Big-box retailer Wal-Mart takes issue with small documentary

[Moloch]

NORFOLK — How do you get under the skin of the world’s largest retailer? The makers of “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” might have the answer.

The film, which opens for a single showing tonight at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Ghent, is a 97-minute lambasting of the Bentonville, Ark.-based company. It makes no apologies about its activist bent, promising to take viewers “behind the glitz” and uncover the retail giant’s “assault on families and American values.”

The film features the owners of small-town hardware and grocery stores, former Wal-Mart managers and Chinese factory workers, who testify to Wal-Mart’s alleged predatory practices and to the far-reaching effects of its global power and obsession with low costs. Launched Sunday, it is set to hit 7,000 screenings, many of them in churches or other private venues, by Saturday.

“There’s been some buzz about this movie for a while,” said Naro co-owner Tench Phillips.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=95357&ran=141074

[hadrons]

1. I'm getting it ....

you can get it up to 40% off there (the site normally is 20%, but this week they have a promo with www.dvdtalk.com that will knock off another 20% -- enter the coupon code DVDTALK in the promotion code box when you check out to receive your discount) ... see http://www.dvdtalk.com/ for details

if you want to go to a store, Barnes & Noble is a big Dem contributor (Amazon and Circuit City are big Rep contributors)


Also its come out that Walmart has ordered its employees not to see it, with management going to local showings to enforce this.

[tcookie5]

2. Free Screenings

Some areas are having a free screening of the movie. I hope the link I post will take you to the website and you can find out where the free screenings are where you live.

http://www.walmartmovie.com/find.php

[donco6]

5. Yes, it works

Welcome to DU, tcookie5! :hi:

[newyawker99]

26. Hi tcookie5!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BiggJawn]

3. Always the lowest price always, eh?

Isn't it Ironic?

[acmejack]

4. Can they enforce this?

Seems like an issue of rights. Of course on their wages, who can afford a lawyer?

[pberq]

9. Good question.

How can WalMart enforce what their employees do in their private time?

And the Republican supporters of WalMart claim that we are fighting for "freedom" in Iraq!

[Dogmudgeon]

15. That's half the point

The first "associate" who is fired will trigger a huge backlash against Wal-Mart.

I suspect the news of Wal-Mart managers policing the theaters is a rumor designed to scare timid associates. If I worked at Wal-Mart, I'd not only see the thing, I'd buy it and invite all my friends. Then, if I was fired, I'd be first in line to sue the bastards to Kingdom Come.

I think I know what's going on the next bunch of my stealth Wal-Mart leaflets.

--p!

[NYC Liberal]

29. Even better, if they fire anyone with this policy

they'll be shown doing exactly the kinds of things as in the movie. Wal-Mart is stupid for instituting this policy.

[Occulus]

34. Weyco already set the precedent.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS03/50209002/-1/special&theme=WEYCO_FIRINGS&template=theme

Found via Google.

Yes, you CAN now be fired for legal activities you engage in on your own, personal time.

[keopeli]

7. Thanks. I just ordered one for under $8.66

Not a lot to invest and support this film.

[superconnected]

17. Thanks I went there and got it for $8.74 after shipping cost.

[superconnected]

21. and I signed up for a screening. :)

[NYdemocrat089]

33. Where did you order it for 40% off?

I would love to see this, but the only movie theater around here showing it is charging $7.50. I'd rather buy the movie, and pay a little more, than pay that much to see it once.

Thanks!

[donco6]

6. I definitely want to see this one.

See my Wal*Mart problem on my other post:

http://tinyurl.com/duz6m

[KarenS]

8. I just bought a copy,,,,

This way we can watch it at our convenience AND share it with friends/family !!

[chat_noir]

10. Time to Target Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart's size, policies and politics have become major threats to America's well-being, and it's time to strike back.

...

If Wal-Mart's size is a problem, its policies are a threat. Wal-Mart is the model "low-road" corporation in the global economy. Its efficiency is celebrated; but its exploitation is caustic. The average pay of a Wal-Mart employee is $8.23 per hour, or an average yearly income of $14,000 -- not enough to lift a family out of poverty. Wal-Mart is infamous for requiring workers to work overtime off the books. It's been cited for locking workers in plants overnight. The company has been hauled into court for discriminating against female employees. And it is viciously, rabidly anti-union, crushing any attempt by its workers to organize to gain a fair share of the profits they help generate.

...

In China, Wal-Mart pushes its suppliers to lower their costs, generating sweatshops in which young workers -- primarily women -- are forced to work grotesque hours at subsistence wages. According to The Washington Post, Wal-Mart even pressures its suppliers to pay less than the Chinese minimum wage.

