Re: A distaff view of SupersizeMe

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Devine, James wrote:
> though this review of the movie is right on target, this is slightly off. I got the impression that Spurlock saw McFood as an addictive drug. As with cigarettes, many people see it as bad.

Reflecting on both Supersize Me and Fahrenheit 9/11, it dawns on me how
much both film-makers were influenced by David Letterman's early TV
shows. When Michael Moore drove around Congress in an ice-cream truck
inviting them over a loudspeaker to read the Patriot Act, you were
watching vintage Letterman. He used to go out to some suburban NJ town
and ride around doing the same stunt, demanding that they turn over
their first-born or something like that. Spurlock is even more like the
early Letterman, with his lean frame. Again, it is just an extreme
version of a Letterman joke, where he subjects himself to some kind of
self-degradation and them grimaces at the camera. I actually used to
enjoy the early Letterman and assume that Moore's popularity partially
rests on his comic timing.


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