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Change-a-lujah! A Conversation with What Would Jesus Buy? Filmmakers Morgan Spurlock and Rob VanAlkemade

Published on December 20, 2007

by Shira Golding

I got my first glimpse of the impending "Shopocalypse" a few years ago when I joined Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping in Times Square on Buy Nothing Day. Referred to by the unconverted as Black Friday, it's the day when Americans flood the malls to spend vast amounts of money on holiday gifts. It's also the day that many people sink deeper into debt, buying things that their loved ones don't really need at great economic, environmental and social cost. Surrounded by the lights and crowds, I lent my voice to a chorus of "Change-a-lujahs" as Reverend Billy attempted to exorcize the demons out of a Starbucks cash register and was then arrested.

In What Would Jesus Buy?, now playing in theatres across the country, we follow Reverend Billy, the Church of Stop Shopping, and Savitri Durkee, Billy's wife and the Church Director, as they travel across the country to spread the good word. While the Reverend has the evangelical preaching style down to a T, his message is less about God and more about people and how the choices we make as consumers have real consequences for ourselves, the planet, and others around the globe.

With Christmas around the corner, I chatted with Producer Morgan Spurlock and Director Rob VanAlkemade about how What Would Jesus Buy? is making an impact.


Shira Golding: What inspired you to make What Would Jesus Buy (WWJB)?

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Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping dare to ask "What Would Jesus Buy?" in Morgan Spurlock and Rob VanAlkemade's anti-consumerism documentary.

Rob VanAlkemade: I first met Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping in 2004, when I was covering the Republican convention in New York City. I started becoming disillusioned with the political process, and even with the filmmaking process a little. But every time I would bump into the Church of Stop Shopping, conducting cash register exorcisms or singing in marches, I became a little more spiritually renewed. Eventually I became friendly enough with the Church that they invited me on a ten-day "Stop Big Boxes" tour across California. That became the short Preacher With an Unknown God, which ended up getting an award at Sundance, and by that point we were working on the feature-length film together.

Shira: And what are your personal feelings about consumerism and globalization?

Rob: Well, if globalization is inevitable, and I wouldn't necessarily take that for granted, I hope that we can develop a globalization with a conscience. Recently, I've been reading up on the genuine progress indicator -- it's just one possible alternative to gross domestic product as the measure of all things great and good. In our current capitalist system, the focus is always on profit and how stocks are performing, etc., but people don't ask nearly enough whether growth has consequences? Is it contributing to a sustainable way of life for us and for people around the world? And what are the stories behind the products we buy? Is there cruelty involved in your Christmas gift? And where is it going to end up -- especially if you didn't necessarily want it or need it -- are you simply contributing to a landfill a few months after the holidays?

Morgan Spurlock: I think the key message of the film is that we've really lost sight of what's important. We've bought into this whole idea that, especially around this one holiday, what matters to us is stuff -- I judge how important you are to me by how much stuff I buy you. I think the core idea behind the film is that there is a better way. This is an idea that has really resonated with me, and I think the people who've seen the film have been in tune with that message.

Shira: And what impact has the film been having?

Morgan: Well, of course, it would be nice to get some corporations to see the film and then decide they're going to change their business practices, but I think the film is more likely to impact one person at a time. With Super Size Me, there were so many people that came up to me to talk about how the movie affected their lives. I think the goal with WWJB? is to have that same kind of personal impact, to inspire somebody to change the way they buy things for their families, to shop locally, to look at where products are actually made. If we can get people to do that, to me, that would be a really huge success.

Rob: I've been hearing heartwarming stories. A bunch of girl scouts went to see the film last weekend, and Savitri Durkee, the Director of the Church of Stop Shopping, spoke after the screening. The girls are now having a re-gifting party for Christmas this year. After WWJB? screened at the Durban Poverty and Inequality Challenge Film Festival in South Africa, the festival organizers realized that they've been going a little overboard every Christmas. They live in a very poor town with over forty percent unemployment, and they decided that this year they're going to pool all their resources and donate everything to charity.

Shira: Wow, those are great stories. Actually, a colleague of mine at Arts Engine said that after seeing the film, a friend of hers returned a Gucci bag that she had bought that morning.

Morgan: That sounds like a "Change-a-lujah" to me right there!

Shira: Absolutely. So obviously you're reaching people through film festivals and the theatrical release, but are you also forging any partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups? And how can individuals take action?

Morgan: In every city where the movie is screening, there are people who have downloaded the organizer's kit from our website, and they are really helping us to get the word out. This is a movie that doesn't have a lot of big studio support behind it. We basically raised the money ourselves to put it out into theatres because we believe in the message. And so people who are also hungry for change are getting involved. We're also partnering with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on their "It's Your Nature" campaign. They have this website where people can post their own videos about what they're giving people for Christmas this year, and there's a video up there of me and one with Reverend Billy and Savitri. It seems like a good way to engage young people in particular.

Shira: I imagine that, just like for Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping, one of your biggest challenges is avoiding preaching to the choir (pun intended). How are you reaching people who wouldn't usually go out and see a film like this?

Morgan: We've reached out to a lot of grassroots groups that are focusing on green issues and supporting local businesses, but at the same time, this film has really begun to bridge a gap. As much as people think that Christian groups might be offended by the film, it seems like they share a lot of core values with Billy. They agree that this holiday has been completely corrupted and co-opted, and they are rallying behind the movie. After the premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March, a Christian group came up to us and said that they had come with a plan to tell us how terrible it was that we were using Jesus' name in vain and how hypocritical we were. But after the screening they felt the movie is so important, that they'll do anything they can to help get the message out.