Wal-Mart also exploits taxpayers, for it is what Ronald Reagan would denounce as the leading corporate welfare queen. It's estimated that Wal-Mart's government subsidies total a whopping $2.7 billion, or $2,100 per employee. An internal memo to the board leaked recently reported that "our coverage is expensive for low-income families, and Wal-Mart has a significant percentage of associates and their children on public assistance." In fact, nearly one-half of the children of Wal-Mart employees are either on Medicaid or have no insurance at all.

...

America as we know it can't afford Wal-Mart. We can't sustain a $200 billion annual trade deficit with China, but Wal-Mart drives that deficit. We can't afford to subsidize the health care costs of the largest employers in the country -- even as declining wages starve our public coffers. We can't afford to allow sweatshop labor access to the largest distribution network, without accelerating a global race to the bottom.

http://www.alternet.org/walmart/28263/


http://www.walmartmovie.com/wmtv/

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

[Moloch]

11. A counter movie called "Why WalMart Works"...

is coming out at the same time.

Wal-Mart says they had nothing to do with the film, but it would be just like them to spend money on PR rather than to benefit their employees.

[Triana]

12. going to a private showing....

....and I don't feel an ounce of pity for the parasite upon our society, economy, and working people that is Wal-Mart.

I wish they'd go out of business.

[Javaman]

13. china-mart has glitz????? n/t

[wordpix]

20. haha, Walmart glitz IS an oxyMORON, thanks

[leftofthedial]

14. I saw it last night

Wal Mart is perhaps the one single most evil economic force on the planet.

[malachibk]

16. I went to a screening this past Sunday in NYC

I highly reccommend it. Infuriating

[melissinha]

18. incidentally its not only labor, its also environmental

My hometown had been an uproar up until 2003 about the location of a superwalmart.... ONe of the first towns to complain about thm.... basically a request to build on one site was rejected by a sepecial counsel that had jurisdiction, so they took it to city council and had it approved. Thing is, city council had no jurisdiction and building on that site meant they had to fill a flood plain....BIG no no... My Philosopy Prof was one of the the plaintiffs... they eventually won as the case went as far as Iowa Supreme Court... it was a really stink at the time...

[wordpix]

19. low cost at the expense of workers and environment, that is

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mitchum]

23. Corporate bloodsuckers thank you for your hard work

good doggie, hound dog

[Enhancer]

25. It hit the spot didn't it?

...

[mitchum]

27. Go, Spot, go?

[MisterP]

24. oh NO!

how dare we criticize Wal*Mart, which wants nothing but the best for us all and the poor!!!!!

[superconnected]

28. bump

I'm going tonight with another du-er. I'll report back.

[superconnected]

30. excellent movie.

It kept my interest all the way though. It said tons of things I didn't know.

I highly recommend it.

[regnaD kciN]

31. As the "other DUer" at that screening...

...I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of 4, or 4 1/2 out of 5, or...well, let's just say it was pretty good. The filmmakers nicely broke down the various myths spread by Wal*Mart P.R. about the supposed benevolence of the company, one after the other, in distinct sequences starting with a clip from a Wal*Mart commercial and a comment from their CEO, then an in-depth look (quoting heavily from interviews given by ex-employees and managers) rebutting their claims. Sequences included the treatment of employees, the effects on surrounding communities, environmental issues, the lives of their factory workers in China, etc., etc.

If I had to come up with criticisms, I would point out two areas:

First, I thought it a bit of a stretch to bring up the list of crimes taking place in Wal*Mart parking lots as proof that Wal*Mart doesn't care about their customers. Such crimes take place all the time in large parking lots, usually found at shopping malls, simply because the size of the lot makes it easier to get away unobserved. (The "Beltway snipers" killed one woman in the parking lot of a Home Depot -- does that prove that Home Depot is somehow responsible for her death?)

Second, I think the filmmakers tried too hard to give the documentary an upbeat ending, showing how political organizers in Inglewood, California blocked a Wal*Mart being constructed there. While it was established that this is happening in a number of communities throughout the nation*, I found that it was pushing it to declare this as "VICTORY," the way the film portrayed it in a closing musical montage(!). Although every time Wal*Mart is stopped is a triumph for the surrounding community, the fact remains that, even if Wal*Mart was stopped from opening a single new store for the next ten years, that would not reduce one iota the ill-effects nationwide from the thousands of stores already in place. I'd be happier if the film showed workable ways to ameliorate the problems in places where Wal*Mart is already established. Could there be campaigns for laws protecting union organizing, enforcing payment for overtime work, "encouraging" companies to fund proper health-care for their employees, and so on? If the only hope is to keep Wal*Mart away from your community, the battle is pretty much lost in most places. How can we deal with the situation as it already is?

*(I wonder, however, in how many cases Wal*Mart simply chose to build in another location outside city limits?)

[superconnected]

35. I thought there was a statistic in the movie where walmart had far

more parking lot violence than any other stores.

[LeftHander]

32. we had over 200 in our church for screening...nt