For many the holidays this month usher in “the most wonderful time of the year.” However, faced with a swelling deluge of advertising and an omnipresent encouragement to buy, the cynics among us will disagree. The National Retail Federation projects that consumers in America could spend upwards of $730 billion this holiday season.* Check out these documentaries that scrutinize our society’s retail obsession.
“The Store: The Inner-Workings of a Department Store” (1983)
Though many department stores have grown obsolete in our current moment of intense digital commerce, much can be gleaned from Frederick Wiseman’s study of a Dallas Neiman Marcus. Tedious at times, Wiseman pokes fun at the microcosm of exclusivity and luxury goods.
“Czech Dream” (2004)
Two film students experiment with the power of advertising and branding, coaxing eager Czech consumers into a frenzied visit to a new, but fictitious “hypermarket.” Set 15 years after Czechoslovakia opened to the West, Remunda and Klusack’s market research shows that shoppers in the Letňany district of Prague desire a retail experience that delivers “the easy life” of plenitude and convenience.
“Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping” (2006)
This hour-long documentary stars Reverend Billy, one of the loudest anti-consumerist critics who, with a team of disciples, stages protests at multinational corporate franchises like Starbucks. While freely admitting he isn’t really a member of the clergy, Billy Talen flamboyantly adopts the persona to preach about companies’ poor labor standards and fat profits.
*Interestingly, 59% of those surveyed prefer receiving gift cards as their presents, motivating another round of shopping should their wishes be granted.
