DOCUMENTARY-O-RAMA: I have a weakness for documentary filmmakers, for obvious reasons, and I’ve gotten a bunch of documentaries in the mail. I sat down last night and watched the Galloway Brothers’ documentary Why Wal*Mart Works: And Why That Drives Some People C-R-A-Z-Y! and thought it was pretty good. (My wife would say it has too many talking heads, and she’d be right, but I don’t mind talking heads that much, and one of them was me.) My favorite bit was when he interviewed a bunch of anti-Walmart types in the boutique district of Boone, N.C., then it became clear that the boutique district did well because (1) Wal-Mart attracted shoppers to the area, and (2) People could afford to shop in the boutique places because they were getting the necessities of life cheap at Wal-Mart. That’s the sort of Big-Small synergy that I talk about in my book.
I haven’t had a chance to watch them, but I’ve also gotten Steven Greenstreet’s This Divided State,
Meanwhile, I eagerly await the documentary on Samuel’s: An American Phenomenon! Narrated by James Lileks, of course.
UPDATE: A more valid criticism of Wal-Mart: “The problems I have with Wal-Mart have nothing to do with wages, health benefits, non-union workers, et al. If they end up losing me as a customer it’ll be due to the fact that a majority of their stores are unkempt and disorganized. Their aesthetic is severly lacking, and in my opinion, that is eventually going to deal a severe blow to their business.”
Yes. If they were minions of Satan, wouldn’t they be more, um, seductive?
MORE: Unlike me, Michael Demmons has seen Flemming’s film, and posts a review.
STILL MORE: Another Flemming review here.