WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.760 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Great to be here. 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:05.860 So today we're diving into a really, um, a profoundly 00:00:05.860 --> 00:00:08.240 complex figure. Yeah, absolutely. An American 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:11.140 filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock. Right. His whole 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:13.539 professional life was, you know, dedicated to 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:15.900 digging up uncomfortable truths about society. 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:19.059 But then his personal life, well, it held secrets 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:21.140 that ultimately just completely shattered the 00:00:21.140 --> 00:00:22.899 career he'd built. We lost him recently too. 00:00:23.059 --> 00:00:27.359 We did. Age 53, complications from cancer. And 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:29.100 that contradiction you mentioned, that's really 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:31.079 the heart of this deep dive for us today. It 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:33.539 really is. We're talking about his unique method. 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:37.320 You know, experiential, super personal, often 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:39.920 confrontational. He kind of set a new bar for 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:42.020 documentaries in some ways. He didn't just point 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:44.359 a camera, did he? He jumped right in, became 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:46.820 the subject himself, often at like significant 00:00:46.820 --> 00:00:49.340 personal risk. Exactly. And the scale of his 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:52.460 work was pretty vast. Directed 23 films, produced 00:00:52.460 --> 00:00:55.280 nearly 70 through his company, Warrior Poets. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.259 But really, it all comes back to that one huge 00:00:57.259 --> 00:00:58.659 hit, doesn't it? The one that put him on the 00:00:58.659 --> 00:01:02.700 map. Oh, for sure. Supersize me. 2004. That film 00:01:02.700 --> 00:01:05.510 was massive. More than just successful, it got 00:01:05.510 --> 00:01:08.390 an Oscar nomination, Best Documentary Feature. 00:01:08.510 --> 00:01:10.590 And it cemented his reputation, his whole style, 00:01:10.769 --> 00:01:14.310 this immersive, controversial approach where 00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:17.939 the filmmaker is... The story, almost. So that's 00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:19.959 the journey we're tracing for you, the listener. 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:21.920 We'll start with his roots, you know, where he 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.000 came from. Yeah, his background in West Virginia, 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:26.200 his creative beginnings. Then we'll get right 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:28.200 into the methodology, especially with Supersize 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.719 Me, how he did it, what the impact was. And crucially, 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:34.200 the later context that makes you rethink that 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:37.019 impact. Right. And then we have to spend real 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:40.200 time on the end of his public career. This 2017 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.299 resignation. The hashtag MeToo post, the confessions 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:47.150 about misconduct, addiction. It's heavy stuff. 00:01:47.329 --> 00:01:50.469 It is. And how those revelations force us to 00:01:50.469 --> 00:01:52.409 look at his entire body of work differently. 00:01:52.670 --> 00:01:55.469 It's about media authenticity and that blurry 00:01:55.469 --> 00:01:57.469 line between the public investigator and the 00:01:57.469 --> 00:01:59.829 private person. A complicated legacy, no doubt. 00:01:59.890 --> 00:02:01.609 Okay, so let's lay that foundation. Where did 00:02:01.609 --> 00:02:03.549 Morgan Spurlock come from? He wasn't exactly 00:02:03.549 --> 00:02:05.629 a product of the, you know, Hollywood system. 00:02:05.969 --> 00:02:08.810 No, not at all. More classic Americana, actually, 00:02:08.930 --> 00:02:11.330 with a side of theater. He was born November 00:02:11.330 --> 00:02:14.969 7, 1970. Parkersburg, West Virginia. Parkersburg, 00:02:15.129 --> 00:02:17.370 okay. But mostly raised in Beckley, West Virginia. 00:02:17.729 --> 00:02:20.710 Sources point to a pretty stable middle -class 00:02:20.710 --> 00:02:23.310 upbringing. His dad had a business. Yeah. Ben 00:02:23.310 --> 00:02:26.189 Spurlock owned an auto repair shop. His mom, 00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:28.590 Phyllis, was an English teacher, later became 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:30.389 a guidance counselor. And there's that interesting 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:34.370 detail about his childhood. The ballet lessons, 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:36.469 yeah. Yeah. He was the youngest of three boys. 00:02:37.330 --> 00:02:39.710 Craig and Barry were his brothers, and all three 00:02:39.710 --> 00:02:42.090 of them took ballet. Which, you know, maybe hints 00:02:42.090 --> 00:02:44.210 at that creative environment or at least a willingness 