"It is never my intent to insult or demean anyone - and I understand how some of my remarks may have offended some in attendance and if you feel they did, then I am deeply sorry," he wrote in "A Letter of Explanation," posted last weekend on his blog.
Morgan Spurlock, still riding the McWave from his Oscar-nominated documentary “Super Size Me,” has recently abandoned the fast-food world for a new target: teachers and handicapped students. Well, that’s not quite accurate. Spurlock hasn’t stopped ridiculing McDonald’s altogether. He’s still questioning the intelligence of the fast-food giant’s employees, using racial slurs to add injury to insult.
Spurlock is taking his show on the road, visiting colleges and high schools around the country, talking about his experiences and warning people of the dangers of our fast-food nation. His most recent stop was at Hatboro-Horsham High School outside of Philadelphia for the school’s first-ever Health and Wellness Fair.
It seems like a good — no, great — idea. Invite the guy who dined on a McDonald’s-exclusive diet for 30 days to come and talk to kids about the dangers of fast food. He’s entertaining and famous. What better way to persuade teens to develop healthy eating habits?
Shortly before Spurlock delivered his speech to the Hatboro-Horsham student body, he was told that he shouldn’t talk about McDonald’s because a member of the Hatboro-Horsham Education Foundation, the sponsor of Spurlock’s appearance, owned a McDonald’s franchise. Why invite Spurlock, a celebrity associated specifically with his McDonald’s experiment, to a health and wellness fair only to ask him not to talk about it? This is where the trouble started.
This request sparked a performance by Spurlock that was downright inappropriate. Spurlock’s speech packed in profanity, political incorrectness and intolerance. He used an Indian accent to mock McDonald’s employees, portraying them as unintelligent and confused.
Apparently nothing was sacred in the auditorium as Spurlock spewed insults. Teachers “smoking pot in the balcony” and “retarded kids in the back wearing helmets” were just a few of the more memorable moments of Spurlock’s soliloquy.
Sure, the more than 700 students packed in the auditorium thought it was funny, but what about the handicapped kids who were, coincidentally, sitting in the last few rows of the auditorium? Fortunately, teachers escorted them out of the auditorium before they could be subjected to more abuse. But what has Spurlock taught the students?
“The greatest lesson these kids learned today was the importance of free speech,” Spurlock said after the event. We beg to disagree.
Free speech doesn’t mean you’re free of responsibility. Spurlock isn’t ducking the controversy of his statements; however, he is avoiding the responsibility he has to be respectful of his environment. And believe it or not, Mr. Spurlock, dropping the f-bomb in front of a group of high school students won’t make you cool. Neither will making fun of handicapped kids — how old are you, sir?
The students in the auditorium laughed, cheered and offered Spurlock a standing ovation after his hour-long speech. Students rushed the filmmaker for autographs after the presentation. His appearance obviously made an impact, but the message of Spurlock’s visit was blurred and distorted by his ego trip. While the school district should have thought twice about their ridiculous request, Spurlock displayed less tact and maturity than that of his audience with his tasteless remarks and insults.
HORSHAM, Pa. - The filmmaker who ate nothing but McDonald's meals for a month for his Oscar-nominated film "Super Size Me" gave a profanity-laced, politically incorrect speech at a suburban Philadelphia high school, but not everyone was lovin' it.
Speaking at Hatboro-Horsham High School's first-ever health fair, Morgan Spurlock joked about the intelligence of McDonald's employees, about "retarded kids in the back wearing helmets" and teachers smoking pot in the balcony.
"Portion size is the key to the American obesity epidemic," said Painter, chairman of the EIU School of Family and Consumer Sciences.
To prove his point, Painter created his own documentary, "Portion Size Me," which followed two EIU students who ate nothing but fast food for a month " and lost weight in the process.
Filmed over the summer at 10 restaurants in Coles County, the documentary follows two dietetics graduate students -- 254-pound Aaron Grobengieser and 108-pound Ellen Shike -- who ate portions suitable for their body types, with all of the food coming from fast-food restaurants and gas stations.
Painter told the students to maintain their usual body weight, but both of them ended up losing weight and even lowering their cholesterol.
That's a stark contrast from the experience of the subject in "Super Size Me," as he gained more than 20 pounds and ruined his health after eating a steady diet of fast food for a month.
"It wasn't the food that he ate that caused the problems, it was the portions," Painter said. "We really showed that you can eat fast food and not gain weight."
"Super Size Me" was in many ways a hoax that generated false public outrage against a food company, while netting Spurlock fame and fortune. In this regard, he's not much different from Anna Ayala (search), the woman who falsely claimed to have found a human finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last April in order to win a big settlement.
Good police work stopped Ayala's scam, which cost Wendy's $25 million in lost sales, and may cost Ayala up to nine years in prison. Unfortunately, the media, which should be acting as Spurlock's watchdog, have yet to hold Spurlock accountable for his inaccuracies.
Me and Mickey D is a creative response to the film "Super Size Me" which debuted in 2004. Unlike the director of "Super Size Me" who engaged in what can only be described as "kamikaze consumption" by eating over 5,000 calories a day under at McDonald's, Ms. Whaley's experience was much different. She enjoyed a 10 pound weight loss, improved her health and lowered her cholesterol by 40 points during her first 30-day "McDiet" in April 2004. A second 30 days in June 2004 eating exclusively at McDonald's resulted in the loss of another 8 pounds, for a total weight loss of 18 pounds. Ms. Whaley again returned to her "McDiet" during February 2005 and she lost another 10 pounds! This documentary not only demonstrates the results of healthy decisions, but also addresses the issue of personal responsibility. Me & Mickey D features music by Spirit Fiddle (www.spiritfiddle.com), drawings by Paul Nowak and interviews with Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Norman Borlaug, Drs. Ruth Kava & Gil Ross of the American Council on Science and Health, Andrew Stuttaford of the National Review Online, and average Americans of all ages.
Watch the trailer for Me & Mickey D: Windows Media (4MB) Quicktime (8MB)