Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who skewered fast food industry, dies at 53

Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar nominee whose astir celebrated useful skewered America’s nutrient manufacture and who notably ate only astatine McDonald’s for a period to exemplify nan dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.

Spurlock died Thursday successful New York from complications of cancer, according to a connection issued Friday by his family.

“It was a sad day, arsenic we said goodbye to my relative Morgan,” Craig Spurlock, who worked pinch him connected respective projects, said successful nan statement. “Morgan gave truthful overmuch done his art, ideas, and generosity. The world has mislaid a existent imaginative brilliant and a typical man. I americium truthful proud to person worked together pinch him.”

Spurlock made a scatter successful 2004 pinch his groundbreaking movie “Super Size Me,” which was nominated for an Academy Award. The movie chronicled nan detrimental beingness and psychological effects of Spurlock eating only McDonald’s nutrient for 30 days. He gained astir 25 pounds, saw a spike successful his cholesterin and mislaid his activity drive.

“Everything’s bigger successful America,” he said successful nan film. “We’ve sewage nan biggest cars, nan biggest houses, nan biggest companies, nan biggest food, and finally: nan biggest people.”

In 1 scene, Spurlock showed kids a photograph of George Washington and nary recognized nan Founding Father. But they each instantly knew nan mascots for Wendy’s and McDonald’s.

The movie grossed much than $22 cardinal connected a $65,000 fund and preceded nan merchandise of Eric Schlosser’s influential “Fast Food Nation,” which accused nan manufacture of being bad for nan situation and rife pinch labour issues.

Spurlock returned successful 2019 pinch “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” — a sober look astatine an manufacture that processes 9 cardinal animals a twelvemonth successful America. He focused connected 2 issues: chickenhearted farmers stuck successful a peculiar financial strategy and nan effort by fast-food chains to deceive customers into reasoning they’re eating healthier.

Morgan Spurlock poses astatine nan Los Angeles premiere of his movie “Super Size Me,” Thursday night, April 22, 2004, successful nan Hollywood conception of Los Angeles. Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made nutrient and American diets his life’s work, famously eating only astatine McDonald’s for a period to exemplify nan dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. | Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press

“We’re astatine an astonishing infinitesimal successful history from a user standpoint wherever consumers are starting to person much and much power,” he told The Associated Press successful 2019. “It’s not astir return for nan shareholders. It’s astir return for nan consumers.”

Spurlock was a gonzo-like filmmaker who leaned into nan bizarre and ridiculous. His stylistic touches included zippy graphics and amusing music, blending a Michael Moore-ish camera-in-your-face style pinch his ain consciousness of joke and pathos.

“I wanted to beryllium capable to thin into nan superior moments. I wanted to beryllium capable to respire successful nan moments of levity. We want to springiness you support to laughter successful nan places wherever it’s really difficult to laugh,” he told nan AP.

After he exposed nan fast-food and chickenhearted industries, location was an detonation successful restaurants stressing freshness, artisanal methods, farm-to-table goodness and ethically originated ingredients. But nutritionally not overmuch had changed.

“There has been this monolithic displacement and group opportunity to me, ‘So has nan nutrient gotten healthier?’ And I say, ‘Well, nan trading judge has,’” he said.

Not each his activity dealt pinch food. Spurlock made documentaries astir nan boy set One Direction and nan geeks and fanboys astatine Comic-Con. One of his films looked astatine life down bars astatine nan Henrico County Jail successful Virginia.

With 2008’s “Where successful nan World is Osama bin Laden?” Spurlock went connected a world hunt to find nan al-Qaida leader, who was killed successful 2011. In “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Spurlock tackled questions of merchandise placement, trading and advertising.

“Being alert is half nan battle, I think. Literally knowing each nan clip erstwhile you’re being marketed to is simply a awesome thing,” Spurlock told AP astatine nan time. “A batch of group don’t recognize it. They can’t spot nan wood for nan trees.”

“Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” was to premiere astatine nan Sundance Film Festival successful 2017 but it was shelved astatine nan tallness of nan #MeToo activity erstwhile Spurlock came guardant to item his ain history of intersexual misconduct.

He confessed that he had been accused of rape while successful assemblage and had settled a intersexual harassment lawsuit pinch a female assistant. He besides admitted to cheating connected galore partners. “I americium portion of nan problem,” he wrote.

“For me, location was a infinitesimal of benignant of realization — arsenic personification who is simply a truth-teller and personification who has made it a constituent of trying to do what’s correct — of recognizing that I could do amended successful my ain life. We should beryllium capable to admit we were wrong,” he told nan AP.

Spurlock grew up successful Beckley, West Virginia. His mother was an English coach who he remembered would correct his activity pinch a reddish pen. He graduated pinch a BFA successful movie from New York University successful 1993.

He is survived by 2 sons — Laken and Kallen; his mother Phyllis Spurlock; begetter Ben; brothers Craig and Barry; and erstwhile spouses Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein, nan mothers of his children.