Some 20 people gathered last Sunday evening at the Capawock Theatre in Vineyard Haven to watch a free showing of the movie Tea Party: The Documentary.

The movie about the recent grassroots activist movement has gained much media attention. It tells the stories of five Tea Party activists of all walks of life who have joined for different reasons, yet are united in support of the broad Tea Party platform of fiscal responsibility, limited government and a free market. The movie shows the involvement of party members in rallies leading up to and including the big Sept. 12, 2009 rally in Washington, D.C., rebelling against taxation and government spending. The movie seeks to explain what Tea Party members believe, why they believe it and promote it is a just and right viewpoint to have.

Theatre owner Benjamin Hall was the one who decided to bring the film to the Capawock. Before the feature presentation, he screened a short rap video titled Patriotic People by Hi-Caliber. It can be viewed on YouTube.

After the film was over, several people gathered outside the theatre to discuss what they saw.

“I think the movie allows somebody like me that doesn’t have a feeling for how big this movement is to realize how huge it actually is and what their motivation is. They have very honest motives and they seem to be made up of a lot of different types of citizens here,” said Stewart Bug, an Island visitor who recently dropped anchor in one of the harbors.

“I can’t watch this without getting all filled up because that’s how it was. Very emotional,” said Marie Nieber, a Tea Party activist from Massachusetts who attended the November protest of the health care bill.

“There were thousands of people there,” she said. “We were all shouting ‘kill the bill!’ It didn’t work of course, but we did get some things not put in there like the public health care option,” she added.

“I thought the film was — I don’t want to say politically biased, it was politically aware of the demand that’s surging that people want fiscal responsibility,” said Island resident and political activist Jim Powell.

He added that grassroots initiatives like the Tea Party “are to wake people up because then the media will listen. The media reports on what they see. It’s time for people to realize, holy cow, we have got to speak up and we’ve got to vote out all the incumbents — we’ve got to vote out all the incumbents because they are part of the problem. They’re the ones that are in charge of our tax dollars.”

At times the film appears to manipulate the sensibilities of the audience, relying more on images of family life and a version of patriotism that harks back to the time of the founding fathers and the Boston Tea Party of 1773, than presenting cogent support for the issues of the day. There are many shots of the five people the movie follows engaged in regular activities that seem fundamentally American: coaching Little League, conversations around a barbecue, driving to work.

“It was a story of the people who got up off their rear end and did something to express their opinion more than calling their congressman. Donating the time to go to Washington or participate in a local Tea Party sends a message that ‘Hey, I’m going to take off my Saturday and do this,’ ” observed longtime Island resident Joe Gervais.