00:02:44.210 --> 00:02:47.050 to step outside the norm early on. Not exactly 00:02:47.050 --> 00:02:50.229 typical for Beckley, West Virginia in the 70s, 00:02:50.229 --> 00:02:53.199 maybe. Probably not. It suggests a certain openness, 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.580 maybe a comfort with performance. What about 00:02:55.580 --> 00:02:57.800 his religious background? Raised Methodist. But 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:00.800 later on, around 2014, he mentioned he'd become 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:03.460 agnostic. Okay. And we also know, tragically, 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.080 from his later confessions. Yeah, that his childhood 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:08.680 wasn't entirely idyllic. He disclosed in that 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:11.259 2017 post that he'd been sexually abused as a 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:13.919 boy and also as a teenager. Such a painful detail. 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:16.500 And it definitely adds another layer when we 00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:18.419 think about the struggles he revealed later in 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:21.560 life. Absolutely. It contextualizes things. doesn't 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.939 justify them, but provides context. So after 00:03:24.939 --> 00:03:26.960 high school, Woodrow Wilson High, he makes the 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.759 move. Yep, off to New York City. The classic 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.879 path for an ambitious artist. Got into NYU's 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:35.219 Tisch School of the Arts, the film program. Which 00:03:35.219 --> 00:03:37.759 is a big deal. Prestigious program. Definitely. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:41.900 He graduated in 93 with a BFA in film. So he 00:03:41.900 --> 00:03:44.460 had that formal training, you know, structure 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:46.939 narrative. It wasn't just point and shoot. You 00:03:46.939 --> 00:03:48.699 can see that training in his films, actually. 00:03:48.780 --> 00:03:50.939 Even the chaotic ones feel tightly constructed 00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:53.819 underneath. Right. And interestingly, before 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:56.199 film really took off for him, he was actually 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:58.050 doing pretty well as a playwright. I didn't know 00:03:58.050 --> 00:04:00.169 that. Yeah. Won awards for his play The Phoenix. 00:04:00.330 --> 00:04:02.270 Yeah. New York International French Festival 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:05.229 in 99. Route 66 American Playwriting Competition 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:09.330 in 2000. So he understood storytelling on a deep 00:04:09.330 --> 00:04:11.990 level. Makes sense. Then he combined that narrative 00:04:11.990 --> 00:04:15.270 skill with film. Exactly. Co -founded his production 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:18.870 company, Warrior Poets, in 2004. That became 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:21.509 the engine for basically all his major work afterwards. 00:04:21.790 --> 00:04:23.949 Until he stepped down, of course. Until he stepped 00:04:23.949 --> 00:04:26.310 down. And he wasn't just making films in isolation. 00:04:26.689 --> 00:04:28.870 He really saw himself as part of a documentary 00:04:28.870 --> 00:04:32.089 tradition. Yeah, the sources list some key influences. 00:04:32.250 --> 00:04:35.509 What did he admire? Well, films that really emphasized 00:04:35.509 --> 00:04:40.720 immersion and maybe... He loved Roger and Me. 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:43.500 Michael Moore's film. Very personal, confrontational. 00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:46.139 Right. And Hoop Dreams, that incredible long 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:49.139 -form character study. Errol Morris' The Thin 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:51.639 Blue Line. Also very stylized, playing with truth 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:53.879 and perspective. And he apparently called Brothers 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:56.980 Keeper, that 1992 doc, the greatest documentary 00:04:56.980 --> 00:04:59.779 of all time. Wow. What's that one about? It's 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:02.120 about this murder confession in a really rural 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:05.120 community. This semi -literate guy is accused, 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:07.800 and his whole family, the whole community, kind 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:09.800 of circles the wagons. It's all about subjectivity, 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.259 moral gray areas, uses dramatic techniques. So 00:05:13.259 --> 00:05:15.399 that tells you a lot, doesn't it? He wasn't just 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:17.800 interested in facts. He was interested in the 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:20.439 messy human experience of those facts. Exactly, 00:05:20.459 --> 00:05:23.660 which totally sets the stage for, well, for putting 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:25.399 himself right in the middle of the mess. Okay, 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:27.759 let's talk about the breakthrough. Supersize 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.060 me. That moment of inspiration is kind of perfect 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:33.560 Spurlock, isn't it? Not some high -concept pitch 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:36.759 meeting. No, not at all. It was Thanksgiving. