BrightestYoungThings: Jackass Journalism: Morgan Spurlock @ the Corcoran

all photos: Chris Svetlik

Back in 2004, first-time director Morgan Spurlock made a Sundance splash with Super Size Me, in which he famously ate nothing but McDonald’s for thirty days. Spurlock has made a brand of himself with subsequent projects. He applied his Super Size Me formula to the F/X reality series 30 Days, and became a Sisyphean terrorist hunter with Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden. At the Corcoran on Tuesday, Spurlock spoke to a small, enthusiastic crowd of students and eager fans. As he discussed his career, I was surprised by how he got his start, and adjusted my expectations of him as an entertainer.

Before the lecture, I met with Spurlock to talk about his recent and upcoming projects. He recently directed The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special: In 3-D! On Ice!, a retrospective on the show’s history and impact on American culture. Given his feature debut, it’s unsurprising his favorite episodes are King-Size Homer and E-I-E-I-D'oh. The Simpsons special may be harmless fun, but his latest project is far more intriguing. Along with other big-name filmmakers, he filmed a segment of the upcoming Freakonomics documentary. His section focuses on the last chapter of the book, in which authors Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner look at the socioeconomic patterns of naming children. He didn’t offer much detail into his segment, but did note, “We talked to a guy who named his kids ‘Winner’ and ‘Loser.’”

He and I talked names a little more before he took the stage:

AZ: Did you have any say over which chapter in the book you covered?

MS: I basically requested the chapter I got. I just had a kid, a little boy who is three, so I do think names matter. If you give a kid a shitty name, you’re stacking the deck against him. It’s not a good thing.

AZ: So what did you name your son?

MS: I named my son Laken James. “Laken” was my great great uncle’s name, so it’s a family thing.

AZ: Ok, very cool.*

* This is where I think poor Laken is going to get his ass kicked.

In the auditorium, Spurlock mostly discussed 30 Days and how his other projects came into fruition. His early career was the most interesting. Along with other enterprising entertainers during the dot-com bubble, he created a web-based video series that would ideally get picked up by a major TV network. His series, “I Bet You Will,” was essentially an early version of Fear Factor. It was here I began to think of Spurlock not as a filmmaker and more as a producer of socially conscious reality entertainment. He confirmed my thought when he recalled how someone referred to Super Size Me as “Jackass Journalism.”

I have a history of disliking documentarians who appear onscreen, and for a while Spurlock was no different. His persona, the goofy-but-thoughtful-average-guy-from-West-Virginia*, sometimes forced his subject into the background. And by appearing on camera, his work was even more subjective, preventing any hard conclusions or prescriptive analysis. Now I understand Serious Conclusions are never his goal – instead he offers his audience many perspectives on a complicated issue. If his work causes one person to improve their lives or see things differently, then he feels like he’s done his job. Given the touching stories about how 30 Days inspired his fans, he’s clearly accomplished his goal. Not every documentary filmmaker can be Errol Morris. And after spending an evening with such a likeable, earnest entertainer, I realize they can’t all be Morgan Spurlock, either.

* During the interview and lecture, he acted the same way he does in all his movies. I suspect he’s always like this.

Brightest Young Things

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Jackass Journalism: Morgan Spurlock @ the Corcoran

TUESDAY 2/14

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Alan Zilberman!