A Monkey Movie Review

I've been wanting to see this documentary ever since I first heard about it and last night it was on Sundance Channel:
Right off the bat I must tell you that I love Reverend Billy and his message of stopping shopping at corporate stores. I love how he attacks Starbucks, Disney, Target, Wal Mart, and other mega corporations for how they have ruined many a life and town. To me he's a hero who should be lauded every time he 'preaches.'

So having said that, what do you think I thought of this film?

Yeah, you're right. I liked it a lot. I didn't love it, but I really liked it.

The movie documents Rev. Billy, and for those of you who don't know, Rev. Billy is not a real minister, he's a character played by Bill Talen, and his choir as they tour America by bus spreading their message of stop shopping through song and sermon. They start out in NYC and head across the midwest, the southwest, and end up in Disneyland on Christmas day. The message they spread is simple, stop shopping at big corporate retailers and buy local when ever possible. Also they want people to consume less so that the people who work in the sweatshops under deplorable inhumane conditions won't have to work as hard and so that the planet won't be raped of it's natural resources. They also try to spread the message that Christmas isn't about an orgy of consumerism, it's about spending time with those you love and celebrating the birth of a man who wanted to bring peace to all the world.

As you might imagine, mega retailers and the corporations he attacks don't like Rev. Billy and his choir and they have him thrown off their property and have him arrested whenever possible. Which goes to show you how fucked up our system is. By that I mean if you go into Wal Mart, or Target, or Disneyland, and point out to people shopping there that those corporations ruin communities by paying low wages, keep thousands enslaved making cheap trinkets and clothing, and run their competitors out of business using nefarious business practices, then the corporations can call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing. But on the other if you call the cops on Wal Mart for killing the businesses in your downtown area, or on Target for selling stuff below cost when locally owned stores can't, or on Disney for using it's entertainment products to dilute your culture while promoting the go go consume at all costs American lifestyle, then the cops would laugh at you.

So yeah, this film has many valid points that millions of us need to hear again and again. And if you're a huge fan of all things Disney, or Target, or Wal Mart, then you're going to hate this film, but you are just the type of person that needs to see it.

Rev. Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping Now Choir are so spot on it's uncomfortable at times. But one way or another what he wants is going to come to pass sooner or later because our economy is unsustainable. It's going to collapse one day either because of the man made climate changes we're causing, or when the rest of you get laid off because all the jobs in the US are outsourced by the greedy corporations. And it looks like we've learned nothing from the last economic melt down so when it melts down again and China won't give us any more credit maybe we'll have to start making things here again and when the corporate genetically modified crops fail for good then well have to start growing our own food again as well. And when those days come maybe Rev. Billy will be seen for the national hero that he is.