30 Days of Eating Only Fast Food: Showing Effects of Fast Food on Health in Super Size Me

Have you ever thought on what would occur if you were to go on a strict diet of absolutely nothing but fast from the one and only McDonald’s? In the documentary “Super-Size Me,” Spurlock will try to answer that question above and making an argument on the various of effects and dangers that consumer may experience with the excessive consumption of fast food in order society. In which Spurlock also asserts that fast food restaurants and industry are the main cause to huge rate of obesity in our nation. In an effort to prove his point to his audience he will utilities the three rhetorical appeals: pathos, logos, and ethos.

Before, going right into the way Spurlock uses the rhetorical appeals throughout the documentary, it is important for us to consider the audience and how the author constructed his argument. He is directly speaking to the general American public where fast food is consuming on the daily bases for many people. In his documentary Super-Size, Me, it states that about 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese targeting mostly the majority of all the nation.

In this documentary Spurlock will embark on a 30-day McDonald’s eating but generalizes all of the point toward fast food. Super-size Me was released in 2004 where it was very popular but even now it still is a very relevant to our society. It opens up by stating how big the people in America are, 'America has become the fattest nation in the world. Over 100 million Americans today are either overweight or obese' (Supersize Me). With the way he states it utilizing the word “today” he is able to create a sense of urgency that is transferred to the audience. The sense of urgency is capable of influencing the audience to agreeing or disagreeing with his claim. Therefore, obesity in America is still rising and a common health issue that many Americans still are fighting with.

Now let get into the real part of how Spurlock usage of logos throughout the documentary of “Super-Size Me.” It starts off what is logos anyone logos is the appeal to logic which can be demonstrate through statistics, and various of other ways. Spurlock presents logos through the usage of testing, analysis from the different doctors, and the medical assistance throughout. As he embarks on eating McDonald’s for 30 days he will constantly visit the doctor office to record his weight, sugar, fat, cholesterol and many more to showcase the effect of eating fast food for a month and what it can possible do to you if you were to eating fast food every day or the daily basis.

After, all 30 days there was a meaningful effect on his body stating “24.5 pounds gain, an increase of body mass by 13%, his cholesterol when up to the sky, and with various else such as mood changes and such” (Super-Size Me). Spurlock being able to present the audience with the end results especially with numbers he was able to persuade the audience to lead on agreeing with his claim but wasn’t the only part that reinforce the audience decision.

Moving on to the second rhetorical appeals that he demonstrate which is ethos. Ethos is the credibility of the author to effectively communicate and convey their message to their audience. Ethos is all about your credibility therefore the author’s trustworthiness, reputation and many more. If we take a look in the author/creator of “Super-Size Me” it would be Morgan Spurlock. A question that you might be asking to fully believe this guy is who he is and let me answer that for you. Morgan Spurlock is the director and also stars in his own documentary but other than the known he was a student at New York’s University’s Tish of Arts where he graduates and obtain a bachelor’s in fine arts in Film. Throughout his documentary he is so focus on proving his point that he forgets to see the other side of the spectrum and that is where he starts to lose some of his credibility. One of his other major credibility issues is the lack of knowledge that he has in the subject but is able to make it up with the rest of his credibility and how he obtains his knowledge.

Finally, but not least the last of the rhetorical appeals which is pathos. Pathos is appealing to the audience emotions and Spurlock was able to provide various of examples throughout. A great example of Spurlock demonstrating pathos is when “he called his mother to let her know that his liver is being destroyed by the McDonald’s” (Super-Size Me). When he gave her that news his mother’s voice seems to be very worried and concerned. There were tons of examples of pathos another example is “found a black hair in his fruit parfait and continues to eat it” (Super-Size Me). With this example he was able to make the viewers feel disgusted by it and some would say that they would not go eat there again. Appealing to many people because essential you really don’t want to know that because it will make you feel a type of way. Another example is the utilization of children in schools looking overweight and getting little exercise and nutritional food allows for the viewers to relate to their own children or to their own childhood. The last example is the one that hits home which is his personal experience and relatable situations. Spurlock was capable of creating feeling through the various of images that he showcases throughout the documentary.

In conclusion, Super-Size Me by Morgan Spurlock document the side effects of eating fast food for 30 days. Leading to believe and prove his point of how fast foods do have a negative effect to your health and how they are one of the main reasons for obesity in our nation. Spurlock was capable of doing this by his usage of pathos, logos, and ethos.