In American Shopper, an event for a new sport called “aisling,” involving supermarket shopping, is set up in Schnuck’s supermarket in Columbia, Missouri with a cash prize of $10,000 for the winner. Aisling, as envisioned by its creators, involves creatively shopping, pushing the cart, having a costume, dancing and free form activity while collecting a set list of commodities. The person who came up with the idea for this new sport, Jonathan Sawyer is apparently being played by Jonathan Gostick. Sawyer [Gostick] is the on camera organizer of the event. It’s as if the person eating McDonalds food in Supersize Me was actually a hired actor or volunteer. Despite this obvious break with reality, American Shopper appears to stick to the actuality of what happens when the notion of the new sport is promoted and the competition ultimately held to find the first “aisling” national champion.
American Shopper is a good example of what might call a “hybrid” documentary style. In this approach an environment is created in which an event takes place. The event, the participants, and the results are documented and edited into a story. The actuality of what the subjects do may be authentic but the situation artificialy created. This differs from a “reality TV” show which falls into the world of fiction because, unlike the hybrid approach, actors are hired and once the situation is created in the “reality show,” there is manipulation of events and direction of the participants, based on a script.
While American Shopper does have value as a possible social experiment, it falls short of being a fully actuality based documentary; therefore it should be considered as something else you could call a “hybrid documentary.” American Shopper is not a “mock-u-mentary” as it does not have a fiction based script. “Mock-u-mentary” films like Best In Show and Spinal Tap are fiction scripts using a faux documentary format. American Shopper does have informational and entertainment value. But it does not meet the criteria for an actuality based documentary. American Shopper manages to blur the line between what is actual and what is staged.
American Shopper is unique in that the people of Columbia, Missouri accept the premiss of the event to the extent that they sincerely participate in an effort to win the $10,000 prize. The stand-in for Jonathan Sawyer, is interviewed on a local radio station. He talks the local supermarket into hosting the event and then sets out to promote it. As residents of Columbia sign-up they are profiled and later interviewed and seen as they prepare for the competition. The process is not easy for all concerned, but you get to know these “shopping cart” athletes.
The best scenes in the American Shopper are the event scenes where everyone seems to be having a lot fun. The film itself has a “tongue-in-cheek” feel most of the time. Everyone concerned is taking this all seriously. Despite the hybrid documentary feel, this story explores how people will accept a premiss and have fun with something that might seem a bit odd. There are also moments when some of the prospective “aislers” get a bit tense during their preparation for the competition.
American Shopper is reminiscent of other essentially hybrid documentaries like Donkey Kong and Air Guitar; humorous and revealing of the people involved.
J R Martin
TRAILER
