a few fries short of a Happy Meal

I'm not a person who sees a lot of movies. But right now I'm in the middle of a movie-viewing binge. So the next couple entries will be about movies I've seen recently.



Last Friday, the American consulate in Hong Kong held a showing of the documentary Super Size Me on campus. (The consulate sponsors a Friday lunch-time film series at my university's library.) This movie is about a guy who spends a month eating nothing but meals from McDonald's. When he's not munching down Big Macs, he examines the impact of fast-food on America. Even though many people recommeded this film to me, I had avoided seeing it for a long time. I guess I figured this was going to be some Ralph Nader-type screed. I was wrong. This film was more entertaining than preachy. The documentary balanced McDonald's fanatics with lawyers who tried to sue McDonald's. And while the filmmaker lives in Greenwich Village, there was plenty of footage from other places in the USA, too.

But the main reason I enjoyed this film: I am a food fanatic. Unlike most food fanatics (but like most bachelors), I can -- barely -- cook to save my life. But if I can't "walk the walk", I can at least "talk the talk". I once talked for fifteen straight minutes about the difference between kettle corn and other types of popcorn. This is the sort of skill that impressed friends but scared former coworkers. (Perhaps they had mistaken me for one of these.) So if I enjoy talking for 15 minutes about popcorn, you can imagine what watching a 100 minute documentary on McDonalds food would do for me!