What Would Jesus Buy? The Shopocalypse Preacher
Documentary by Rob VanAlkemade Portrays Christmas Commercialized
Nov 14, 2009
The documentary What Would Jesus Buy? travels with busloads of dedicated followers of Rev. Billy, who is on a mission to spread the word about the evils of the Christmas season being overtaken by false idols, compulsive buying, and excessive consumption. Along with the reverend are his choir of singers and musicians who spread the word by caroling and preaching in malls and neighborhoods all over the country. Despite the bleached, oversprayed hair and brilliant white costumes of Billy, there is a sincere message with real resources available for anyone interested in his ministry. While much of this movie is entertaining and funny, there are also genuine moments discussing how Wal Mart is ruining small town America, destroying benefits and wages, and decreasing American jobs. It may seem like a silly enterprise, but this preacher is on a mission to save us from ourselves.
Morgan Spurlock Reveals Consumer Nation Via an Old-Time Preacher's Ministry
The average American spends one hour in church and five hours shopping; 75% of us dread the holiday season, which will create over 5,000,000 tons of increased waste and deepen our debt, already at $13,000 per person and over 2.5 trillion as a nation. The film begs the viewer to consider the cost to other people, to the environment, and to ourselves if we continue to consume unnecessary goods from overseas. At one point, the group descends on the Mall of America, icon of consumption, where there are four miles of storefronts and endless shopping possibilities. The group, decked out in red choir robes, sings its way onto a stage in the center of the mall, while dozens of security guards descend upon them. Switch to a closet filled with tiny outfits for a chihuahua, or a small child with a room overflowing with too many toys. Materialism is the culprit and the consequences are driven home in scene after scene.
There are interesting religious symbols desecrated with the commercialism of the season, such as a Madonna holding an Elmo or Jesus holding shopping bags. White-robed followers approach the Wal Mart Home Office praying and chanting, kneeling and praying; the experience is nothing but frustrating. Their message is not welcome. The Las Vegas style preacher lends a phony, slick atmosphere to the film, a satire as overprocessed as Billy's hair and many of the products he denounces. Billy's theatrical gyrations give a vaudevillian feel to his ministry, yet there is a sincerity that comes across too. In one scene, a small toy is shown as we are told about the person in Sri Lanka whose kneecaps were broken because he tried to unionize the workers where it was produced - our choices have consequences. A Christmas Fantasy parade in Disneyland is witnessed with crying children everywhere, a minister sceaming about outsourcing on Main Street in the Disneyland park, then Rev. Billy being arrested in view of the Disneyland guests - all are part of the irony of this film. This is Christmas in America?
What are We Selling in America's Holiday Buying Spree? Our Souls, Ourselves
The movie is not particularly well produced or filmed; the Rev. Billy seems an anachronism and is glaringly incongruent with the twenty-first century. But there is something in that incongruency that works; he himself is a reminder of how phony and false our Christmas season has become and he is on a selling mission of his own. Interviews with elders who recall a simpler time are touching - there must be a better way to get from November to January 1st than the annual shopping binge and accompanying stress, yet with the economic downturn, our shopping may be heading on a downward arc anyway. This film will give you a chuckle or two, and may help you slow down on your consumption and consider a bit more the consequences of how your holiday choices impact the globe, but if the effectiveness of either Rev Billy or this film is our only hope, we are doomed.
- 91 minutes
- Movie site
 |