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.819 He was back home at his parents' place in West 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:43.139 Virginia in 2002. Just watching TV. Yeah. Saw 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:45.079 a news report about those two teenage girls in 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:47.860 the Bronx suing McDonald's, blaming the chain 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:49.839 for their obesity, their health problems. And 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.300 a light bulb went off. Pretty much. He figured, 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.060 okay, instead of arguing it in court, let's just 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:57.219 do it. Let's make myself the evidence. Personal, 00:05:57.219 --> 00:05:59.300 undeniable experiment. And the way he pulled 00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:02.420 it off financially, that's almost as striking. 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:04.959 Oh, it's pure indie grit. Made for, what, $65 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:08.720 ,000? Pocket change for a future film? 22 million 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.459 dollars. A massive return. It just proved there 00:06:11.459 --> 00:06:14.100 was this huge appetite for that kind of DIY, 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.920 high -impact critique of corporate power. Delivered 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.139 by someone with literal skin in the game. Or 00:06:21.139 --> 00:06:23.519 maybe fat in the game. Yeah, increased cholesterol 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:25.379 in the game, definitely. People wanted that. 00:06:25.960 --> 00:06:27.759 authenticity, that commitment. So let's break 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.040 down the rules. They sound simple, but the implications 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:33.360 were huge. Okay. Rule one, three McDonald's meals 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:37.240 a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner for 30 days straight. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:39.639 Rule two. Had to try everything on the menu at 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:42.319 least once over those 30 days. And rule three, 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:44.839 the big one. The supersized rule. He wouldn't 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:47.560 ask for it, but if the cashier offered it, would 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:49.579 you like to supersize that? Yeah. He had to say 00:06:49.579 --> 00:06:51.839 yes. Couldn't refuse. Which is clever, right? 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.500 It shifts the focus to the company's upselling 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:57.079 tactics. It's not just about his choice. Exactly. 00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:00.319 And the result was, well, a caloric onslaught. 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:03.879 Sources say he was often taking in over 5 ,000 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:06.660 calories a day. Which is roughly double the USDA 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:08.699 recommendation, right? Easily double. And then 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:10.839 there was the activity level. Right. He deliberately 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.759 cut back on exercise. Yeah. Tried to mimic the 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:16.660 average American's physical activity. Or lack 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:19.800 thereof. He went from walking about, say, three 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:22.459 miles a day. Which is pretty active. Down to 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:25.819 about 1 .5 miles a day. So massive calorie increase, 00:07:26.060 --> 00:07:28.980 massive activity decrease, a perfect storm for 00:07:28.980 --> 00:07:30.860 weight gain and health issues. And the health 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:32.819 issues came fast. He had doctors monitoring him, 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:34.980 right? Well, three of them. A cardiologist, a 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:36.860 gastroenterologist, a general practitioner. They 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:40.300 tracked everything. And the results were alarming. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:43.560 To say the least. Yeah. In just 30 days, he gained 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:47.879 25 pounds. That's 11 kilos. Wow. Blood pressure 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:50.899 shot up, cholesterol went through the roof, and 00:07:50.899 --> 00:07:54.079 his liver. That was the really scary part. What 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.240 happened to his liver? Significant dysfunction. 00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:59.800 The doctors were seriously concerned. He became 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.439 lethargic, depressed, moody, quite puffy, as 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.819 he put it. But the liver finding was the bombshell. 