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Fast food. It's tasty and good and oh so addictive, at least I think so. And, I might note, I'm not alone in thinking this. 

I admit to liking fast food and I've been known to go out of my way just to have a meal at Whataburger, my favorite burger chain. 

But as my dad always told me, "Andrew, everything in moderation." 

Good advice. Don't overdo it and you're likely to be okay. It's all about personal responsibility and not blaming others for your personal choices. For instance, smokers know that if they smoke, there's a chance they could get lung cancer. It's common sense, or at least it's supposed to be. 

After watching Morgan Spurlock's award-winning documentary "Super Size Me," during a recent trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, I found myself somewhat annoyed with the film and the filmmaker. 

Spurlock is a fit, self-congratulatory young man living in New York who notices a lawsuit filed by two overweight women against fast food industry leader McDonald's. They claimed they weren't told scarfing down Big Macs 24-7 would make them rotund. 

He seems to think that fast food corporations are evil entities preying upon the populace with their fatty and sugary treats. As for the consumers, they are innocent victims and utterly unaware of the idea that fattening food will give somebody a big gut or a big behind. Who knew? 

So, troubled by the American trend of expanding waistlines and failing health as a result of ever-increasing fast food consumption, Spurlock decides to conduct an experiment ... what would happen to a healthy American male if he ate nothing but McDonald's fast food for an entire month? 

Well, the answer is simple - you get supersized. 

In preparation for this project, Spurlock consults physicians and nutritionists who wincingly watch Spurlock go from a trim 185 pounds to a bloated 208 pounds over the course of the month. 

This is because the rules in this self-imposed experiment are that Spurlock must eat three meals a day at McDonald's and that if they offer to "Super Size" the meal, he must accept it. 

Seeing Spurlock vomit out a car window after eating a Mickey D's meal is pretty awful, as is watching him turn pale and sickly as the days pass by over the course of the movie. 

And Spurlock's vegan girlfriend is disgusted with his decision but vaguely understands why he is doing it. She even talks about the embarrassingly adverse effects his burger inhaling is having on their sex life. 

When we aren't shown images of Spurlock stuffing his face with Quarter Pounders and french fries, the audience is shown ample amounts of statistics about McDonald's and the adverse affects of noshing on carloads of McNuggets. 

McDonald's is bad, he tells us, because their advertisements are aimed at children. They're also bad because over the years their drink sizes and portions have increased. 

Spurlock also travels the nation, eating burgers and fries and drinking jumbo-sized soft drinks. He notes how Texans are fat and how in Houston, he was asked if wanted a super sized meal there more often than in any other location. Well, as they say, everything is bigger in the Lone Star State. He also visits schools and shows how students choose meals low in nutritional value. And so it goes. 

Spurlock clearly likes the Michael Moore style of documentary filmmaking -- loose with the facts and apt to exclude information that doesn't fit a particular agenda. 

And like Moore, he is annoying and fatuous. For some reason, his onscreen presence got under my skin. Maybe it was the frequent images of him in his red, white and blue bikini briefs and the unnecessary shot of his pre-experiment rectal exam. 

And ultimately, I was annoyed that he didn't conclude that personal responsibility is key when making decisions about what to eat. 

And while the vomiting and such did kill my appetite somewhat, I still managed to enjoy my Brewvies falafel wrap and chips after the movie. 

Andrew West Griffin  08/30/04