Last week I watched Maxed Out, a documentary about credit card debt and the hold it has on so many people. Although the film took a very emotional tone, pulling at the heartstrings of viewers, director James Scurlock originally meant to make a funny movie about Americans' crazy spending habits. After researching the issue and interviewing borrowers, though, he changed his focus. This film told multiple stories of people caught up in debt. One of them was about two college students who fell into the trap of credit card companies and committed suicide because they couldn't handle the debt. The film also zoomed in on two men who were collectors who took advantage of the people who are overwhelmed with debt. This film points out that the U.S National Debt Clock has increased to over 15 trillion dollars of debt, but the lending industry is doing nothing about it. In fact, they prey on college students and people that have already been in debt or have been bankrupt. Why is this? When asked why they would not get rid of the customers who would not be able to pay, they said, "Why would we cut out those people? They're our most profitable."
This film does prove the point that we should not get ourselves into the situation of excessive debt. The review I read points out that this film has "maximum emotional impact, it detracts from the film's intellectual credibility." While the film did provide proof that debt is a huge problem in this country, I agree that it was too emotional. It spent more time talking about suicides caused by debt than it did about what we can do about the problem of debt and the power of the lending industry. I felt like the content of the film just wasn't enough. I think that narration could have added to the impact and understanding of the issue of debt.
http://www.reelz.com/article/255/maxed-out-review/
I agree, we need to look more at what is happening to the people as a result of the debt caused by credit cards. What is interesting is that kids these days need some kind of credit card to get credit to be able to get loans by themselves for college or other needs. I personally have one, but I put a $300 limit on it and I can pay it off. It is just a way to help get a good credit score. I dont think the government has the right to keep adding onto the debt without making an attempt to take it away. But why do we need to risk our future with the chance of credit card debt just to get a good credit score, when so many Americans will be tempted to over use their card.
ReplyDeleteGood observations, Jessica and Brandon. If you want to explore this issue more, there's an episode of Frontline available to watch for free online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/. Here are eight things a credit card holder should know, based on that program: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/eight/. Credit scores are calculated in very manipulative ways and they are now being used to determine not only your credit worthiness, but your job worthiness as well.
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