Believe: The Movie
Apr 23rd, 2007 by Bethany
Colin and I had a gift certificate to the movies, so on Friday we went and saw Believe. It's a funny mockumentary about Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) companies. The story follows four families who are involved in an MLM called "Believe." One of them finds success immediately while the others are jealous because they've been "doing the business" for years and haven't been able to reach the higher levels of the company. In each family, the wife doesn't believe the company is legitimate, but goes along to support her husband, which I thought was interesting.
Colin and I enjoyed the movie, but it was sad in the end and I didn't like to see so many people disappointed in their hopes and faith (although misplaced). It's a good representation of the hype and excitement I've seen in MLM meetings I've attended live. Actually, I've seen hype and exaggeration and strict party-line adherence in lots of sales organizations, MLM and otherwise. I pretty much feel like MLMs are a vehicle that's great for people who want to be salespeople (as long as you're compensated better for your sales than your recruitment) or those who love recruiting, but for people whose talents lie elsewhere it would be better to do something else. Most people aren't great salesmen.
We heard the guys who made the movie on a radio show on our way to the theater (it was opening night). Afterward, Colin and I decided that listening to their analysis of the movie and of the industry on the radio was more interesting and poignant than the movie itself. If you're thinking of joining an MLM, or if you've left an MLM, it's a good show to see if it's showing in your area because it'll give a good idea of what it's like or give you a walk down memory lane. If you're in an MLM, the movie might make you mad or you might decide that you're "so glad that our organization isn't like that."
Here is the link to the NPR KUER RadioWest program that inspired us to see the movie. Again, the radio program was 1) much more overt, 2) much more negative, and 3) much more poignant. As an example, in the movie one of the main characters works part time for years and ruins his relationships to build his “business,” and never makes a dime. After years, he quits and instantly wins the lottery. That is a lot more subtle than the radio program, where they detail how much more statistically likely you are to win the lottery than to make a living wage off an MLM.
That’s how I felt about the whole movie–it was much too veiled, there were too many easy jokes they skipped, the absurdism was often incongruous, and there were so many loaded moments they didn’t mention at all. Like, they really didn’t mention how important it is, in any MLM, to not only learn the names for those who are in the club, but to learn the specialized vocabulary for those who are not in the club.
That being said, the radio show was embarassingly negative, and I really feel I need to disclaim that in the interest of honesty and fairness.
I’ve worked at MLMs, been in them, and have known multiple people who have made lots of money in them (and lots of money per hour, I might add.) So I really do believe it’s a legit business model for those who are willing to treat it like a business. But that’s a wholly different subject than most of what you see in MLMs. Having worked at one, I was shocked to see how many people of sound financial judgment were willing to join as a risky yet calculated expenditure, including multiple celebrities who figured they could minimize said risk by fronting their name. And I’m sure it worked for them, or at least worked at a percentage matching their assumptions.