For those fed up with the over-commercialization of Christmas, we have What Would Jesus Buy? currently available on instant Netflix.
WATCH: What Would Jesus Buy? (2007) – Rated PG for thematic material and brief mild language.
“Taking on rampant American consumerism with a focus on Christmas shopping, the Rev. Billy (Bill Talen) and the Church of Stop Shopping go on a cross-country journey to save citizens from the Shopocalypse in this hilarious documentary produced by Morgan Spurlock. Reminding shoppers of the true meaning of Christmas, Reverend Billy exorcises demons at Wal-Mart’s headquarters and preaches his message at the Mall of America and Disneyland.”
While not directed by Morgan Spurlock (credit goes to Rob VanAlkemade), this is similar to the Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore series of documentaries. It is highly entertaining while having some very good points to make. It also features a really annoying gadfly (again much like the Michael Moore documentaries).
Bill Talen, aka Reverend Billy, is that gadfly and the focus of the documentary and the cameras follow him and his followers as they travel around the country in a rather ramshackle bus. They take on Wal-Mart, the Mall of America, Disney, Starbucks, and, of course, consumerism in general. Whereas Michael Moore is often very careful to stay within the law however, Reverend Billy often seems to be inviting arrest with his antics. I found his revival church antics somewhat grating though I very much appreciated his message.
One couple that they interview in particular is quite harrowing. The wife appears to be a stay at home mom and gets new credit cards so that she can max them out for Christmas. She brags that the card she just got will be completely maxed out by the end of the day. They mention paying on the Christmas credit card bill almost all the next year. This is really not surprising as they later show Christmas where both kids have wrapped toys stacked everywhere and the kids are in working car replicas.
People Watch: The Reverend Billy’s Church of Stop Shopping now appears to be The Church of Life after Shopping and can be found here.
