Even though The Founder came out in 2016, I watched it for the first time in March.* It focuses on Ray Kroc—the man who (sort of) founded McDonald’s. I won’t get into the nitty gritty details about why he is (and isn’t) the one who truly founded this fast food chain. But I will highlight what I liked and didn’t like about the movie. Hopefully, this post will give you enough information to decide whether or not to add it to your watchlist.
What a Guy
I want to begin this post by sharing why I didn’t like The Founder because it’ll provide context for why I did like The Founder. Honestly, I thought the movie was pretty depressing (and I usually don’t like depressing movies). I didn’t come away from it feeling encouraged. However, I did learn quite a few things about McDonald’s.
You’ve probably gone to McDonald’s at least once or twice, but perhaps you’ve never heard how it started. Well, The Founder tells that story—but the story doesn’t have a happy ending. Though you might enjoy this movie if you typically enjoy documentaries, you might feel disappointed when you discover the truth about the man who (sort of) founded McDonald’s.
The movie portrays Ray as a man who cared too much about wealth and success and didn’t care enough about treating other people well. It portrays him as a deceptive businessman and an unfaithful husband. In short, it portrays him as someone who was extremely self-centered.
Ray is no longer alive, so I can’t hear about the founding of McDonald’s from his perspective. But I assume The Founder tells the story accurately. And frankly, I don’t think I’ll watch the movie a second time because it’s not uplifting.
The Right Take
But I did like The Founder for this reason: It didn’t portray Ray in a positive way.
Often in movies and shows, people who lack character are still portrayed positively. Maybe the tone is “_____ [fill in the blank with the character’s name] made some mistakes, but overall, he was a good person.” Or maybe the tone is “The good things that _____ [fill in the blank with the character’s name] did outweighed the bad things that she did.”
But The Founder didn’t depict Ray that way. The movie demonstrates that he lacked character. He didn’t love his wife or sacrifice himself for her. He didn’t deal honestly with his business partners. He didn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. He viewed McDonald’s as an empire, and he viewed himself as the emperor.
Sometimes, the truth—especially about people who are famous—is a bitter pill to swallow. Still, I’m glad The Founder didn’t try to gloss over Ray’s immorality or put it in a positive light. It’s important for us to approach sin the way God approaches it.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20 NASB1995)
*I watched The Founder through a filtering service called VidAngel. It can filter things like obscenities and profanities, alcohol and drug use, and sex and nudity. To learn more, head over to VidAngel’s website.
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