September 30, 2007

I'm a big fan of Morgan Spurlock and he has produced a new document that played this weekend at the San Francisco Indie Film Festival and it looks like a must see:

Take heed brothers and sisters! The shopacalypse is upon us! America is fat with greed and addicted to shopping. Luckily, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir are here to save our souls from overspending! In the weeks leading to Christmas, Reverend Billy and the Choir board a bus headed from advertising-thick Times Square through the heartland's shopping malls to the commercial mecca-Disneyland. Part performance art, part spendthrift evangelism, they cross the US singing and preaching to spend gently. With the average American holding about $8,500 in credit card debt, his work is overdue. Reverend Billy is serious in his message. He doesn't preach the impossible task of never buying again, but encourages us to be mindful of where our dollars go. We visit a Main Street men's clothing store struggling for customers against the Wal-Mart up the road and a line of Christmas shoppers waiting to buy an Xbox 360 lest they feel the wrath of their consumption-addicted children. Billy and the choir go caroling to incite ‘change-a-lujah!' along front porches in gated community and from church pulpits. They're making trouble, evading Mall of America security, and just like the rest of us, they're fighting the urge to buy for the sake of spending. By the time they get to Disneyland, you may find yourself converted, ready to buy American and swear-off big box stores in favor of your local merchant.

The SFIndie website has Rev. Billy on the Glenn Beck Show, but since I cringe at the sound of Beck's voice, here is director Rob VanAlkemade describing the movie. The audio is a little poor, but it beats Beck any day.

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