What Would Jesus Buy? (2007)

I was completely surprised by this film.   Follow Reverend Billy as he marches into malls across America preaching to people not to buy anything for Christmas.  A documentary that condemns, in a satirical way, the over commercialization of Christmas and inspires the "crazy" notion that too many gifts aren't healthy for kids.  As I watched this I thought to myself, why do we do this to ourselves?  Guilt is partly to blame and so is laziness.  Instead of buying our kids whatever they want why not invest in their creativity and produce memories that they'll cherish besides toys they'll stop playing with by the end of day.   Sure the movie mocks our obsessiveness but it doesn't really say we should stop buying presents it just is a loud reminder that too much isn't a good thing.   My favorite scene is when Billy goes into a small town and buys a sweater in a small clothes shop.  This scene re- enforces the truth, in my eyes, that Walmart-ization of our country is killing it bit by bit.  I didn't know what I expected when I decided to give this movie a whirl, but it's not overly religious or anti-religious.   It's just anti-greed, anti-consumerism and pro-family.  It's also a lot of fun.  I love Christmas, and while I still plan to buy gifts for my loved ones, I'm going to consider other ways to give too.  Grade: A-.