I’m sure many of you remember Morgan Spurlock’s Academy Award nominated movie “Super Size Me.” It was a documentary that took the viewer on a one month journey with Morgan as he consumed three square meals a day of pure, wholesome McDonald’s food.
After the movie came out, McDonalds quickly pointed out the weight gain and rapid deterioriation of Morgan’s health would have come about regardless based on the number of calories per day he was eating. Shortly afterwards McDonald’s removed all super size options from the menu:
Subsequent to the showing of the film at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, the Supersize fries and beverage were retired from the menu and McDonald’s replaced them with healthier foods, though McDonald’s denied that this was in reaction to the movie. In Summer 2006, Super Size beverage was brought back under the name ‘Summer Size.’ It is unknown if it will remain permanently, though. The corporation did, however, issue a press release on their website, denouncing Spurlock’s film and blaming the filmmaker for being a part of the problem, and not the solution. [wikipedia]
Today the trailer was released for Morgan’s next film, “Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden?” In it, Spurlock attempts to locate the most wanted man on the planet, Osama Bin Laden. The marketing campaign for the movie has been deliberately quiet about how close Morgan came to actually locating Osama, which is obviously being used to hype up the movie a fair bit.
I’ve been reading some comments on various forums about the film. While most fans of “Super Size Me” are looking forward to watching it and seeing what Morgan actually uncovered, there are a few complaints already that it perpetuates a few of the typical stereotypes about people from the Middle East.
Watch the trailer and judge for yourself.
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I am not sure… the trailer did nothing for me… so probably not.. but then again if someone is showing it at their house.. maybe.. with enough wine… and that would only be because it will make Bush look even more foolish.. not like he needs any help in that department… :-)
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That looks funny as hell.
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I agree with RockerDave.
That trailer didn’t really show me anything that would perpetuate any misconceptions about the people of the Middle East. I would need to see the whole movie or a portion of it to see whether it did or not.
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This movie seems to mock all the men and women in the military who are in the Middle East (like it or not) risking their asses everyday.
Loved Supersize Me, won’t bother seeing this one based on the trailer
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Looking forward to seeing it.
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I think it will be an interesting film… mike1971, how is it mocking all the men and women in the military who are in the Middle East exactly?
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I sincerely hope that the final scene in this movie is Morgan Spurlock and Bin Laden high-fiving each other, or something equally as ridiculous and hilarious.
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Quoting mike1971:
????? ????? ?????
Did you watch the trailer above or something else? Do you really believe the 160,000 troops in Iraq are looking for osama or do you think Iraq belongs to the US now and is no longer part of the middle east?
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Quoting Aaron:
AGREED.
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I dunno, I guess it looks okay… Not as good as super size me. I think the Osama thing is a little tired and old really… I doubt I’d pay money to see this, but I might download it if I’m bored.
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Well…Where the fuck is Osama? Good Question.
I think it’ll be a hoot.
I like the intelligence of George Bush as he states about Osama, “He could be in a cave with a door, or a cave without a door,” now that’s some critical thinking at it’s finest. :P
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This looks really funny. Spurlock is at his best when he’s mocking his subjects.
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I think its going to be fine. Its certainly not mocking military men and women in any way. In fact its mocking in the opposite direction…some people need to lighten up.
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Quoting tiffanychantelle:
The guy accused of being behind 9/11, being free and preaching and teaching more hate, is getting a little tired and old??? He wasn’t tired and old when those anthrax attacks (using highly refined, weapons grade anthrax) took place, he was centre stage … but that was so 2001. I guess we can now forget about Osama since we caught saddam and those people behind the anthrax attacks … cause we caught them right?
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I’d agree with -cfile2- …Now, if i am not mistaken, anybody should have figured out that Osama Bin Laden is not in the Middle East or ever was since after 2002. He is simply a face of someone named “terror”… the war on “terror” is what politically led the soldiers to be there. The word “terror” isn’t even what is going on there… technically, it is “civil” war rather than fighting “terrorists”. So I don’t understand why the movie really would mock the US soldiers, if anyone it is mocking all the “terror” word using politicians who used the man as a scapegoat to begin with. The current state of Iraq and Afghanistan is in chaos, in a more comical way, I’m sure that movie will at least show that Osama Bin Laden is nothing more then that. “Supersize Me” exposed alot of truth and wasn’t meant to attack McDonalds employees, I’m sure the new movie is meant with the same intention toward the way we see the supposed “terrorist” leader and the courageous and dedicated soldiers who are fighting there.
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Quoting Becca Steps:
Exactly!!!
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Haha when I saw the title for this post, all I could do was think of the song from “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” Yea you got it now….k now you can sing “Where in the world is Usama Bin Laden?”
