Morgan Spurlock, the ringmaster documentarian who lived on Big Macs for a month in Super Size Me is back for another entertaining study in self abuse. This time he’s up against an even bigger villain than corporate approved cholesterol. Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? follows the filmmaker on a perilous fact finding tour of the Middle East. His mission? To track down America’s arch enemy and make the world a safer, better place before the birth of his first child.
Is this a kinder, gentler Morgan Spurlock than the one who once masterminded I Bet You Will, the MTV show where desperate commoners consumed worm burritos and recieved ‘surprise’ tattoos for monetary gain?
“Oh no,” he assures me. “It’s the same Morgan Spurlock. I only did that show to get the money to make Super Size Me. That’s crass, I know, but it’s pretty typical of the kind of guy I am.”
That’s true. Not every man, on learning that he’s about to become a father, leaves his wife’s side to tour the Axis of Evil. Poor Alex Spurlock. Once she was the vegan girlfriend grumbling from the corners of Super Size Me. Since their marriage, Morgan’s capering has seen her earn minimum wage for a month on his TV show 30 Days, not to mention those trimesters spent all alone while he made Where In The World...
“Yeah, I know,” he laughs. “She was off doing yoga and having meetings with the midwife. I missed all that. But I think everybody in the world already knows I’m a terrible husband. Every year she should get the Wife Of The Year award with a little sash and crown and every year I should get Worst Husband with some smoking excrement that’s designed by John Waters himself.”
He’s not such a bad fellow really. He is, as his latest movie demonstrates, keen to see the good in everybody. Assuming the role of the wide-eyed American abroad, his trek begins in Egpyt where he tracks down the uncle of Osama’s mentor, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. No family secrets are spilled, but Morgan’s charm ensures the old fellow sits there with a big smile on his face. Out on the streets our guide soon encounters a gaggle of schoolgirls who inform him that Egypt and America are, in fact, at war.
“Even visiting Europe shocks me now,” says Morgan. “I still have this idea of America being cool. I love the place. I want it to be cool. Whoever gets elected next time around really has to address that. We’ve lost the PR war. America is no longer looked upon as a beacon of hope and democracy and that’s a terrible thing.”
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? is less concerned with that particular PR battle than it is with the demonisation of Islam. Moving across the Middle East towards Pakistan, Mr. Spurlock repeatedly finds ordinary decent folks with perfectly rational views. He enjoys a delightful dinner with a Morroccan family, talks with Palestinians who denounce Bin Laden for acting in their name and even uncovers an Israeli who believes that the Palestine conflict can only be settled peaceably.
Admittedly, not everybody got with the programme. When he visits an orthodox district in Jerusalem, the Haredim gets very heavy-handed with the filmmaker and his crew. Ask Morgan about him though, and he gives you the positive spin.
“The thing I remember most about that incident is the guy I spoke to afterwards on camera,” he recounts. “He rushed in to say, ‘Listen, we’re not all like this’. It was scary while it was happening, but that guy really cheered me up. It was only when I got back to the editing suite that I realised how fundamentally decent everyone was.”
Oh come now, I say. Surely that was always his intention?
“Honestly, it wasn’t,” he says. “I really didn’t know what we had until later. I just wanted to find Osama Bin Laden.”
Really Morgan?
“Oh sure. You don’t buy a lottery ticket without secretly hoping you’ll win.”
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? marks the big screen debut for one Laken Spurlock, the son our hero returns home to. What terrible plans does dad have for Laken’s future documentary career, I wonder?
“Well, he’s already made his first appearance in a Spurlock joint,” says Morgan. “That was never going to be an issue. More appearances will certainly follow. The real question is when is he going to turn around and rebel against me by taking a job in the military industrial complex.”

Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? is out now