Class Reading – The Performative Mode
I think this is honestly the most dishonest mode, it’s a spectacle. It’s not information, it’s a circus freak show with a bibliography. You may say, but isn’t it honest by way of admitting it’s biases, that the subjectivity of the material is perfectly clear? To which I can only respond with no, it’s still dishonest. As hyperbolic as it sounds, confessing to a murder still means you did it. And yes, I did very much hate Super Size Me.
Expanded Thoughts on “Super Size Me”
I feel as though I’ve started to get opinionated about films again, thanks to extensively watching both fiction and non-fiction again due in part to this course. Because of this, I’d first like to correct the record on my thoughts regarding Century of the Self. Adam Curtis is a fucking spineless hack. Moving on. Morgan Spurlock, comparatively must have a spine, after all something must be carrying the sheer weight of his martyr complex. Super Size Me is a textbook example of the performative mode, someone standing on the ledge of a building merely to entertain an audience of people who are screaming “DO A FLIP” while he jovially flails his arms and says “loook, I’m gonna faaaaaall!” What he did to himself was dangerous and beyond needless, and it only ultimately lends distain towards the genuine idea that fast food is DEVASTATINGLY bad by prompting the gutteral response of “well no shit, if you eat it for every meal for a month maybe.” What Super Size Me represents, is borderline controlled opposition. It’s evil. and most importantly, it’s boring as dogshit.
Documentary Sketch – The first one where I didn’t do a whole lot.
For this sketch I mostly did very light script alteration to improve flow where it was absolutely necessary, as well as contributions towards the plan generally. Not to undermine my own efforts of course, but there’s not a whole lot one CAN do when it’s such a personal mode.