Educational Media Reviews Online

Malls R Us is a thought provoking look at the shopping mall, combining current film footage with archival films interwoven with interviews with shoppers, architects, business owners, marketing specialists, a professor of theology, and community activists. It covers a wide range of issues associated with malls from the design and development to the spiritual ramifications.

There is a dichotomy between what the architects have in mind—a community space where people come together, and what the theology professor sees as a place of spiritual disconnection and emptiness. Most of the film addresses this dichotomy with a back and forth dialogue between the architect, John Jerde discussing architectural values and Jon Pauhl, the theologian stressing that while people are in the malls, they are not fulfilled by what they find there. While the documentary takes a global view of malls, the dialogue is between Americans.

Inserted into this dialogue is a history of malls, the psychology of shopping, how marketers use mall design to entice shoppers, interviews with shoppers on their experiences in malls, and the most recent phenomenon—anti-mall activists. Some of the most spectacular malls in the world (Canada, the U.S., Poland and Dubai, for example) are shown in the film.

This film provides a comprehensive look at malls around the world, documenting the impacts that these massive structures have on society. It will be of interest to anyone studying commercial architecture, marketing, and sociology.