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:08.500 It was. Because his doctors made that comparison. 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:10.420 They said the effects on his liver were similar 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:12.800 to what they'd see in a case of severe, prolonged 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.759 binge alcoholism. And that comparison, fast food 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:18.160 equals alcohol abuse damage, that's what blew 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.639 up culturally. Absolutely. That was the soundbite, 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:23.319 the takeaway that shocked everyone and made the 00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:25.899 film impossible to ignore. The impact was immediate, 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.779 too. McDonald's phased out the supersize option 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:31.399 not long after the film came out. They did, though 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:33.360 they claimed it was already planned. Of course. 00:08:34.029 --> 00:08:37.169 But the timing was undeniable. The film hit a 00:08:37.169 --> 00:08:39.970 nerve. OK, but now we have to bring in the elephant 00:08:39.970 --> 00:08:42.110 in the room, the thing that complicates this 00:08:42.110 --> 00:08:45.169 entire narrative. The 2017 confession. Exactly. 00:08:45.730 --> 00:08:49.830 13 years after Supersize Me, Spurlock drops this 00:08:49.830 --> 00:08:53.409 bombshell blog post where he admits, well, a 00:08:53.409 --> 00:08:56.070 lot of things, but specifically related to this. 00:08:56.230 --> 00:08:58.470 He said he hadn't been sober for more than a 00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:00.750 week since he was 13 years old. Three decades 00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:04.090 of consistent heavy drinking. Which means he 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.190 was drinking during the supersize me experiment. 00:09:06.389 --> 00:09:08.710 He must have been based on that timeline. He 00:09:08.710 --> 00:09:10.610 didn't disclose it in the film, didn't disclose 00:09:10.610 --> 00:09:13.269 it during promotion. So here's the critical question 00:09:13.269 --> 00:09:16.110 for you, the listener, right? If the guy making 00:09:16.110 --> 00:09:18.429 the film that links fast food to liver damage 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:21.090 comparable to alcoholism is actually drinking 00:09:21.090 --> 00:09:23.649 heavily himself during the experiment, doesn't 00:09:23.649 --> 00:09:26.470 that completely muddy the waters? How can you 00:09:26.470 --> 00:09:28.710 separate the effects of the food from the effects 00:09:28.710 --> 00:09:31.539 of the undisclosed alcohol? You really can't, 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:34.480 scientifically. It casts significant doubt on 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.299 the central medical claim of the film. Was the 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:40.220 liver damage solely the Big Macs and fries? Or 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:44.039 was his existing hidden alcoholism the main driver, 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:46.710 or at least a major contributing factor? And 00:09:46.710 --> 00:09:48.710 it's interesting, isn't it? The guy demanding 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:51.690 transparency from a giant corporation. Wasn't 00:09:51.690 --> 00:09:54.169 transparent himself. Sources mentioned he never 00:09:54.169 --> 00:09:56.909 publicly released his detailed food log from 00:09:56.909 --> 00:09:59.090 the experiment. Which could have maybe shed some 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:01.850 light, but he kept it private. The truth he presented 00:10:01.850 --> 00:10:04.009 was wrapped up in his own secrets. It makes the 00:10:04.009 --> 00:10:05.950 film almost more of a psychological document 00:10:05.950 --> 00:10:08.799 now, doesn't it? About him as much as about McDonald's. 00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:10.960 Yeah. Despite those later questions, though, 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:13.679 the initial recovery was brutal for him. Took 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:15.759 him 14 months, apparently, to get back to his 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:18.779 normal weight, around 185 pounds. And his girlfriend 00:10:18.779 --> 00:10:21.340 at the time, Alexandra Jameson. Right, the vegan 00:10:21.340 --> 00:10:24.000 chef. She guided him through it with a detox 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.860 diet, which, you know, she then turned into her 00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:29.000 own successful book, The Great American Detox 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.600 Diet. Everyone capitalized on it. And the industry 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.500 loved the film initially. Oh, yeah. Oscar nomination, 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.919 like you said. Plus, he won the very first Writers 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:41.360 Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:43.659 Which highlights the writing, the narrative construction. