The Reverend Billy is clearly a man on a mission: namely, to convince American consumers to tear up their credit cards and stop shopping. Since the Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil, the right good reverend has taken it upon himself to preach the gospel of No Shopping to a world drowning in a sea of Madison Avenue marketing and debt. His congregation even calls itself the Church of Stop Shopping, and every Christmas season, his devoted flock fans out to local malls and shopping centers to preach against the evils of consumerism and to lead exhausted and beleaguered shoppers to redemption.
Rob VanAlkemade's "What Would Jesus Buy?" is a lively and colorful documentary that follows the CCS and its leader as they travel around the country spreading the word to the masses. In the prologue, we're informed that, whereas America "used to be a nation of producers, now we're a nation of consumers." Our savings rate stands at zero, as we groan under mounds of ever-increasing personal debt. Psychologists, in fact, estimate that 15 million Americans may be "clinically addicted" to shopping, and we're told that the nation's citizens spend five times more time shopping in stores (and now on the internet) than praying in church.
This is the situation that Reverend Billy is hell-bent on rectifying. Part religious zealot and part crowd-pleasing showman, Revered Billy is in the time-honored tradition of all those big-haired, fire-and-brimstone preachers who stand on street corners or in the pulpits of churches thunderously decrying the evils of the world and offering personal salvation – only, in his case, it's salvation from the demonic forces of wanton spending. Combining a social message with street-theater and performance art antics like singing anti-commercial Christmas carols to bemused and befuddled audiences, Reverend Billy and his minions have been arrested numerous times for invading retail stores in an attempt to bring a halt to the commerce taking place within them. At one point, they even mount an assault on the nation's ultimate shoppers' Mecca, the Mall of America, where countless pilgrims go every year to bow down and worship the almighty god of consumerism. But Reverend Billy saves his greatest opprobrium for the Walt Disney Corporation, which he sees as a false god – even going so far as refer to Mickey Mouse as his own personal antichrist - dedicated to making money at any cost, including exploiting underpaid workers in Third World countries. The movie also slams what has come to be known as the "Walmart-ization" of America, as more and more mom-and-pop retailers are driven out of business by massive corporations whose sole concern is the bottom line and, thus, have no qualms about shipping many of their jobs overseas.
This affectionate, humor-filled movie makes us complicit in the group's actions, which means we also get to be present for those rare moments of quiet reflection when the participants question just how many people they are actually converting to their creed. But far more often, we see how nothing – not overzealous security forces, not unresponsive crowd, not even a serious bus accident (at which we are present) – can dampen their commitment to their cause.
Of course, the movie, in its passion and zeal for Reverend Billy and what he is advocating, neglects to address the rather obvious counterargument that if people were to stop shopping entirely – especially at Christmas – the economy might come to a screeching halt, resulting in far-reaching harmful consequences for the nation as a whole.
Still, it's hard not to buy at least some of what "What Would Jesus Buy?" is selling.
Rob VanAlkemade's "What Would Jesus Buy?" is a lively and colorful documentary that follows the CCS and its leader as they travel around the country spreading the word to the masses. In the prologue, we're informed that, whereas America "used to be a nation of producers, now we're a nation of consumers." Our savings rate stands at zero, as we groan under mounds of ever-increasing personal debt. Psychologists, in fact, estimate that 15 million Americans may be "clinically addicted" to shopping, and we're told that the nation's citizens spend five times more time shopping in stores (and now on the internet) than praying in church.
This is the situation that Reverend Billy is hell-bent on rectifying. Part religious zealot and part crowd-pleasing showman, Revered Billy is in the time-honored tradition of all those big-haired, fire-and-brimstone preachers who stand on street corners or in the pulpits of churches thunderously decrying the evils of the world and offering personal salvation – only, in his case, it's salvation from the demonic forces of wanton spending. Combining a social message with street-theater and performance art antics like singing anti-commercial Christmas carols to bemused and befuddled audiences, Reverend Billy and his minions have been arrested numerous times for invading retail stores in an attempt to bring a halt to the commerce taking place within them. At one point, they even mount an assault on the nation's ultimate shoppers' Mecca, the Mall of America, where countless pilgrims go every year to bow down and worship the almighty god of consumerism. But Reverend Billy saves his greatest opprobrium for the Walt Disney Corporation, which he sees as a false god – even going so far as refer to Mickey Mouse as his own personal antichrist - dedicated to making money at any cost, including exploiting underpaid workers in Third World countries. The movie also slams what has come to be known as the "Walmart-ization" of America, as more and more mom-and-pop retailers are driven out of business by massive corporations whose sole concern is the bottom line and, thus, have no qualms about shipping many of their jobs overseas.
This affectionate, humor-filled movie makes us complicit in the group's actions, which means we also get to be present for those rare moments of quiet reflection when the participants question just how many people they are actually converting to their creed. But far more often, we see how nothing – not overzealous security forces, not unresponsive crowd, not even a serious bus accident (at which we are present) – can dampen their commitment to their cause.
Of course, the movie, in its passion and zeal for Reverend Billy and what he is advocating, neglects to address the rather obvious counterargument that if people were to stop shopping entirely – especially at Christmas – the economy might come to a screeching halt, resulting in far-reaching harmful consequences for the nation as a whole.
Still, it's hard not to buy at least some of what "What Would Jesus Buy?" is selling.