Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Lutter has nearly finished shooting Not For$ale, a mockumentary about overconsumption. Styled after Michael Moore’s work, the film follows the picaresque journey of a Cookie Monsterish yellow puppet. At home in Canada, he meets a variety of people who teach him about the growing movement to scale back our consumption. His addiction blocked by Buy-Nothing Day, he seeks help and is referred to Dr. Benson. He flies to New York City for an intake appointment with her and they continue their work by telephone. He feels a spiritual void in his life and goes to see Reverend Billy, but is unconvinced that decreasing his shopping would help. He moves on to Japan, the oriental bastion of consumerism, where he has a serious relapse and eventually kicks his habit by meditating with a Zen Santa in front of one of Tokyo’s largest stores. The film will be ready for film festivals this summer and out in theatres late in 2006.
Carrie Rattle is a Principal at BehavioralCents.com, a website for women focused on mind and money behaviors. She has worked in the financial services industry for 20+ years and hopes to inspire women to better prepare themselves for financial independence.