These performance artists take on Christmas commercialism with potent religious fervor. Director Rob VanAlkemade tags along with Reverend Billy and his collective during a recent December cross-country tour, which began in New York’s Times Square and concluded at Disneyland. Along the way, we see Christmas bells being replaced by the cacophonous sound of ringing cash registers.
This anti-spending movement began when Reverend Billy, played by Bill Talen, realized that his New York neighborhood had devolved into a gaudy neon advertisement for The Walt Disney Company. Furthermore, he noticed that these gods of commerce had transformed Christmas into one big shopping nightmare; a buying season where too much is never enough.
But if we can gear down Americans’ purchasing habits during the holiday season, Reverend Billy speculated, perhaps we can reasonably modify their spending year round. Thus he created the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, which transforms familiar Christmas carols into entertaining musical manifestos of anti-consumerism.
The first half of this film presents a lighthearted look at American consumerism; we meet a woman who shows off a complete holiday wardrobe she bought for her dog. But toward the latter part of the movie, we witness Reverend Billy’s protest at Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Arkansas.
As the activist visuals hit the screen, we also learn a few distressing facts about how teenage girls in Bangladesh create Wal-Mart’s clothing, getting paid next to nothing while working nearly around the clock. And in the blink of an eye, this “holiday” story takes on deeper implications than just encouraging consumers to cut up their credit cards.
One particularly moving scene involves three presumably spoiled American teenagers, who search the internet to learn the facts about harsh conditions under which their cute fashions are manufactured. The shocked looks on their faces speak volumes.
What Would Jesus Buy? won’t stop anyone from shopping entirely; after all, we’re consumers in a capitalist society. But if you’re paying attention, you’ll stop and think more deeply about what a glaring, crass endeavor Christmas has become.
And if you end up with a few shocked looks of your own while watching this film, this project has done its job.
– Dan MacIntosh
What Would Jesus Buy?
Director: Rob VanAlkemade
Produced by Morgan Spurlock
90 minutes, a Warrior Poets production in association with Werner Film
Released in select US cities on November 16, 2007
What Would Jesus Buy?: www.wwjbmovie.com
Werner Film: www.wernerfilm.com