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.019 He told a damn good story. He did. And he followed 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:48.779 it up quickly with the book Don't Eat This Book 00:10:48.779 --> 00:10:51.720 to keep the momentum going. So Supersize Me gave 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:54.019 him this template, right? This immersive, first 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:56.500 -person investigation style. And he realized, 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:00.360 hey. This works. Yeah, he basically franchised 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:02.460 the concept, took that experiential formula, 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:04.879 and applied it everywhere, especially on TV. 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:08.440 Which led directly to 30 Days. That show on FX 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:11.919 ran from 2005 to 2008. Great concept for a show. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.539 Basically supersized me, but for social issues 00:11:14.539 --> 00:11:16.919 instead of just food. Exactly. Take someone, 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:18.980 sometimes Burlock himself, sometimes another 00:11:18.980 --> 00:11:21.440 person, and drop them into a life totally different 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:23.000 from their own for a month. And they covered 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:25.509 some really thorny topics. Oh, yeah. Living on 00:11:25.509 --> 00:11:28.269 minimum wage, outsourcing jobs by moving to India, 00:11:28.409 --> 00:11:31.330 trying medical marijuana. But also those direct 00:11:31.330 --> 00:11:33.629 culture clash episodes. I remember the one where 00:11:33.629 --> 00:11:35.549 the devout Christian goes to leave with a Muslim 00:11:35.549 --> 00:11:38.769 family. Right. Tackling post 9 -11 Islamophobia 00:11:38.769 --> 00:11:41.570 head on. Or the homophobe living with a gay man. 00:11:41.950 --> 00:11:44.309 Forcing empathy through proximity. And Spurlock 00:11:44.309 --> 00:11:45.990 didn't shy away from putting himself in tough 00:11:45.990 --> 00:11:48.169 spots for the show either. No, he kept his skin 00:11:48.169 --> 00:11:50.730 in the game, Cred. He spent 25 days locked up 00:11:50.730 --> 00:11:54.480 in a county jail in Virginia. Wow. And he went 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:56.500 back to his roots near Beckley, West Virginia, 00:11:56.620 --> 00:11:58.960 for an episode called Working in a Coal Mine, 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.879 showing the danger, the reality of that life. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:03.940 Before 30 days, though, he'd already dabbled 00:12:03.940 --> 00:12:07.779 in something much lighter, trashier. Huh. Yeah, 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.139 I bet you will for MTV. Yeah. That started as 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.860 an internet webcast, actually. Little short episodes. 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:15.720 MTV saw potential and picked it up. What was 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.039 the premise? Pretty simple. Get ordinary people 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.279 to do stunts, usually gross or weird stunts, 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:23.039 for cash. Like what? Give us some examples. Okay, 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:26.320 eating a whole jar of mayonnaise for $235. Ugh. 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:29.240 Eating a worm burrito for $265. Oh, come on. 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:31.840 Or downing a series of shots, corn oil, Pepto 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:33.820 -Bismol, lemon juice, hot sauce, cold chicken 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:36.980 broth, and cod liver oil for $450. Okay, so pure 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:39.259 shock value entertainment. A far cry from his 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:42.080 serious docs. Totally different vibe. But showed 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.360 he understood the, you know, burgeoning attention 00:12:44.360 --> 00:12:47.519 economy. Eyeballs matter. But he didn't stay 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.039 in that lane for long. Pivoted back to bigger 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.679 themes pretty quickly. Yeah, his next major film 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:56.620 was Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? Premiered 00:12:56.620 --> 00:12:59.580 at Sundance in 2008. Back to the globe -trotting 00:12:59.580 --> 00:13:02.620 investigator persona. Pretty much. Exploring 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:04.659 the war on terror, talking to people on different 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:07.620 sides, framing it all around this kind of mock 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:10.679 -serious quest to find bin Laden himself. Same 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:12.700 personal journey structure. And then came the 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:14.960 really meta one, the film about advertising. