tectec
12-01-2007, 02:09 AM
I had nothing else going on this evening so I thought I'd check out a showing of "What Would Jesus Buy" which just opened this weekend in a limited showing (I found out later its on 60 screens around the country). Its a project thats over ten years in the making and it eventually gained support from Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). Apparently he helped with production, fundraising, and distribution.
The movie is a documentary following the comedic preacher dude Reverend Billy who is a leader in the Church of Stop Shopping. I'm not making this up. In the movie he goes around with a couple buses full of gospel choir people and he preaches against consumerism while the gospel choir does its thing. He gets kicked out of places and arrested quite a few times.
I really didn't know what to expect when I walked into the theatre. There are quite a few moving moments in the movie though. One exceptional scene joined three early teenage girls as they were trying to find out where their designer clothes really came from. It was awesome to see them go through an eye-opening experience like that. Another excellent scene showed Rev Billy in a small clothing store on "Main Street" in some small Iowa town. Rev Billy was asking the store owner how he was affected by a couple new local Wal Marts. Its a pretty sad story.
If you enjoy documentary style movies like Super Size Me and some of the Michael Moore stuff then I think you'd like "What Would Jesus Buy." Its a positive message to get out of the stores for a while and go do something good.
After the movie was over, the 10 of so of us in the theatre (it was an afternoon showing) were treated to a surprise as Reverend Billy came out and did an informal Q&A session with us. I could see that he truly wants to inspire people to become a part of this whole "stop shopping" movement. It was a really nice treat to see a movie you enjoy and then have a chance to talk with the star immediately after.
youtube trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sGi21YQFjMM
a better review than mine: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-071130buy-story,1,6140027.story
The movie is a documentary following the comedic preacher dude Reverend Billy who is a leader in the Church of Stop Shopping. I'm not making this up. In the movie he goes around with a couple buses full of gospel choir people and he preaches against consumerism while the gospel choir does its thing. He gets kicked out of places and arrested quite a few times.
I really didn't know what to expect when I walked into the theatre. There are quite a few moving moments in the movie though. One exceptional scene joined three early teenage girls as they were trying to find out where their designer clothes really came from. It was awesome to see them go through an eye-opening experience like that. Another excellent scene showed Rev Billy in a small clothing store on "Main Street" in some small Iowa town. Rev Billy was asking the store owner how he was affected by a couple new local Wal Marts. Its a pretty sad story.
If you enjoy documentary style movies like Super Size Me and some of the Michael Moore stuff then I think you'd like "What Would Jesus Buy." Its a positive message to get out of the stores for a while and go do something good.
After the movie was over, the 10 of so of us in the theatre (it was an afternoon showing) were treated to a surprise as Reverend Billy came out and did an informal Q&A session with us. I could see that he truly wants to inspire people to become a part of this whole "stop shopping" movement. It was a really nice treat to see a movie you enjoy and then have a chance to talk with the star immediately after.
youtube trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sGi21YQFjMM
a better review than mine: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-071130buy-story,1,6140027.story