Morgan Spurlock, a documentary filmmaker who captured his personal psychological and bodily signs from consuming McDonald’s day-after-day for a month within the Oscar-nominated 2004 function “Tremendous Dimension Me,” died Thursday in upstate New York attributable to issues of most cancers. He was 53.
Spurlock’s household confirmed his loss of life.
“It was a tragic day, as we mentioned goodbye to my brother Morgan,” says Craig Spurlock, who labored together with his brother on a number of tasks. “Morgan gave a lot by means of his artwork, concepts and generosity. At this time the world has misplaced a real artistic genius and a particular man. I’m so proud to have labored along with him.”
Spurlock rose to prominence for “Tremendous Dimension Me,” during which he performed an experiment involving consuming solely meals from McDonald’s for a 30-day stretch. The principles additionally included the stipulation that Spurlock couldn’t refuse the “super-size” choice if prompted in the course of the transaction. The filmmaker additionally exercised much less to match the common American’s bodily exercise. By the tip of the experiment, Spurlock claimed that he gained 25 kilos and suffered from despair and liver dysfunction.
“Tremendous Dimension Me” captured the zeitgeist when it launched in 2004, grossing $22 million on the world field workplace and sparking a dialog about how the quick meals trade encourage poor vitamin among the many normal public. McDonald’s discontinued its “super-size” choice within the time following its launch. Although the doc remains to be utilized as an academic aide in some faculty well being courses, it has additionally sparked debate over its accuracy within the years since, with some criticism citing Spurlock refusing to publicly share his weight-reduction plan log from filming. Spurlock later disclosed that he struggled with alcohol abuse — an element that some contemplate would’ve been a possible affect on the doc’s conclusions concerning liver dysfunction.
Born Nov. 7, 1970, in Parkersburg, W. Va., Spurlock was raised underneath the Methodist religion, although he recognized as agnostic later in life. He graduated with a BFA in movie from New York College in 1993.
Within the 13 years following “Tremendous Dimension Me,” Spurlock gained extra success underneath his manufacturing firm Warrior Poets, producing and directing practically 70 documentary movies and tv collection. Spurlock’s wide-ranging works had been fueled by addressing controversial and topical topics. His tasks coated points together with the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan (“The place Within the the World Is Osama Bin Laden”), minimal wage and immigrant labor (“30 Days”); client susceptibility to advertising and marketing (The Best Film Ever Bought”); trophy searching and physique modification (“7 Lethal Sins”); elder care and playing (“Morgan Spurlock Inside Man”) and company stress on household farms (“Tremendous Dimension Me 2: Holy Rooster!”).
In December 2017, because the #MeToo motion continued to realize traction, Spurlock wrote a prolonged social media submit saying he was “a part of the issue.” Within the submit, he admitted to serial infidelities and mentioned he had settled an allegation of sexual harassment from a former assistant. He additionally mentioned he had been accused of rape in faculty. The submit successfully ended Spurlock’s documentary profession, as Spurlock stepped down from Warrior Poets shortly after.
Spurlock is survived by his two kids, Laken and Kallen; mom, Phyllis Spurlock; father Ben (Iris); brothers Craig (Carolyn) and Barry (Buffy); a number of nieces and nephews; and former spouses, Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein.