Bluelitespecial

https://variety.com/2024/film/obitua...me-1236015338/



Wow this is unexpected and 53 is fairly young. Apparently he had cancer.

RichC2

Yeah that sucks, 53 is way too young.

JeffTheAlpaca

RIP

That is a shock

He made entertaining docs


He had a show on FX called 30 Days which was pretty good and one episode he stayed in a prison.

Bluelitespecial

It was revealed Super Size Me was fake as he was drinking the whole time through his "Experiment". I like his documentary "Mansome" as he tackled the subject of male beauty standards.

Decker

Wow that is a shock. He did some good stuff. Yeah I remember 30 Days. That was pretty interesting. I remember feeling really sorry for his girlfriend.

GoldenJCJ

Sad news. He was an entertaining documentarian.

Brian T

I liked a lot of his stuff, including both SUPER SIZE MEs and his COMIC-CON doc among others, and the sense of humour he brought to them. I noticed some of the obits mention his largely self-imposed MeToo moment back in 2017, which ended his career, while others leave it out (or maybe weren’t aware of it). Odd move, but in light of some of the other Big Names taken down at the time, I guess he knew the potential alternatives and just left. And this was basically a few days after SUPER SIZE ME 2 debuted at TIFF to a decent reception before being bought by YouTube for their streaming service, and then dumped by them after his announcement.

DJariya

I loved Super Size Me and also enjoyed 30 days. Haven’t heard his name since he did that awful Showtime series 7 Deadly Sins.

Wasn’t aware that the MeeToo movement basically canceled him. Sorry to learn that he was in poor health and died so young.

Why So Blu?

I only ever watched Super Size Me and the one that was sponsored by POM. As Bluelitespecial mentioned, they dug up that the fatty liver and other liver related problems he had during Super Size Me had more to do with his drinking than what he was eating. He was a full blown alcoholic.

PhantomStranger

I always thought it was so weird how much fame Super Size Me received. That movie more or less destroyed McDonald's cachet as a quality food experience for younger Gen Xers and Millennials. No one in the '70s or '80s would have ever questioned eating at McDonald's. Then years later it comes out most of it was a crock and Spurlock was a serious alcoholic.

Decker

I mean his weight and LFTs (liver function test enzyme levels) went up significantly during the month while he was on an all-McDonald's diet. That wasn't due just to alcohol abuse.

TheBang

Wow, that sucks. His docs were gimmicky, but entertaining. I also enjoyed 30 Days, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and Super Size Me 2. Still need to watch Comic-Con.

Brian T

He basically cancelled himself before the movement could. It seemed at the time like someone from his past was threatening to go public and he was (possibly craftily) getting ahead of the scandal, but ultimately no ‘Big Story’ developed after that. Everything just kinda went away, including him. He wasn’t on the level of a Weinstein, but the things he admitted to were still a bit questionable. I suppose he might’ve tried for a comeback eventually were it not for the cancer diagnosis, but his sensibilities seemed to be co-opted by so many hack “documentarians” on social media and YouTube that I wonder if he could’ve reclaimed much relevancy in the oversaturated documentary market just these few years later.

Incidentally, when SSM2 premiered here, he set up a customized food truck (with amusing signage, menus and packaging) outside the theater to serve the audience items from the restaurant menu in the movie. I found the whole ‘marketing industry’ angle to be hilarious in the film, so it was cool to see that mercenary methodology carried over to the kind of ‘bonus feature’ that’s generally rare at TIFF. And to be honest, the chicken sandwiches and ‘fries’ (fried greens) were really good.

RocShemp

Only ever watched 30 Days and really liked it. I only knew Super Size Me by reputation and a handful of clips. As others said, 53 is way too young.

Those Holy Chicken pics are hilarious.

Why So Blu?

Eh, not really. He also caught flack for not releasing or keeping his meal logs from what he was eating at McDonalds. He would also order a shit ton of food per sitting, way more than any normal person would eat in a sitting. He had also said that in the 30 years that he had been drinking alcohol he never went more than one week at time without getting shitfaced. Also, there have been several other folks that have tried and failed to replicate his experiment.

So he was eating a ton of McDonald's and washing it all down with a shit ton of alcohol during his "experiment."

JeffTheAlpaca

Too bad and maybe if he was still doing or getting work he might still be around and probably lost the desire to fight and beat cancer.

GoldenJCJ

The guy had two kids. I’m sure he had a will to live outside his film projects.

Nesbit

Talking like he died like queen amidala. Two kids with him due to a broken heart.

JeffTheAlpaca

I did not know he had kids and though he was single or just had a girlfriend.

OldBoy

Cancer can go fuck itself.

rocket1312

But that's kind of the point. If you don't know anything about the guy or his life, then why even speculate?

Decker

And you know what else? Sometimes even single, childless people want very much to survive cancer, fight very hard, and still don't. Victim-blaming cancer deaths is pretty unbecoming.

JeffTheAlpaca

I did not blame him but Hollywood for ending his career and ability to do more docs and projects.

rexinnih

Damn, way too young. RIP.

EddieMoney

Wait...what?