Documentaries that Counter the "Shop 'Til You Drop" Phenomenon

By this point in the Holiday Season, you probably fall into one of the following 5 camps:

1.  It's not December 20th yet, so you haven't even thought about starting.

2.  You are like me, you've toe-dipped in (mainly through online ventures since you can't stomach "real" shopping), but are still waiting on some wish lists because you want it to be right & your money well-spent on the best deal you can find.

3.  You're a DIY-Pinterest-kind-of-peep who has been busy crafting for months.

4.  You are über-organized and shop all year long, and are nearly (if not completely) done--perhaps with even presents wrapped under your already-decorated tree.

5.  You shopped 'til you dropped over Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday Weekend and you are done, or darn-near close (clearly with more stamina than this girl will ever have to endure the crowded craziness of guerrilla shopping at that level).

Here's AJ+'s take on all that's #5:


Regardless of the type of shopper, you probably have some kind of shopping list, some kind of budget, and some kind of despair of getting the "just right" gift for those you love.  Stress is usually involved in one way or another.

I've written many times before about Annie Leonard's "The Story of Stuff," materialism, & how shopping doesn't buy happiness--it's a proven fact.  I ran across this great article/list on Black Friday about videos compiled about consumerism (and the conundrum it creates) over at Films for Action (written by Tim Hjersted).

Here are a number of documentaries he shared. (I listed them here by date released, most recent first.):

• Culture in Decline #3:  CVD--Consumption Vanity Disorder (2013)
• Pyramids of Waste: The Lighbulb Conspiracy:  The Untold Story of Planned Obsolescence (2010)
• Consuming Kids:  The Commercialization of Childhood (2008)
• What Would Jesus Buy?  (2007)
• No Logo: Brands. Globalization. Resistance. (2003)
• Surplus:  Terrorized into Being Consumers (2003)
• The Century of Self (2002)
• Advertising & The End of the World (1997)
• Affluenza (1997)

Interesting: 18 years of still-topical documentaries. 18 years?!  With no real signs of the times based on Cyber Monday's stat's (see the AJ+ video above!)

He also has a nice list of shorts where you can get the condensed version & more on materialism. That's where I found The Center For A New American Dream's "The High Price of Materialism:"



Images from http://www.coupons.com/thegoodstuff/which-type-of-holiday-shopper-are-you/, http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/black_friday_is_buy_nothing_day/; videos from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ospeMuUFgyk and  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGab38pKscw