By Lauren Nichole Barrera
Morgan Spurlock, creator of the critically acclaimed documentary, “Super Size Me,” will screen his new documentary “What Would Jesus Buy?” at 2:30 p.m. Monday in Room 101 in the Longwith Radio, Television and Film Building, and again at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts Center.
Spurlock will speak and answer questions about his new film in McAllister’s auditorium at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Premiering in 2004, “Super Size Me,” Spurlock’s first documentary film, was a 30-day experiment in which Spurlock ingested three meals a day of every item on the McDonald’s fastfood menu, including Big Macs, french fries and every greased burger in between.
Radio-television-film Professor John Onderdonk said the documentary brings to light how Americans rely too heavily on fast food.
“I liked the approach he took on this movie,” Onderdonk said. “‘Fast Food Nation’ is a research book turned into fiction, and it wasn’t as powerful.”
Onderdonk said the scientific methods Spurlock used made the documentary so powerful.
Spurlock’s girlfriend, Alex Jamieson, health counselor and vegan chef, helped Spurlock return to his original weight, after Spurlock’s 25-pound weight gain during the documentary’s production. He also experienced mood swings, liver damage and sexual dysfunction from to his diet change.
Jamieson had Spurlock on a diet consisting of organic and soy products. It took Spurlock 14 months to return to his original weight.
After the documentary, McDonald’s stopped serving supersize portions.
Spurlock’s new film, “What Would Jesus Buy?” examines Americans’ spending during the Christmas season.
It chronicles the Rev. Billy (Bill Talen) and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they try to sway Americans to stop shopping.
The idea is that civilization will cease to exist from what is referred to in the documentary as a “shopopacalypse,” the end of humankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt.
Other issues include sweatshops and their contributions to America’s mass consumerism, according to IMDB.com, a popular Internet movie database.