Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox

I have mixed feelings about this documentary. The movie itself is pretty good, descriptive and informative without being too judgemental. If anything, it might go too far in the direction of not casting judgement. It might be faulted for not explaining Bronner's "Moral ABC", but that could be because it's not clear from his own statements exactly what it is. What I've seen of it seems to be a mix of religious ramblings, brotherly love statements, and a lot of stuff that's not even wrong."Doctor" Bronner was clearly unhinged, and his own morals weren't too clean to begin with. He abandoned his kids at an orphanage where they were badly abused, only visiting them a couple times a year. As a parent myself, I find that idea horrifying. And even when he did visit them he played favorites with them. And after all that he had the nerve to lecture people on the "Moral ABC"? Bullsh*t.His kids and grandkids seem to fawn over the memory of this morally dubious guy, especially his older son Ralph, who was *not* the beneficiary of his father's playing favorites. They sort of make excuses for him, though I suppose that's to be expected; it's hard to come down in judgement on a parent or grandparent you got to know in your life, but from the outside it looks kind of sad.All that said, Bronner wasn't all bad. He really did make very good soap. I use it myself for shampoo: it's pure castile soap with no questionable ingredients and it works really well. I admire that the family treats its workers very well, and for what it's worth, I'm glad they've chosen to leave Bronner's word salad labels on the product. It's distinctive and quaint, and the product just wouldn't seem the same without those labels.

I was introduced to Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap in college... spent countless hours reading the label, thinking, "what kind of whack-a-doo would cram all this proselytization on a bottle?" Well, this documentary answers that question... and so much more! Highly enjoyable... especially for a fan of the soap. It's a perfect example of why one should never confuse the art with the artist.

Found this through Amazon Prime