Morgan Spurlock Proves He's An Ass

After seeing Supersize Me, I was pretty sure Morgan Spurlock was a fool to himself. His argument was a weak one even though the point he was trying to prove was virtually incontrovertible.

You could knock the fast-food business down with a feather, but instead of a just-the-facts, above-board slam of the burger merchants, Spurlock instead got lost in a gimmicky "experiment" so far from a clinical study that it was laughably useless, ending up on just about the same standing as, say, anecdotal claims for the benefits of homeopathy. It's hard to imagine an easier target than McDonalds' racket, but Spurlock still shot a mile wide.

In a weird sort of way, the film was probably a gift to McDonalds. Its relative success provided a high profile platform from which they could spout their usual hype and spin, and the many flaws in Spurlock's method provided them plenty of ammunition. It really wasn't hard for them to seem more together than their foaming detractor.

A bad start - and then he made 30 Days, a reality show that span out the twisted-lenten premise of Supersize Me into a series of similarly flimsy "research" projects. Spurlock was moving further and further from the realms of proof, or even evidence, with every stunt. It became clear that his showpiece "documentaries" were centred on more of a Jackass-style extremism than any serious scientific study or debate.

And now, he's confirmed his standing as a smart-alec, big-mouthed rant-and-raver more interested in his own opinions than any attempt to seek out and present truth. Making a public appearance at a High School Health Fair in Philadelphia, Spurlock managed to not only drop a few F-bombs (which, truth be told, I could care less about), he also managed to make some truly offensive comments.

According to the Associated Press, Spurlock not only insulted the intelligence of McDonald's employees - which was expected, predictable, boring - he made jokes about his audience, about "teachers smoking pot in the balcony" and "retarded kids in the back wearing helmets". Lo and behold, the back row was filled with special needs students who had to be led out of the presentation.

To what end was Spurlock making these comments? The only clue we have is his comment "The greatest lesson those kids learned today was the importance of free speech." Sadly, that's only the same old cop-out that nationalist parties and race hate groups cite constantly.

A second speech was scheduled for later in the week, that time open to the whole community, but it was cancelled.

Spurlock's headed my way, to give another one of his presentations, and I'm tempted to go, to see the big kid show his ass. Truth be told, what I'd really like to see is that dumb, red ass get a spanking. A few good bruises on his soft, fleshy ego and he might crawl back under his rock for good.