8/10
Speaking of wildly popular and controversial, I watched the long-awaited follow up to the 2004 documentary hit, Super Size Me.
24 January 2020
Now, the sequel, subtitled "Holy Chicken!", was supposed to come out all the way back in 2017 exclusively on YouTube, of all places. However, because of some controversy surrounding director and star of the film, Morgan Spurlock, it didn't end up coming out until 2019. I'm not going to get into the controversy here since it isn't relevant to the film, but I will briefly go over my thoughts on the first movie. While it is a well-made and entertaining film that raises some good points, the whole "eat nothing but McDonald's" experiment portion of the film is deeply flawed at best and possibly outright fraudulent at worst. Still, I enjoyed it for what it was. The sequel is not about eating nothing but, say, KFC for a month. It's actually about Spurlock opening his own fast-food franchise that sells "grilled crispy chicken sandwiches" using all the same tactics that other fast-food restaurants use to trick people into thinking their food is healthy. He doesn't try to hide any of it from his customers, in hopes to educate them about fast-food marketing tricks. He also becomes a chicken farmer in this documentary and exposes corruption within the chicken farming industry. He shines a light on how poorly the farmers are treated and how they really grow chickens for meat. I thought this documentary was very interesting and well-made. I'd actually argue that it's better than the original since it doesn't have the whole experiment aspect to it which has since been proven to be likely exaggerated or influenced by other factors. I'd recommend checking this out, it's very educational and a fun watch. Now, after the controversy that came out recently some might feel uncomfortable with supporting Spurlock's work, which I understand. Personally, I feel like I can separate the artist from the art on a case-by-case basis. This is a case in which I think I can. Spurlock personally came forward completely unprompted and confessed to what he did rather than getting called-out by someone else and denying it like so many others, which I do respect. Also, this documentary has nothing to do with his personal life, which is also a big factor. Anyway, I'm rambling and getting off-topic. This is a good movie. Check it out.
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