Morgan Spurlock, Documentarian Behind ‘Tremendous Measurement Me,’ Dies at 53

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, finest identified for starring within the fast-food documentary “Tremendous Measurement Me,” died on Thursday on the age of 53.

In an announcement, his household stated that Spurlock “handed away peacefully surrounded by household and buddies in New York from problems of most cancers.”

Spurlock made a splash together with his 2004 movie, “Tremendous Measurement Me” — his first as a director. Whereas visiting his mother and father for Thanksgiving in 2002, the West Virginia-born director chanced upon a TV information function that reported on two ladies who had sued McDonald’s over misinformation concerning the dietary worth of the Chicago-based chain’s meals, resulting in pronounced weight achieve. And the thought for “Tremendous Measurement Me” was hatched.

“A spokesman from McDonald’s got here on and stated, ‘You possibly can’t hyperlink their weight problems to our meals — our meals is wholesome, it’s nutritious,’” Spurlock advised the New York Instances in a 2004 interview. “I believed, ‘If it’s so good for me, I ought to be capable to eat it each day, proper?’”   

Within the documentary, he ate solely McDonald’s meals for 30 days and chronicled the affect the food plan had on his bodily and psychological well-being. Past that, all through taking pictures the movie, Spurlock didn’t let himself flip down “supersize” choices — the most important McDonald’s parts — if a server provided them. Interspersed with clips of his quick meals consumption had been interviews with numerous healthcare professionals and his doctor. 

By the tip of his month-long experiment with McDonald’s, Spurlock, who additionally exercised much less over the course of filmmaking so as to mimic a median American’s exercise stage, stated that he gained 25 kilos and claimed he ended up affected by each melancholy and liver dysfunction. A lot later, in 2017, he admitted to a ingesting downside in a assertion — “not being sober for greater than per week in 30 years” — that many believed might have doubtlessly contributed to (or prompted) the liver points.

Shortly after the “Tremendous Measurement Me” launch, McDonalds opted to discontinue its “super-size” choice. And a backlash towards the fast-food trade had began.

On the time of its launch, the documentary was credited with elevating consciousness concerning the American food plan and the weight problems epidemic. “Tremendous Measurement Me,” which had a finances of simply $65,000, grossed an astonishing $22 million on the field workplace and scored an Oscar nomination for the Finest Documentary in 2004. It additionally led to a sequel, “Tremendous Measurement Me 2: Holy Hen!” in 2019, launched by Samuel Goldyn Movies after it was dropped by YouTube. A lot much less profitable, the film adopted Spurlock as he ran his personal fast-food restaurant and checked out ingredient sourcing, plus how the fast-food trade has modified as an entire within the years since his first movie.

Since “Tremendous Measurement Me,” Spurlock produced and directed greater than 70 documentaries and tv collection by his manufacturing firm, Warrior Poets. Very like “Tremendous Measurement Me,” his works tried to handle controversial topics together with the minimal wage and immigrant labor within the tv collection “30 Days” and the battle in Afghanistan “The place Within the World Is Osama Bin Laden.” He additionally directed the 3D live performance movie “One Course: This Is Us” which was launched in 2013.

“It was a tragic day, as we stated goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Spurlock’s brother Craig stated in an announcement. “Morgan gave a lot by his artwork, concepts, and generosity. Right this moment the world has misplaced a real artistic genius and a particular man. I’m so proud to have labored along with him.”

In response to an announcement supplied by the household, Spurlock is survived by his two youngsters, Laken and Kallen; his mother and father; brothers Craig and Barry; a number of nieces and nephews; and his former spouses: Priscilla Sommer, Alexandra Jamieson, and Sara Bernstein.