...to a degree.. The film relies on too premises - a litigate culture and voyeurism, without either this film wouldn’t really stand up. The litigate premise provided the films success in the States by allowing Yanks to think or say through mouth full of Big Mac – 'Mac’s you bastards you made me fat!’ The second premise, voyeurism allowed it to succeed in Europe, as Europeans could think ‘Americans, look at them, greedy twats mindlessly stuffing themselves’.
However, setting this aside it does provide another little peek into big corporate Wal-Mart meets Highlander ‘There can be only one…’ style of thinking. As though the fabric of the universe is bound by their existence.
But lets explore the wider implications of ‘choice’. You see, the rub here is, by acknowledging that people have choice, paradoxically we are taking away…. choice. How? Well, you walked down Oxford Street lately? Yep every fourth shop a Mc’D’s or Starbucks, like some cartoon backdrop, on and on its goes. Is that a city centre of your choice? No it’s the choice of cooperate globalisation. Big boys pushing up big Retail Rents and using loss leaders to kill of competion. And lets not forget the Mc Libel case, two people out leaflets outside a Mc’D’s to give people an insight into the crap that they were eating. The result – massive law suit that they later dropped because of the public backlash. One of the reasons by the way that they didn’t take on Super Size me in the courts.

10:46 am  
Blogger Fletch said...

Gem... Dont be corrupted by the cynicism... ;-)

Stig.. Ur the man... :-) But don't confuse choice with Market Forces, Consumers get wot they want/deserve... [Those Starbucks down Oxford Street, there always full yes.]

OK I agree in part, if we are not exposed to other options because of the dominance of large corporations then how can we choose others!

But... I think u'll find 99% of people don't want to decided anyway, they're lazy, they don't like choice . They walk into a MacDonalds, eat, then leave, No hassle.

11:51 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I saw this movie, it made my tummy hurt! ; ) I love reading about things, through your eyes. You really know your stuff.

2:01 am  

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