Rob: The Dallas Morning News just wrote a fantastic article in which they ask why our Christian preachers aren't espousing a message like Billy's at Christmas time, and Christianity Today called Billy's message "in direct continuity with the ancient prophets in Israel."

Morgan: I've also heard from self-proclaimed "raving atheists" that they didn't feel burdened by the theology in the film -- so it seems to be resonating will all kinds of people.

Rob: And I just tapped into a retail think tank where they were brainstorming about the possible impact of a "stop shopping" movement. Surprisingly, a lot of people were expressing that corporations really do need to step up ethically and encourage sustainable consumerism or another model altogether. And one gentleman mentioned that he hadn't seen the far right and far left get together on an issue like this with such universal cohesion.

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Director Rob VanAlkemade and Reverend Billy, hanging out at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where What Would Jesus Buy? premiered. Photo By John Anderson

Shira: The film is relatively focused on Christmas. How do you see the impact extending beyond the holiday season?

Morgan: I think Billy sums that up really eloquently in the movie when he says, "If you can change Christmas, then you can change the whole year." This one day is very representative of how we shop and live the other 364 days. If you can start to have an impact on how people view this one holiday, this one orgy of consumption, then you can start to change how people think about shopping and giving and family more broadly.

Shira: In addition to its anti-consumerist message, WWJB? offers real insight into what it takes to be an activist and all of the physical and emotional challenges involved. Some people might ask why you chose to include the rough times. How do you think these scenes affect the message that viewers are taking away?

Rob: We were just trying to present the true struggle that any activist or idealist faces on a regular basis. Sometimes, it's not even easy to wrap your head around how to change your own personal shopping behavior, let alone how to appeal to the world. This is the reality, and it's important for audiences to see that Billy and Savitri and all the people in the choir are dealing with the same questions and challenges.

Shira: I think that really comes across, especially in the way you portray Billy and Savitri's relationship in the film.

Rob: It's clear to all of us, to the entire choir and to all the filmmakers, that Savitri is a tremendous anchor and a galvanizing force. For example, she's so great at communicating with the police in potentially very tense situations -- she'll bring it right back to the human level. She's also great at communicating with Billy when nobody else can even come close to getting into his space as an activist and artist.

Shira: Another message that I take away from the film is that activism can take on different forms; it's not just about demonstrating in the streets. What do you guys think about Reverend Billy's form of activism compared to other approaches?

Morgan: Billy is someone who uses humor to get his message out there. You can yell and you can scream, but you can turn people off very quickly using that kind of strategy. But if you can make people laugh, then you can make people listen, and Billy does a really smart job of mixing his message into his performance. Somebody once called him a "performance activist," and I think that's exactly what he is. He does something that I think a lot of people can learn from.

Rob: I see a few different examples of activism in the film. The three teenage girls doing the simplest web search about where the things they buy come from -- that's a form of activism. There's a scene in Traer, Iowa where Billy and Savitri are talking to a shop owner about how his business is going down because it's surrounded by Wal-Marts. Those three people simply verbally committing to supporting their local economies -- that's activism, too.

Shira: We are unfortunately living at a time when activists are too often labeled as "terrorists," especially within the environmental and animal rights movements. What role do you feel civil disobedience plays in society today, and how is the crackdown affecting people like Reverend Billy who literally put their bodies on the line to get their message out there?

Rob: I'm reminded of Billy's recent arrest in Union Square, where the forty-hour workweek was invented, for reciting the first amendment. One of Billy's big issues is that our public squares have been co-opted and privatized to the extent that you can't stand up and petition your government for redress of grievances without being called at the very least unpatriotic if not a terrorist, and carted off to jail. Billy's been arrested coming up on fifty times for similar infractions of his inherent first amendment rights, in part because he's running out of the space to exercise them in.

Shira: So do you think he'll ever give up?

Rob: No, he won't stop, and I think that the grey area between public and private is going to have to acquiesce to be a little more public as we move forward. We simply have to assert our rights to express ourselves.

Shira: So what's next in terms of outreach for the film?

Morgan: Billy and Savitri and the choir are going to hit a bunch of colleges right after the new year. They'll screen the film and talk about the project and why they do what they do. Film is an incredibly powerful medium, and it's an international medium. Movies are the number one export of the United States. As filmmakers we should continue to find ways to create relevant, interesting, and entertaining films that can deal with social issues in a way that people can actually enjoy. I'm a big believer that a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.

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Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping attempt to exorcize Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Photo By Fred Askew

Shira: Amen!

Rob: Change-a-lujah!

Shira: And what's next for you both?

Morgan: We're just finishing season three of 30 Days right now, and I'm finishing a film about Osama Bin Laden that's premiering on January 21st at the Sundance Film Festival.

Rob: The reason that I started shooting the Church of Stop Shopping in 2004 is that I was desperately trying to do some creative work with a message. I was trying to figure out how to keep people in their seats -- entertained, moved and laughing -- and at the same time, create social change. And I'll be working on that balance in the future as well, as often as possible.

Shira: Is there anything else you want to share with our readers? I'm sure you want them to go out and watch What Would Jesus Buy?.

Morgan: And go out and make your own films -- keep making movies!


Stop the Shopocalypse! Download the Organizer's Kit.

Ready to confess? Join the conversation on the WWJB? forums.

Submit your own video about consumption to NRDC's "It's Your Nature" campaign.

What are doing this Sunday? Find out how you can see Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping live at RevBilly.com.