Here's a movie just out in limited release called "What Would Jesus Buy?" This review, partially excerpted from the Chicago Tribune, describes it well.

"What Would Jesus Buy?" is a wickedly effective indictment of America's consumer compulsion, our mindless shopping and the multinational corporations controlling it all.

What could have been a bone-dry exercise in dogmatism is instead a witty, abrasive and hugely entertaining romp, thanks to director Rob VanAlkemade. Credit is also due to Reverend Billy, the alter ego of Billy Talen, who, after watching in horror as Disney took over his neighborhood (New York's Times Square), decided to mimic the local street preachers, the only people being heard over the commercial din. Since launching his crusade in 1997, Reverend Billy has been banned from 130,000 Starbucks worldwide, as well as from every Disney property.

Interviews with crazy-eyed shoppers make it clear that salvation, or whatever you want to call a saner approach to gift-giving, isn't going to be easy. Thanks to decades of devilishly effective marketing, and $15 billion in annual advertising to kids, Christmas retail is now inextricably linked to the idea of love. The more you love, the logic goes, the bigger the gift.

Academic and religious experts line up to explain how Christmas, which began as a modest religious celebration, has spiraled out of control into the purely consumerist bonanza we experience today, fueled by Americans' increasing social isolation and emotional emptiness. We spend, they explain, to compensate for what we've lost, or what we never had.