money and Dave R. & movies & music 10 Aug 2007 12:33 pm
Maxed Out: a movie on debt and consequences that you shouldn’t miss.
Netflix has a new service that we love and use often: those who are already subscribers to the mail service can watch movies right on the site. The selection is limited but for those of us with no-TV, it’s an option that skirts the delay in snail mail and offers something to watch now and then when we need a wind-down at the end of a long day.
That has led to getting a few more choices crossed off our Queue. One such option was Maxed Out. Needing a jolt in your Total Money Makover? This will do it. Dave’s on it too…a few radio listeners share their stories of the vicious role collectors and credit companies have had on their lives…in many instances all the way to death. A hard look is taken at the preferential treatment the credit card companies and banks get from the government and the horrid advantage taken of naive college students and poor people who should never be allowed the credit they get…but do because it’s that kind of customer that the credit companies make their most profit from.
Having been there/done that, I felt a sickening wave of relief at having paid off our cards. Sound ironic? Relief is supposed to feel good. But the desperate and overwhelmed feeling that the crush of debt causes is not so far away just yet…perhaps it is a bit like being held prisoner and abused, then given a reprieve, and then hearing the footsteps of the abuser walking just outside the door, feeling unsure if they are approaching or leaving.
What the movie does not delve deeply enough into, but does indeed tease at, is the overindulgence, stuff-itis medication method, and American tendancy to maintain a fascade of wealth-via-plastic that leads to credit ensnarement in the first place. Certainly lots of people get there by charging groceries, bills, and doctor’s visits (how most of our own debt came into being), but lots of others get there with lattes, movies, new clothes, manicures, and the mall (we had plenty of that too).
What I’ve learned is that poverty is a monster that does not like to let go…and there are plenty of souls out there that are comfortable with you in your impoverished state and want to keep you there, either because they profit from it or they are just plain used to you in that role and don’t want to change their perceptions and ideas. It’s true of your credit card lender, the collector, and sometimes friends and family. Credit debt is slavery of another kind and freedom is possible but it’s a clawing, digging fight out of the pit and honey, your manicured nails aren’t going to hack the journey.
They say that addicts of drugs and alchohol achieve the greatest success in getting sober when they change their friends, their hang outs, their routines, and their scenery. I think it’s the same for the enslaved debtor…you’ll need a like-minded support group, new hang outs, new entertainment, a new lifestyle, new scenery. When you finally acheive freedom, it will still be a daily fight to keep from returning and falling back. The old crowd will still send embittered messages of discouragement that ultimately stems from envy at what they can not also acheive. If they profited from your enslavement, you may also encounter anger.
One of my favorite Nina Simone songs says, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s new life for me.” Indeed. But as Coldplay sings, “no one said it was easy…no one ever said it would be so hard.” Maxed Out makes the point well.
on 10 Aug 2007 at 2:01 pm 1.Beth said …
I haven’t seen the movie, but I wanted to comment on your own reflections. I think you have said some very true and wise things here. There are those who benefit from poverty. And sadly enough (saw this personally through our trying to help LaQuinta) there are those who are so entrapped by poverty that they do not want what it takes to escape it, even when escape is offered. As you have repeatedly shown, in order to escape poverty/endebtedness it takes backbone and sacrifice. It’s doable, but it takes that kind of work…not everyone wants to put that kind of work into it. And certainly those who benefit from povery/endebtedness don’t want the poor to escape it….it’s bad for business.
on 10 Aug 2007 at 2:54 pm 2.Tia said …
you touched on the cyclical aspect and the movie really hammers that….the classes grow farther and farther apart and it’s not just rich/poor, but also slave/lender/, servant/master, almost a caste type environment. I do wish it had spoken more about personal responsibility but most debt programs talk about that…having a film out there that really addresses the corporate aspect is valuable. I’ve heard there is a pbs option as well called The True History of the Credit Card, or something like that. It’s on my list to investigate.
on 10 Aug 2007 at 3:30 pm 3.Amber said …
I just rented Maxed Out from Netflix this week. What a great movie. I’ve become deeply obsessed with the Dave Ramsey plan and getting out of debt, though I haven’t yet completed Baby Step 1.
Today I received an bill from Bank of America and learned that they raised my interest rate (on a closed account) by over 6% to 23.99%. Before Dave I probably wouldn’t even have noticed. I called to find out what their reasoning was and to see if there was any way they would lower it. They said they conducted a review of my credit report and raised my rate accordingly (which makes no sense to me based on what I know about my credit in the last 6 months). They said all I could do was call in 6 months to request another review and hope it goes down. Feeling totally ripped off, I called USAA and opened a second line of credit there at 14% to transfer my balance. The account representative told me to wait a few days, then call back and request that they merge my two accounts. She told me I could then transfer the BoA balance at an even lower percentage and receive only one bill. Once that is all finished I can get back to my real goal of serious debt repayment.
I feel like I won a major battle today in this ongoing personal debt war.
on 10 Aug 2007 at 5:20 pm 4.Carrie said …
I saw this movie last time I was at blockbuster. Thanks for reviewing it. I thought it might be good for the whole family to watch. E and H don’t have credit cards, and don’t go into debt. They have a “debt-free” attitude. I want to make sure the two teen boys have the picture, too. We’ve alway tried to pay off credit cards every month, and have done so for most of our married life. We do use cc’s we just pay them off. We also refuse higher lines of credit.
The catch-22 is establishing credit in order to get a good mortgage rate in the future, or to buy a car. While H is in college, she can get a credit card. But once she graduates, she’s a “poor risk” (according to Clark Howard) and will probably have trouble getting one. I don’t think debit cards do anything for your credit rating.