INTERVIEW: Morgan Spurlock's not a total sell-out

Intern Mikala Jamison attended Morgan Spurlocks' Q&A with the Philly press after the screening of his lastest film, POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

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INTERVIEW: Morgan Spurlock's not a total sell-out

POSTED: Monday, April 25, 2011, 11:00 AM

Filed Under: Movies screening

Morgan Spurlock takes no crap. That fact was readily apparent at the Q&A session after the April 14 screening of his new film, POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (check out Sam Adams' review). While he is snarky, silly, and genuinely funny — watching him giggle in his film about the equine/human shampoo brand (yeah) Mane ‘n Tail was a bit like watching a five-year-old giggle about poop — he has made himself known through this film as the sort of director who won’t be trodden upon. And in the advertising world, that’s all anyone wants to do to you.

After the screening, Spurlock stood before the audience wearing his custom-made suit emblazoned with all the logos of the corporate sponsors who financed the film. The suit has been making the rounds with the director on the late night circuit, and is yet another tongue-in-cheek stab at the ad industry. Maybe he believes that one day we’ll all wear suits covered in ad logos. Don’t we already, what with Nike, Abercrombie, et al?

Just as the Q&A got going, three people got up and began to walk out. Spurlock paused from answering a question to call out the ditchers. “Oh, thanks for coming you guys. Don’t worry, the Q&A will get much more interesting once you leave. Hurry on out of here so we can all talk about you behind your backs.” They shamefully walked out and the audience wolf-whistled like the abandoners were elementary school kids getting called to the principal’s audience.

Far beyond that sort of no-nonsense shtick, Spurlock answered questions primarily about his relationship with the advertisers in the film and whether he had “sold out.” He said that he would have if he had he let the brands get final cut of the film (which they didn’t), and he sacrificed no control over the movie. “The brands wanted a monetary return on their investment,” he said. “I said hell no! Your return is being in this film!” The audience burst into applause at the point.

When asked how a budding filmmaker can maintain artistic integrity, he said the most important thing is maintaining one’s vision and creative control. No easy feat, surely, in the shark tank of advertising. That’s what makes the film so genius. Spurlock doesn’t really offer a solution to the problem, though. He doesn’t even seem to think, from the answers he provided, that a city with no advertising (in the film we see Sao Paulo, Brazil, a city that has outlawed any form of outdoor advertising) can even happen in America. He thinks it can happen from people getting fed up enough and making it happen.

He wants to make us see that advertising is everywhere, and maybe that will frustrate us enough to try to change things. “I’ve ruined TV and movies for you,” he said. “You will see ads more now than you ever did before.” So the solution really, is his film. Now we’ll really see that advertising everywhere, and it’s up to us to get fed up enough to try stop it. If that’s what we want, of course.

Posted by Kala Jamison @ 11:00 AM Permalink | Post a comment

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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