Jesus+Buy?+-+JPH

**Director:** Rob Van Alkermade **Year:** 2007
 * Film:** What Would Jesus Buy?

**What is the central argument or narrative of the film?** The central argument of the film is that consumerism has replaced love, family and faith as the core of Christmas. As a culture westerners have lost the true value of Christmas and have replaced it with activities that leave us both emotionally and financially drained. If we were to shop less then we could create a much more meaningful Christmas experience.

**What sustainability problems does the film draw out?** Consumerism is the main issue that is discussed in the film. It is brought up in the film as a social issue in the sense that it makes us unhappy and that it devalues Christmas and in effect devalues our relationships with our family, friends, and Jesus. The effects of consumerism that relate to sustainability include the waste that is generated, social injustice, credit card debt, and greenhouse gas emissions. Consumerism helps to contribute to the massive amount of garbage that we dispose of everyday. At Christmas time Americans will generate an extra 500 million tons of garage and waste. This waste requires carbon to be made and transported, uses valuable resources in a single cradle to grave cycle, and contributes to the toxicity of landfills. Social injustice is a sustainability problem enabled by consumerism because it prevents impoverished people from having a voice. To get cheap goods labor costs must be kept so low that the poor can barely afford to live. This sends the poor people into a survival mode where they don’t have the resources to be concerned about health, safety or environmental sustainability. Credit Card debt is a sustainability problem that is brought about by consumerism in the sense that the debt disempowers people from making sustainable choices due to the higher cost of most sustainable goods. It also forces people to work longer and harder to get money to pay off their debt. This reduces the amount of time that they have available to contribute to social work or volunteering. Greenhouse gas emissions stem from consumerism in the sense that all of the unnecessary goods that are purchased require processes that release greenhouse gases to be made and to the stores and to individual homes. A single item can be tied to thousands of pounds of CO2 before it reaches the landfill.

**What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?** The most persuasive and compelling part of the film was the demonstration of just how addicted to shopping Americans really are and that they actually seem to realize that it makes them more unhappy around the holidays. The film showed shoppers who went out and spent hundreds of dollars and several hours doing Christmas shopping for their dog and also people young and old who were so obviously engrossed in their shopping that they never even realized just how addicted they came across on camera. It was also interesting to see how people reacted to Rev. Billy. Many of them laughed, joked, and/ or related to how ridiculous their shopping experience was and seemed to be thankful that someone was telling them that they didn’t have to go out and buy so much junk.

**What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?** I was not convinced that the title of the film connected to the content. There was very little discussion in the film about how to connect Christianity to the market and how Jesus would shop. Some points of intervention were discussed, but they were never related to Christian Theology. I was also not convinced by the spectacle of Reverend Billy. He was way over the top in many ways and I think that he in fact may have scared more people away from his message then brought enlightenment to it. He never seemed to bring up sweatshop labor or the massive amounts of waste during his preaching. Instead he often turned it into a show.

**What audiences does the film best address? Why?** The film best addresses those that are interested in Rev. Billy or are sympathetic to the work that he is going. It is good for charismatic evangelicals who believe that there is problem with the consumerism that has taken over Christmas. The film is more of a documentary about the work of Rev. Billy and does not go into too much detail about the effects on the environment and does not sufficiently explore the effects of consumerism on people. Therefore this film would not serve as a good medium to show to people who you are trying to convince that consumerism is destroying the environment. Also Rev. Billy is so very unique in his methodology that this film could easily have the potential to make people extremely uncomfortable and thus miss the message that he is proclaiming.

**What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?** I would have liked to have seen more details about some of the sustainability issues or a more in-depth look at 3rd world “slave labor.” A lot of the important issues were only given a cursory discussion to allow more time for the documentary portion of the pilgrimage of the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir. They could have looked at the resources required to produce products or the how much and what types of products are discarded so readily during the Christmas season.

**What kinds of actions 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.** The film suggests points of intervention in the form of reducing the amount of shopping one does especially around the holidays. Instead use that time to build relationships with the ones that you love. It also suggests buying from local businesses so that the money stays local and does not go to padding corporate wallets. Buying USA made products or Fair Trade products is also another point of intervention; ensuring that the producers are able to meet their day to day living needs and provide for their families.

**What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out?** This film prompted me to learn more about how the media is involved in promoting consumerism and as such my second matrix presentation focused on the connection between the media, consumerism, and public participation in sustainability issues. Media, Consumerism and Civic Participation I also looked up more information about the other causes that Rev. Billy fights for and was interested to learn that he is also very concerned about mountain top removal mining. []