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:17.860 POM Wonderful Presence, the greatest movie ever 00:13:17.860 --> 00:13:20.639 sold, 2011. Just the title tells you something's 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.879 up. Oh, yeah. It's a documentary about product 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:25.399 placement, branding, marketing. Okay. But the 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:27.759 kicker is the film itself was funded entirely 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:30.240 by product placement and sponsorships. Get out 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.600 of here. Seriously. Yep. The whole movie is basically 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.759 Spurlock pitching brands. POM Wonderful Juice, 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.600 Sheetz Convenience Stores, JetBlue, Main Tail 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:40.620 Shampoo, you name it, trying to get them to pay 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:43.019 for the film, often by buying naming rights within 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:45.240 the film itself. So he's critiquing the system 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:48.299 by fully participating in it. That's bold. It's 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:50.919 incredibly ironic. He becomes a walking billboard 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:53.080 to make a movie about how pervasive branding 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:56.120 is. It's a critique that eats itself in a way. 00:13:56.200 --> 00:13:59.039 Yeah. Very clever. Very Spurlock. He clearly 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:00.919 wasn't afraid of contradictions. What else was 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:03.340 he up to around this time? He was prolific. Incredibly. 00:14:03.710 --> 00:14:07.970 2011 also saw Comic -Con episode fourth. A fan's 00:14:07.970 --> 00:14:10.710 hope. Exploring fan culture. Yeah, that had some 00:14:10.710 --> 00:14:13.090 big names attached, right? Yeah, Joss Whedon, 00:14:13.149 --> 00:14:15.649 Stan Lee, Harry Knowles were executive producers. 00:14:15.950 --> 00:14:18.649 It was a respectful look at the passion of convention 00:14:18.649 --> 00:14:22.090 goers. Less confrontational, more observational. 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:24.629 He also did a segment for the Freakonomics movie. 00:14:24.750 --> 00:14:26.909 Right, the one about names of Roshanda by any 00:14:26.909 --> 00:14:30.190 other name. And directed Manson in 2012, a funny 00:14:30.190 --> 00:14:33.000 look at male grooming and identity. And the TV 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.840 work continued beyond 30 days. Oh, yeah. He hosted 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.220 and produced Morgan Spurlock Inside Man for CNN 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:41.679 from 2013 to 2016. More immersion journalism. 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:43.559 And then something totally different. He directed 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:46.200 the One Direction concert movie. One Direction. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:51.840 This is us in 3D. 2013. A huge commercial project. 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:54.519 Shows his versatility, or at least the versatility 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:56.580 of warrior poets. They could handle mainstream 00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:59.299 pop docs, too. So Warrior Poets was really churning 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:01.279 stuff out. Absolutely. He was also executive 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.720 producing other people's films, like A Brony 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:06.779 Tale. About the adult fans of My Little Pony. 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:08.759 That's the one. And the critically acclaimed 00:15:08.759 --> 00:15:12.019 documentary The Eagle Huntress in 2016. He even 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:14.240 did a comedy show for Sky Atlantic in the UK, 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.519 Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia, about US -UK 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.059 cultural differences. The guy was everywhere, 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:22.799 building this brand as the relatable, curious, 00:15:23.100 --> 00:15:26.279 immersive investigator. And then... December 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:29.200 2017. Everything just implodes. Yeah. All that 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.340 work, that reputation as the public truth teller, 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:33.960 it came to a screeching halt. And it was self 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:36.259 -inflicted. Right in the thick of the hashtag 00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:38.899 MeToo movement gaining momentum. He decided to 00:15:38.899 --> 00:15:41.100 get out ahead of it, in a way. He published this 00:15:41.100 --> 00:15:43.860 incredibly raw confessional blog post. Starting 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:46.379 with that line. Just brutal. I've come to understand 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:49.259 that I'm not some innocent bystander. I am also 00:15:49.259 --> 00:15:51.720 a part of the problem. Yeah. Just laid it bare. 00:15:51.940 --> 00:15:54.830 And the details were specific. And damaging. 00:15:55.190 --> 00:15:58.330 Extremely. He admitted to being unfaithful to 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:01.190 every wife and girlfriend. Serial infidelity, 00:16:01.370 --> 00:16:03.629 basically. And then the workplace misconduct. 00:16:04.029 --> 00:16:06.769 Right. He talked about settling a sexual harassment 00:16:06.769 --> 00:16:09.909 claim from a female assistant at Warrior Poets. 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:12.629 What did he admit to doing? Verbal harassment. 