I am being a little facetious when I say this is not a movie review, since it is a movie and I am talking about it. But it wasn’t a blockbuster and won’t be since it did not have anyone famous to promote it. Directed by James D. Scurlock in 2005, I wonder if Michael Moore had been the guiding force behind it if more people would be aware of it.
I first heard about it last summer and immediately ordered it on Netflix. It was spellbinding and made me realize the enormity of the problem. I mean quantitatively. Everyone knows they have too much debt, but it’s like the epidemic with childhood obesity. It creeped up on us. McDonald’s for me as a kid was a big treat. French fries! Not even a whole meal. Fifteen years later, my first credit card I obtained after I graduated from college and had a job gave me a limit of $500. Wow! Now, twenty years later in our fast paced society more families don’t eat at the same time or necessarily a home cooked meal (guilty) and a college student can get a card with a limit of $5000 without a degree in sight or a job. What?
I met a Realtor just last week that asked, “Why can’t the government stop the credit card companies from giving the credit to the students?” A better question would be to ask “Why do some universities and colleges accept money from the credit card companies to hark their wares on campus?”
Rent this movie. Better yet buy it and host a party with friends and family, especially the young and yet to be indebted.
It will be your Oscar choice for life.
P.S. You can read a detailed synopsis of the movie from this site: http://www.maxedoutmovie.com/syn/index.html.
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