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What an interesting focus for a movie…
It’ll probably be funny, but I don’t really know how educational this “documentary” will be…
I can defiantly see the stereotypes portrayed just by watching the trailer… but it’s an American flim :S We’ll see… maybe it’ll be good. I did enjoy “Supersize Me”
They’ll probably make a few bucks out of it! I’m sure it was fun making the film!
Thanks for shining some light on it, I had never even heard about the film until now :-)
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I think it looks awesome. I’m in.
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Quoting Ashleigh-Dawn:
I’m a lukewarm Morgan Spurlock fan, but I’ve seen his series on IFC called 30 Days where he has people from opposite lives switch for thirty days. The only reason I mention this is because he has done two episodes of said series on subjects with Middle Eastern involvement (one being the Christian man who stays in the most densely populated Muslim community in the US, and the other being one on outsourcing in which a man from the US who had lost his job to outsourcing was taken to India to live with a family whose members were both employed in call centres). I am quite surprised that people would complain as if he is perpetuating Middle Eastern stereotypes because within the two episodes of 30 Days described above I found that there were many instances where stereotypes were proven false. So I was a little confused about why people would think that, but not everyone has IFC so ya….
About the trailer:
Exactly why I’m a lukewarm fan of Morgan Spurlock…I won’t pretend to know everything, but when it comes to serious subjects I can’t take a documentary seriously if it isn’t serious. I also don’t like how it’s all glammed up with the big movie voice. So if when I see it I find that I didn’t like it that would probably be why. I just find it’s nicer when people come out of a doc talking about the things they’ve learned rather than the one liners that got big laughs….But I’ll watch it:)
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Am I alone thinking along the lines that this does not look worth the time seeing?
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i’m undecided,i would like to see a better trailer………as of right now i would say no but with a little help from my good friend(whiskey)that could change.:)
boredom can lead to watching and doing stupid things…
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maybe while he’s at it he can find Waldo and Carmen Sandiego too.
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bin laden is a fictitious character……
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I don’t see where any sterotypes came into play in this trailer. In fact, I didn’t see very much at all in this trailer. The thought that he would even think that he could ‘find Osama’ is slightly idiotic and naive. I can really only see a handful of things happening in this movie and all of them involve theorizing and speculation with no actual facts.
If I were going to see it I would most likely wait till it was out on DVD and even then I may only watch it if a Home Entertainment department was playing it on their televisions.
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the premise of the movie seems promising. but like his other movie SuperSize me i bet all it would do is annoy me because it will be too ‘lax’ to be taken seriously. I’d rather watch someone present their ideas in a more objective, informative way instead of the ‘hey maaaan i got a good idea for a movie and really show the people how effed up the govn’t is.” a lot of us could do that, give me more and i’ll give you my thumbS up.
however if that movie was put in front of me i’d watch it. but there are plenty of other documentaries that are currently on my waitlist…
and i didn’t see and references to Disney Bad Guys in this clip… unless people think wearing headgear is racist… then man you got yourself a lawsuit. *ahem*
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Quoting mike1971:
Give me a break.
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wow this is gonna be a disaster
same old same old
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I really liked SuperSize Me and was duly disgusted at what it showed… but damned if I didn’t leave the theatre craving some McDonald’s fries. (I know, I know. I am an advertiser’s dream.)
I don’t know… I think this new film looks good. Definitely has potential. But, then again… advertiser’s dream. Maybe they just cut a good trailer.
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1. The point of the film is to make money - not to make a statement. If it entertains it will produce revenue.
Morgan probably wants to make a statement - but he’ll get paid and so will the producers.
If you think the film’s raison d’etre is to say something about the post-9-11 Western nations’ infatuation with the elusive architect behind the WTC attack while ignoring progressively more destructive military campaigns in the middle east- you’re an idiot.
2. The film doesn’t offend military persons serving in the middle east Mike - I was in the middle east and I’m not offended. Man I wanted to catch Osama and bag $25 mil too.
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To be honest, I think the movie looks pretty boring. As someone from a little east-er of the middle east, I wasn’t offended by it, nor did I think there was enough footage to perpetuate any stereotypes. Of course, this is just the trailer - for all I know the movie will be frought with stereotypes. In either case, I probably will never know since I probably won’t watch it.
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i actually saw a short interview during a film festival (i think sundance?) with Morgan about this movie, and he was talking about the necessary and serious military training that went into this movie to go to the middle east. (i’m sure you can find stuff on youtube). anyway, in that sense, it definitely wasn’t offending the military. from the trailer posted above, it’s not offensive to either the military or perpetuating middle east stereotypes. but of course, who knows what the actual movie is like, so we’ll see…
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The trailer makes it seem funny, but a lot of comedies have funny trailers but totally suck in the theatres.