00:16:12.850 --> 00:16:15.230 Calling her names across the office like hot 00:16:15.230 --> 00:16:18.889 pants or sex pants. Demeaning, unprofessional 00:16:18.889 --> 00:16:22.049 behavior. He admitted it. Said he paid a settlement, 00:16:22.250 --> 00:16:25.269 acknowledged creating a toxic environment. And 00:16:25.269 --> 00:16:27.149 then there was the college incident he described. 00:16:27.370 --> 00:16:30.210 That part was really complex. Yeah, it was. He 00:16:30.210 --> 00:16:32.909 recounted a one -night stand from college. Said 00:16:32.909 --> 00:16:35.029 both he and the woman had been drinking heavily. 00:16:35.309 --> 00:16:38.309 And during sex? She started crying, and they 00:16:38.309 --> 00:16:40.610 stopped. That was his memory. But years later? 00:16:40.929 --> 00:16:43.309 She wrote a short story for a class, describing 00:16:43.309 --> 00:16:46.029 the encounter as rape, and named him in the story. 00:16:46.230 --> 00:16:49.019 And his reflection on that discrepancy? That's 00:16:49.019 --> 00:16:51.059 the really crucial part of his confession, maybe. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.259 I think so. He wrote something like this wasn't 00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:56.519 how I remembered it, but she believes she was 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:59.440 raped. That's why I'm part of the problem. That's 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.080 a huge statement. He's essentially saying her 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:05.099 reality, her experience of the event trumped 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:07.829 his own memory or intent. especially given the 00:17:07.829 --> 00:17:10.329 alcohol, he was accepting accountability for 00:17:10.329 --> 00:17:13.049 the impact regardless. It's a profound shift, 00:17:13.309 --> 00:17:15.690 acknowledging the validity of her perspective, 00:17:15.910 --> 00:17:18.609 even if it differed from his. And in that same 00:17:18.609 --> 00:17:21.549 post, he tried to provide some context, though 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:24.289 not excuses. Right. That's where he brought up 00:17:24.289 --> 00:17:27.029 being a victim of sexual abuse himself as a child 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:29.970 and teen. Yeah. And he reiterated the lifelong 00:17:29.970 --> 00:17:32.450 drinking problem, consistently been drinking 00:17:32.450 --> 00:17:35.440 since the age of 13. tying his behavior patterns 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.019 to his trauma and addiction. The fallout from 00:17:38.019 --> 00:17:40.799 that post was instantaneous. Absolutely immediate. 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:43.160 He stepped down from Warrior Poets the same day 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:45.880 the company he built effectively ended his own 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.220 career with that blog post. Career suicide by 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:50.539 confession. Pretty much. Yeah. And the tangible 00:17:50.539 --> 00:17:52.900 consequences followed fast. Remember Super Size 00:17:52.900 --> 00:17:56.359 Me Too? Holy chicken. The sequel he'd made. Yeah. 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:59.519 It was finished, ready for release in 2017. YouTube 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.599 Red was set to distribute it. And they dropped 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.039 it. Pulled the plug immediately after his confession. 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:06.859 Said they wouldn't release a film by him, given 00:18:06.859 --> 00:18:09.220 the circumstances. Wow. Did it ever get released? 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:11.579 Eventually, yeah. Yeah. Samuel Goldwyn Films 00:18:11.579 --> 00:18:14.180 picked it up and released it in 2019. But the 00:18:14.180 --> 00:18:17.359 damage was done. The initial rejection spoke 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:19.700 volumes. The Washington Post later called it 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:22.640 career death. And it basically was. He vanished 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:24.500 from the public eye, professionally speaking. 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:26.579 Despite that professional implosion, it seems 00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:28.720 like he stood by the necessity of that confession. 00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:31.619 It appears so. His personal life continued to 00:18:31.619 --> 00:18:34.140 have its complexities. His three marriages to 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:36.319 Priscilla Sommer, Alexander Jameson, and Sarah 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:39.559 Bernstein all ended in divorce. He had two children. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:42.779 And then the final news this year. Morgan Spurlock 00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:48.359 died May 23, 2024, age 53. Upstate New York. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.940 Complications related to cancer. A really sad 00:18:51.940 --> 00:18:54.579 end to a very turbulent life. Where that final 00:18:54.579 --> 00:18:56.859 act of, you know, attempted truth telling about 00:18:56.859 --> 00:18:58.980 himself essentially cost him everything he'd 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:00.839 built professionally. So when you put it all 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:03.819 together, the groundbreaking films, the unique 00:19:03.819 --> 00:19:06.220 style, and then this catastrophic ending. Yeah. 00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:08.559 What are we left with? It's just this massive 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:10.720 contradiction. Totally. Here's a guy who built 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:13.299 his entire brand on being the fearless truth 00:19:13.299 --> 00:19:16.859 teller, right? Exposing corporate lies, societal 00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:21.140 hypocrisy. making you, the viewer, question everything. 