McNeilFilmAnnotation1

Title: What Would Jesus Buy Director: Rob VanAlkemade Release year: 2007


 * What is the central argument or narrative of the film?**

The central argument of //What Would Jesus Buy// (WWJB) is that Americans consume too much! The infrastructure of American stores has grown so immense that they could already fit every man, woman, and child in North America South America and Europe inside them all at once. Also approximately 60% of Americans are in long term credit card debt.


 * How is the argument or narrative made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal?**

The film states the there’s a cumulative debt of about 2.4 trillion dollars, and 60% of Americans have over $13,000 of credit card debt. Every year people overspend to provide their loved ones with gifts. These habits are causing responsible people to feel the stressful effects of Christmas just because this is what is presented to them buy marketing companies trying to capitalize on the holiday. I felt a lot of empathy for families in the film that wanted to provide expensive gifts for their children because they grew up without these gifts. This behavior though is unsustainable and will be passed down to the children of these parents.


 * What sustainability problems does the film draw out?**

The film points out simply how many people rely are credit cards to cover the cost of living which isn’t at all sustainable. Every year the holiday creates 5 million tons of extra waste.

at Christmas the film points out the holiday creates


 * What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?**

I was compelled by how physiologist described children and their view of the holiday. Children in the end associate the material good received at Christmas with love and joy, which is exactly what marketers aim for.


 * What audiences does the film best address? Why?**

I feel like young children and teenagers would benefits from watching WWJB. I know when I was much younger I knew my parents purchased all of my gifts for me but I had no conception of the anxiety or stress associates with the holiday. As I’ve grown up and matured Christmas has seem to snowballed into a time of stress. For instance every year I have to buy a gift for my: mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, girlfriend, girlfriend’s mother, girlfriend’s father. That’s 11 gifts and that’s not counting small gifts to close friends and other acquaintances. To make matters much worse due to my schedule I usually don’t make time to shop until the days leading up to Christmas, last year I did all of my shopping on the morning of Christmas eve. The quality of my gifts was less meaningful because I was dredging the shopping and saved it for the last day. Children have no idea what parents or caregivers go through to try to make the holiday enjoyable for them. It seems like the more enjoyable the holiday is for the child, the less it is for the parent.


 * What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?**

I would have like the film a lot more if they discussed the added waste the comes with the holiday. WWJB mentioned briefly that there was much more waste produced during the month of December and January but it didn’t discuss what ramifications of old electronics, Christmas decorations, ect have on the eco system when thrown into the trash.


 * What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective.**

WWJB doesn’t suggest any preventative measures to lessen your spending at Christmas besides just telling people to stop shopping. There are many simple ways to lessen your spending at Christmas. For instance this year my family has decided to do a secret Santa between all of the siblings. So instead of giving 4 gifts to my siblings I’ll give 1. My girlfriend and I have also decided to not exchange gifts due to the lack of money in our student checking accounts. Another alternative is to make gifts for your loved ones. I know this is often more time consuming than just purchasing a gift but it’s not a law that you have to buy a gift to give a gift. Also homemade gifts such as baked goods or tender letters are usually more meaningful than store bought gifts.


 * What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.)**

I was curious about how much waste is generated during the holiday season. I discovered that about 80% of the food purchased during the holidays is wasted or thrown out. This compares to about 33% during the rest of the year. I found that there is a great amount of waste attributed to Christmas and the holiday season and you could possibly make a sustainable movie just pertaining to waste. []

Another facet of this issue that I’m interested in is how much debt Americans acquire from the holiday spending. In this article I found parents spend on average between $190 and $375 per child on Christmas, and about $1500 total to cover the cost of parties, large meals, gifts, decorations, and travel. I also found an article that has many tips to help individuals in debt to budget and manage their way out of the red hole they’ve dug for themselves. [|http://parenting.families.com/blog/how-much-do-you-spend-on-christmas#] []