I would probably rent it. It reminds me of Team America:World Police in that it will more than likely poke fun at the Western ignorance towards the Middle East (his character alone is good for that), and I’m willing to bet most who see it won’t even realize he’s making fun of them!
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LOVED SuperSize Me, have seen it at least 5 times - still eat McD’s too!
This movie looks pretty funny - don’t think it’s meant to be all that serious. I laughed so hard at Aaron’s comment:
Quoting Aaron:
That would be the best ending ever!!
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I can tell ya where he is without making a movie about it: Langley, Virginia.
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Quoting tiffanychantelle:
Did you actually just say that?
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You can’t judge how good a movie is by its trailer. You’ll just have to wait for it to come out.
Personally I don’t care about bin Laden. There is far more death and misery caused by institutions than by individuals.
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Quoting Fil:
yes
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Osama is dead! The 25 million reward is out there because they know they won’t have to pay it! The US administration keeps the myth alive just just to keep their bullshit war on terror going! And if by any chance he is still alive, then nice work!
You know, I still to date have never seen the question posed in the media as to why the 9/11 attacks took place. I hate rehashing this shit, but before the second plane even hit, I was asking the question, you know, the question that simply goes like this…
“Why did these people do what they did?” Nobody seems to care and they just redirect the fear and hatred to starting a war somewhere else! The corporate media just sensationalizes all of the “terror alert this and terror alert that” and never spent any time at all focusing on the root of the problem - US FOREIGN POLICY!
Wouldn’t want to lose those advertising dollars and have an intelligent conversation for once about the biggest disaster to hit the US since Pearl Harbour and try and solve the problem from the root up! Thank god, the elections are coming soon and hopefully the Democrats win and turn this whole putrid mess around that has been going on since Bush Sr. Who needs horror movies about evil and evil plots when we have real life!
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Quoting jeni25:
Je suis unique d’même!
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Quoting Fil:
go back and read the posts a bit closer. there are others who think it will be lame, myself included. :-)
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can’t wait to see that now.
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Quoting amy:
yes i see that, but you are in the minority while majority of us are interested in the film. and why, cause it doesn’t really look like a piece of hollywood crap for a change. :)
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Quoting Fil:
dude, i’m not THAT Canadian :P
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I do not understand how this film could have been made. How were they protected and by whom? The U.S. Military?? One knows not whom to believe anymore. I watched Loose Change on the internet and that seems to have a few flaws. So what about the hole in the ground in PA USA, the hole in the pentagon, no close-up video to prove commercial airliners were flown into the TwinTowers. Oh, and Building7??? I’m sure he’ll make a lot of cash. And, yes - I agree with some others, the trailer did nothing for me. I did not see the first film but I’m not sure who would actually have a strict diet of fast food. If there are people who actually eat fast food everyday for every meal they are responsible not the food chains. Besides fast food is actually expensive and adds up quickly especially for large families & over-eaters. I like burgers and french fries but I couldn’t imagine eating fried food all the time. Osama bin Laden is on the FBI 10 most wanted list, however, he is not wanted for 9/11 as it is not mentioned specifically. Why?
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I think you took a wrong turn at Conspiracy Theory Lane and ended up on Real World Street. Flip a shithook, go south, and turn left at Building 7 is Bullshit Avenue.
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Good for “the People” (meaning the documentarians) to try to do this on their own. I am looking forward to watching this documentary and I’ll bet that they got closer than the US gonvernment ever let on. However…is this one person really the issue? And, it kinda get my goat that this issue is taken so lightly…with the catchy title and music in the trailer and all, but I guess thats how to get “the People” (meaning the Sheep) to listen.
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P.S. I love Morgan Spurlock! If he had eaten wholesome orgainc vegitables and meat for a month it would have not have been so taxing on his liver! He would have probaby live for 20 more years canser free. He had good theories.
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Quoting sagar:
Exactly, he probably even suffers from liver problems after “Summer Size” was brought back.
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That whole “Super Size Me” was a pretty cool idea. But I wouldn’t think it was a major shock to most people that eating only McDonald’s for a month was gonna mess you up. It seemed like the kind of thing your buddy would have to do after losing a bet. It was kinda entertaining though.
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I think part of his goal was to point out the practice of all McDonald’s employees to trying to get you to upsize your meal. I spent a summer working at McDonald’s when I was 16, and as an employee we were active encouraged to try and get people to buy more food. “You want a sundae? How about some fries?” I think he was also trying to show how unhealty it really is to say yes all the time (which is what McDonald’s wants) and eat that much.