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:23.940 Fast food, advertising, the war on terror, you 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:26.859 name it. He wanted you to scrutinize these big 00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:29.660 external systems. Yet his own private life was, 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:32.640 well, a carefully hidden counter -narrative. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.420 Decades of addiction, infidelity, admitted workplace 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:39.079 harassment, that complex college incident. It's 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:41.319 this stark contrast between the public persona 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.359 demanding transparency and the private reality 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:46.940 built on secrets. Until the very end when he 00:19:46.940 --> 00:19:49.559 seemed to... finally apply that documentary lens 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:51.900 to himself. Yeah, it's like his final film was 00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:54.480 that blog post. His last most difficult immersive 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.859 investigation was into his own failings, and 00:19:56.859 --> 00:19:58.759 he knew the cost. He chose to expose himself 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:01.000 anyway. Which forces us, doesn't it, to go back 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.099 and reevaluate the work, especially Supersize 00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:05.900 Me. Absolutely. Knowing about the undisclosed 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:08.099 drinking changes how you see that experiment. 00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:11.059 Was it pure scientific inquiry, or was it partly 00:20:11.059 --> 00:20:13.140 driven or at least clouded by the very addiction 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:15.859 he was comparing the food's effects to? You can't 00:20:15.859 --> 00:20:18.980 unknow it now. It adds this layer of necessary 00:20:18.980 --> 00:20:21.900 skepticism about the messenger himself, even 00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:24.200 when the message seems so clear at the time. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.980 His whole career blurred the line between filmmaker 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:30.079 and subject. But his downfall showed just how 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:33.420 blurry and how potentially deceptive that line 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:36.559 can be. It really pushes us to be more critical 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:39.619 consumers of this kind of first person media, 00:20:39.740 --> 00:20:42.339 doesn't it? Yeah. When the filmmaker is the experiment. 00:20:42.890 --> 00:20:45.369 Their own biases, their own hidden issues are 00:20:45.369 --> 00:20:47.130 always part of the data, whether acknowledged 00:20:47.130 --> 00:20:49.630 or not. So maybe that leads us to a final thought, 00:20:49.710 --> 00:20:51.309 something for you, the listener, to take away 00:20:51.309 --> 00:20:53.970 from this. Spurlock's films always challenged 00:20:53.970 --> 00:20:56.410 you to look behind the curtain, right? To question 00:20:56.410 --> 00:20:58.630 the motives of corporations, of advertisers. 00:20:59.089 --> 00:21:00.869 Oh, definitely. To be skeptical of the polished 00:21:00.869 --> 00:21:03.549 surface. So reflecting on his entire story, the 00:21:03.549 --> 00:21:06.210 triumphs, the methods, the final painful honesty. 00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:09.970 How does his complex legacy force us as media 00:21:09.970 --> 00:21:12.930 consumers to apply that same level of critical 00:21:12.930 --> 00:21:15.250 scrutiny, not just to the subject being filmed, 00:21:15.410 --> 00:21:18.109 but directly onto the filmmaker? To question 00:21:18.109 --> 00:21:20.849 the authenticity, the motivations, maybe even 00:21:20.849 --> 00:21:22.750 the private integrity of the person telling the 00:21:22.750 --> 00:21:24.970 story, especially when they put themselves at 00:21:24.970 --> 00:21:27.470 the center of it. Exactly. How much does the 00:21:27.470 --> 00:21:29.869 messenger matter? And how much should we demand 00:21:29.869 --> 00:21:33.109 transparency, not just from them about the subject, 00:21:33.170 --> 00:21:35.839 but about themselves? Experiential documentary 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:39.400 promises truth through transparency. Spurlock's 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:42.000 life and its end kind of taught us that the hardest 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:44.920 truth to document might just be the one inside 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.380 the person holding the camera. A complicated, 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:50.220 fascinating, and ultimately tragic deep dive. 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:52.019 Thanks for joining us. See you next time.