Maxed Out/Film Post

Maxed Out was a different way of looking at how we spend money on things every day. I knew the basic principles of owning a credit card and how you can use a credit card any time you want to pay for things, but eventually the bill comes and you owe for what you spent. The beginning of the movie started out in Las Vegas with a woman who was telling about the houses there. She explained that the amount of people spent on the house was doubled when they were trying to sell it. It was ridiculous because she even talked about how people wanted elevators in their houses!! It seems to me that houses are now turning into malls instead of actual houses. It was shocking to hear that Americans are $9,205 in debt, of course, it is much greater now since the film was in 2006. The documentary mentioned two reasons why people have credit cards: 1. They can't file for bankruptcy and 2. They can't make minimum monthly payments forever.

As the film continued, I saw how the system worked. It was scary to think that if you owned a credit card, people could track you down and tell you what you have purchased or even where you are. I know it has happened a couple of times when we lived in Texas, we would head up to Michigan for the summer and the credit card company would call, asking if we were aware that a person had bought gas from a gas station using our credit card. Then, we had to explain that we were fully aware because we would travel to Michigan for the summer. Still, having someone know that information about you is the same as if they had an actual tracker on you at all times. Something that I found completely shocking was that the bank's #1 concern is selling experience. No other experience was required. For me, it seems hard to believe. All they need is a person who can manipulate others into buying something and that's all they're looking for? It's ridiculous. They also showed in the film how credit card stands would be set up on college campuses, and the students would be so vulnerable to have a credit card while they were away from their parents. There were two mothers of students who explained how their children raised up such a debt, and in the end committed suicide because the debt was just too much to handle.

I do agree with the review of the film. Even though the documentary was a little harsh to watch, it still had a big impact. It showed how they could be savage to President Bush, several times showing how the MBNA went into effect. The documentary was also a little hard to follow because there was no narrator, so it was difficult to tell which story involved what and what was happening. The film prompts me to make a different choice about things in my life by being careful with how I spend my money. I don't own a credit card, but I do own a debit card, and I have experienced where I have come close to spending almost more than what was within my limit. By watching this film, I've learned to not let debt get the best of me and to be careful with how I handle my money. The last thing a person wants to be in is debt.

The only 2 questions I had were:
1. Why do we use credit cards on such small things?
2. Why do we need so many credit cards?

Maxed Out review link:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/movies/09maxe.html