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That looks hilarious. I wanna see it.
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Quoting Patrick Pitt:
True… but by that logic, the same point could be made for every television show, book, and CD as well.
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Quoting revisited:
Also true…the point is for us to be able to think for ourselves. It’s up to you and everyone else as to what you’ll hold true for yourself. Sometimes I’ll read what seems like a pointless story until suddenly near the conclusion, I have an a-ha moment, or sometimes I’ll be reading a great book, only for the author to F**K it up at the end and ruin all that s/he were leading up to.
A lot of things in this world are crappy and not worth wasting our time on. “I Am Legend” proved that and 50 cent. Soo…
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I am suprised to see someone would care this much about Bin Laden and his whereabouts.
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Quoting Duane Storey:
Absolutely. I think part of what was surprising about the movie was just how much he damaged his health. Of course everyone knows that eating McDonald’s or similar crap three times a day is not a healthy thing… but for him to have gone so downhill so fast was pretty shocking.
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sometimes all you can do is try to find humor in the biggest BS lie created by the US gov’t….
I think the GWB clips of stupidity alone will make it worth seeing….
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Is he not pointing out the ridiculous notion of trying to find Usama (for right spelling.) I mean come one humour will always portray somebody as looking not so intelligent or why would you laugh? You wouldn’t. Maybe he wants people to focus more on the amounts of money that the U.S. Govt. is willing to spend in searching for this mad man. I mean if it were 2002 still yah I would say the govt. isn’t saying anything for the sake of national security. Now I would say they aren’t saying anything because they have nothing to say. Bush again said that this was the early stages of war. It’s 2008, and they’re in the wrong country. Oh well fear again of interpreting ones culture wrong. Oh excuse me I forgot is it just “OUR” duty to take in other cultures or are they too maybe to blame for being narrow minded. (If you walk up and start beating the piss out of me, and I pull a gun and shoot you who was wrong?) I stood A-top a mountain to gaze down upon the lands. The secrets it told, were of many great centuries. One’s which devoured mans will. It was only for a moment I stood upon this peak. It came crashing down like a wave to sand, destroying everything in its path. There I stood back on the ground that I once desperatly tried to climb away from. I knew no more now than before, other then it takes a lot of energy to walk away from something, that in the end just brings you back to.
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I think it would be a hoot to see him eating McDonalds while on his little trip.
With that said, Gogol Bordellos song “Wonderlust King” (Which is the music being played for the trailer) is awesome. I’m glad it was used for something
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bin laden is a lie conjured up by the bush admin.
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Quoting patrick bell:
Just like man-bearpig…think about it….
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At least this “documentary” is about something we don’t know.
What did you say? Eating nothing but Rotten Ronnie’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner will make you fat and/or dead? NO SHIT SPURLOCK! (See what I did there?!?!) I don’t remember anyone ever saying fast food was good for you. Anyone who believed that it is needs a good boot in the ass. Sure is tasty, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBrshcS3SXs
Trevor Moore, on the other hand, deserves your respect. Eff Morgan Spurlock.
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Something tells me no matter what this movie will come across some heat, either from fame or flamers. It looks like an interesting movie, and Morgan Spurlock can always find a way to make some pretty damn rough situations kind of humorous. So I’ll definitely try to check it out when it’s released. Thanks for sharing.
And I will say one more thing, Spurlock doesn’t just sit back and watch other people do shit like this (and in his show 30 Days), he is out there doing this in person and getting the criticism (because let’s face it, this is a pretty controversial subject especially confronting it in a somewhat comedic way). But you can’t tiptoe around things like this anymore. And treating the soldiers over there with kid gloves is kind of silly too, because they know how serious it is to be there, they’re in the military for God’s sake. They know better than anyone sitting at home watching the coverage on the news. It’s no laughing matter. But if I were in their shoes, Hell, I’d want to laugh as often as possible or I’d go insane.
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Quoting jeni25:
huh?
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Quoting patrick bell:
it’s a joke from south park concering al gore.
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ahhh…don’t watch southpark
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Quoting Persephonie:
I’ve read elsewhere about this movie; he never gets anywhere near finding Bin Laden (he looks in Israel at one point). The movie is more a travelogue of the Mid East, exploring cultural stereotypes. He made the movie while his wife was expecting their first baby, and when he gets the closest to where Bin Laden might actually be (northwestern Pakistan) he sees a sign that say it’s too dangerous for outsiders to enter, so he decidesto turn around a go home. The rest of the movie from then on is some rather graphic delivery room footage of his wife giving birth.