What Are the Main Codes and Conventions of the Documentary Genre Used In

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Kirtan Bhachu A2 Media Studies Essay 21/09/14

What are the main codes and conventions of the documentary

genre used in Super-Size Me? How is modern American society

represented in the documentary?

The documentary Super-Size Me follows main codes and conventions of documentary films

and some certain modes; it also shows us a certain representation of American modern

society.

Genre

This documentary follows certain documentary film modes considered by theorist Bill

Nichols. Bill Nichols came up with six documentary modes. These are Poetic(a

transformation of historical material into a more abstract lyrical form associated with

1920s and modernist ideas), Expository(known as the Voice of God direct address of

social issues assembled into an argumentative frame), Observational(Fly on the Wall),

Participatory (encounters between the film-maker and the subject of the documentary, film-

maker actively engages with the subject), Reflexive (Aware of the Process, engages actively

with the issues of realism and representation, acknowledges the presence of the viewer and

morality judgments) and the Performative (Autobiographical, acknowledges the emotional

and subjective aspects and presents ideas part of context) mode.Each of these modes have

particular and distinguished conventions to them.

Bill Nichols believes that most social issue documentaries such as Super-Size Meare usually

in expository mode. However the on-screen presenter and narrator Morgan Spurlock (who

also produced, wrote and directed the documentary) challenges this statement by making

this documentary more within the participatorymode, making this documentary more of a

personal portraituredocumentary. In the latter part of the documentary, it changes and

takes a step back and becomes more self-reflective and responsive, and we see this when he

calls his mum up. So now it starts to become a reflexive mode. Also, this documentary

becomes aware of the viewer and we see this throughout Morgan Spurlocks video diaries

and theres a direct address to the audience, almost as if its the voice of god. So now it

starts to go to expository mode. Throughout this documentary, the modes change,

beginning with participatorymode, then reflexive mode then expository mode. If this

documentary was to be classified in one of Bill Nichols modes, then it would mainly be

categorised in the participatorymode. This is due to the fact that Morgan Spurlock is writer,

director, producer, narrator and on-screen presenter (subject of the documentary), and it

participating throughout the whole documentary.

What also make this documentary within the participatory mode are the codes and

conventions the documentary poses. These include a screen presenter, the fact that Morgan

presents his data to us, he completes video diaries which give us a 24/7 overview of himself,

he conducts interviews and he has an attitude which speaks trust me to the audience and




this leads to the audience attaching to someone like him from start to finish of the

documentary, hes almost like the hero

Purpose

There are a variety of purposes of this documentary, ranging from education to money.Morgan Spurlock had been influenced by a certain headline in the news at the time it was

made, which was that two teenagers were suing the fast-food chain McDonalds for making

them obese. This influenced Morgan Spurlock to take on a 30 day challenge of eating only

McDonalds. Morgan Spurlock mainly wants to inform what eating unhealthy food such as

fast-food can impact someones health and how damaging it can be. He sets himself up as

the test subject for this 30 day binge experiment, giving a trustworthy attitude to the

audience watching. Believe me, Im one of you and that most of usknow it isnt good for

you. Morgan Spurlock informs us at the very start what hes going to talk about, and starts

to put out a balanced argument. Are the food companies solely to blame for this epidemic?

and Where is the personal responsibility stop and corporate responsibility begin?However,

he also wants to make money for his film company The Con and the distributors (Tartan

Films in the UK) so he can make more films in the future. This is most unlikely to offend his

target audience even though theyre partly to blame, telling parents theyre partly to blame.

Representation

There are a variety of representations within this documentary; these include the Health

Professionals, the Average American, the Health conscious American, the Fast-Food fan

(Unhealthy American), children, McDonalds/Fast-Food companies and the Government and

Morgan Spurlock.

The health professionals are in a positive light when it comes to representation. They are the

ones who are with Morgan throughout the documentary giving him regular check-ups and

we see this throughout the documentary such as the start of the film, when we see Morgan

having a health check-up just before he starts the 30 day binge challenge. They are the ones

who also warned of this obesity epidemic and the danger of eating unhealthy foods

excessively.

The average American is represented as both positive and negative. We see a variety of

different voxpops within this documentary. If anything, the average American is represented

as oblivious to what fast-food actually does to people. They are almost represented as the

innocent party not realising what they put in their bodies. We see this when we see two men

talking about how much they love McDonalds and encouraging others to eat it.

The health-conscious American, such as Morgan before the start of the 30-day binge is

represented positively. This is due to the fact that they are conscious of what they eat and

realise what they need to put in their bodies. They are almost like a role model within the

documentary to others who dont realise what theyre doing to their bodies.




The fast-food fan, who is the man who eats several Big Mac burgers every day, is

represented negatively. He doesnt realise what hes doing to himself, hes almost making

himself look stupid in front of the audience.

We see the children represented as the innocent party. The children are constantly fed food

advertisements every day and are encouraged to eat unhealthy without them even realising,

which is why they choose to eat unhealthy food. We see this when Morgan shows a few kids

picture cards of famous symbols/pictures such as Jesus and McDonalds and that one of the

kids dont recognise Jesus. This linksin with the representation of the government also.

The government is represented negatively to us at the audience. We see this through the

representation of the schools in the US. The schools seem to be very money-orientated such

as when we see that the canteens in these schools arent run by the schools by themselves,

but by private companies and professionals. This criticism spreads to the American

government as they do not encourage schools to treat health. They are also criticised for notfunding nutrition and exercise programmes etc. This suggests that the government isnt

prioritising schools

McDonalds/Fast-Food companies are represented as the main culprits of this problem.

However, it is not entirely their faults. McDonalds have been criticised bythe way they deal

with their health and nutrition and the fact that they also dont share the nutritional value of

their products. They have also been criticised by the amount of advertising they have. We

also see evidence of their lack of co-operation when Morgan tries to get hold of a

spokesperson from McDonalds and they dont co-operate.

Morgan Spurlocks representation can be compared to a Hollywood films protagonist.

Morgan is like the fictional hero in this film, taking down the antagonist which is preferably

McDonalds. This is infotainment; its educational but similar to conventions of a Hollywood

film. Morgan makes it like a Hollywood Blockbuster in terms of narrative, with his trusting

persona and his journey of a 30 day McDonalds binge.

Visual Elements:

This documentarys visual elements are mainly amateur, particularly when it comes tocamerawork. This is handheld throughout the most of the documentary, giving it a feel as if

were there with Morgan watching him do this challenge. The editing, particularly with the

animations and transitions of pictures into each section has been done deliberately and

manipulates the audience into thinking how bad McDonalds is. This is the same with the

music and sound effects.

Conclusion:

Overall, Super-Size Me follows conventions of the documentary genre and represents

modern American society as oblivious to the dangers of fast-food.

Documents

What Are the Main Codes and Conventions of the Documentary Genre Used In