Netflix brought us another gem this month. I'd placed this one in the queue a while ago, only to have it bumped down repeatedly. We both enjoy a good documentary, but' you've gotta space them out a bit - you can't be serious all the time.

What Would Jesus Buy follows the Reverend Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping on their crusade to get their message out - something Billy struggles with a bit. No, he's not really a Reverend, and no they are not really a church. But you wouldn't know it.

Billy preaches to his congregation, as well as to real churches, about the evils of shopping - the social, moral, and economic irresponsibilities of the current consumerism. Micky Mouse, for example, is his anti-Christ. Products produced by slave labor, they have drawn his ire.


His protests - part performance, part real - have a delightfully comedic element. They attempt to exercise the demons out of cash registers, go caroling door-to-door to sign their versions of Christmas songs, and torment retailers in choir robes, marching and singing all the while.ONe quite memorable scene showed the group protesting outside a strip mall. While being escorted (poorly) off the grounds, Billy calls out through his megephone, "What would Jesus buy?!", in full character. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't buy anything at Staples!" Classic.

The movie itself gets a B. The message gets an A.

Morgan Spurlock's flick is good, but not great. It lacked... something. I'm not sure what, but it certainly wasn't there. This was also somewhat true of Super Size Me. Maybe just a bit anti-climactic. It dropped off at the end, and lacked closure.

Rev. Billy is spot on. Jesus wouldn't buy this crap and he wouldn't buy it from Wal-Mart. He wouldn't support these working conditions. He wouldn't pass buy the local merchants to shop at a super-store. Billy has taken extreme measures here for a noble cause. I'm just not sure how effective his methods are. I'm sure it has quite the impact if you were to see him in person. It also seems like his demonstrations are rather short lived as he is constantly being led away by security.

Have you seen this movie? What did you think?

• Rev. Billy & The Church of Stop Shopping
• video clips from google