"What Would Jesus Buy?" film faces tough sell
SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - The makers of "What Would Jesus Buy?" have a problem -- how do you sell a film documenting performance artist Rev. Billy and his Stop Shopping Gospel Choir on a guerrilla U.S. tour against consumerism?
The film follows the white-suited, big-haired Rev. Billy and his 35-member choir as they hit the road in two biodiesel-fueled buses in December 2005.
They invade shopping malls, megastores and Starbucks coffee shops with a message preached in mock-religious fervor that there is evil -- a looming "shopocalypse" -- at the heart of U.S. consumer culture.
Rev. Billy tries to "exorcise" discount chain Wal-Mart's home office in Arkansas. He is arrested in Disneyland on Christmas Day after marching with his red-robed choir and denouncing the Walt Disney Corp. for outsourcing merchandise production.
In an outlet of lingerie shop Victoria's Secret, known for its blizzard of catalog promotions, Rev. Billy exhorts, "O Victoria, we know your secret -- we don't need a million catalogs a day to have our sexual fantasies."
The movie has received early praise and has solid credentials, including executive producer Morgan Spurlock, who scored big with "Super Size Me," a movie targeting McDonald's fast food.
But director Rob VanAlkemade said the movie's message makes it a tough sell to potential distributors.
"Major distributors have backed away because Wal-Mart pushes half of their DVDs," VanAlkemade said after a sold-out screening of the movie on Sunday at the Silverdocs documentary festival near Washington.
Starbucks -- a frequent target of Rev. Billy which got a court order to keep him out of its California stores -- pulled out as a sponsor of Silverdocs. The festival is presented by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel.
Festival spokeswoman Jody Arlington said Starbucks expressed discomfort with the movie and raised security issues, but it let Silverdocs keep the sponsorship money even as it withdrew its logo.
Starbucks Mid-Atlantic manager Carter Bentzel denied the decision was linked to the movie and said Starbucks wanted instead to be involved with a Latin American festival of the American Film Institute.
NO T-SHIRTS
Rev. Billy's partner, Savitri Di, said The Church of Stop Shopping organization also tries to restrain the commercialization of its own activities. Although happy to sell books and other "content," they draw the line at T-shirts.
"That's just advertising," she said.
An exasperated Di wonders in the movie whether Rev. Billy's crusade will ever make an impact. On Sunday she said supportive e-mails from all over the world have given her hope. "That's definitely a kind of change and it's positive," she said.
Rev. Billy in real life is Bill Talen of New York. He said his message has a serious spiritual component despite the satire.
"The multinational corporations have a fundamentalist religion going," he said. "They've got as much control over us as the Roman Catholic Church in the 1300s.
"We're trying to break that. We're finding another thing," he said.
VanAlkemade pledged that the movie will find its way to audiences despite the marketing challenges.
"Talks are ongoing and we're going to save Christmas from a shopocalypse this Christmas one way or another," he said. "Or maybe someone shot this screening today and we'll see it on YouTube tonight. It's worldwide distribution. It's instantaneous."
