Documentary film-maker Morgan Spurlock , an Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America’s food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. Spurlock died in New York on Thursday from complications of cancer , according to a statement issued by his family today.
“It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Craig Spurlock, who worked with him on several projects, said in the statement. “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity. The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man.
I am so proud to have worked together with him.” Spurlock made a splash in 2004 with his groundbreaking film Super Size Me , which was nominated for an Academy Award . The film chronicled the detrimental physical and psychological effects of Spurlock eating only McDonald’s food for 30 days.
He gained about 11kg, saw a spike in his cholesterol and lost his sex drive. “Everything’s bigger in America ,” he said in the film. “We’ve got the biggest cars, the biggest houses, the biggest companies, the biggest food, and finally: the biggest people.
” In one scene, Spurlock showed kids a photo of George Washington and none recognised the Founding Father. But they all instantly knew the mascots for Wendy’s and McDonald’s. The film grossed more than US$22 million on a US$65,000 budget and preceded the release of Eric Schlosser’s influential Fast Fo.
