Thoughts on the Maxed Out Movie (Contains Spoilers)

So the hubby and I signed up for a Netflix trial since we no longer pay for cable TV. The trial includes unlimited DVDs and also an instant watch option to watch movies and TV on Netflix’s viewer. It’s quite funny but Netflix recommended that I watch Maxed Out, which is a documentary on debt in America. So I took the bait and clicked the “Play” button. After watching it a while I felt like I have seen it before, and I was right. Quite a few juicy and informational parts of the movie came from the award winning Frontline episode The Secret History of Credit Cards, which is available for free at PBS. Both programs featured lengthy interviews with the dewy eyed and passionately outspoken Elizabeth Warren, who is a Harvard Law School professor who researches bankruptcy. I think she’s very interesting, and I first heard of her when I saw the book The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-class Parents are Going Broke. Her research is quite eye opening and I guess that’s why she’s a featured interviewee.

After an hour into the movie, I felt that Maxed Out was a bit more disorganized than the Frontline report and focused more on individual credit nightmares. For example, the movie showcased several people who committed suicide over their debt. It was sad to see the families of these people retelling the tragic deaths of their loved ones, but I’m not sure how helpful that is to people who are trying to learn about credit cards and debt. Another woman was charging her mortgage onto her credit cards and eventually lost her home and I didn’t know if I pitied her or wanted to slap her. The movie also had a banker-educator figure named Mr. Money, who was teaching two youngsters about credit. That part was quite funny because the movie makers juxtaposed Mr. Money’s sage advice with the actual actions of the banks.

Maxed Out did point out that the United States government is making some horrible choices and increasing the national debt instead of attempting to reduce it. The federal government actually ran out of money a few times in recent history and that’s quite alarming. I want my tax dollars to be spent wisely, but that’s basically a cry in the dark. I suppose the only thing I can do is to save as much of my after tax income as possible.

So in conclusion, I have to say that Maxed Out was an eye opening but rather depressing movie focusing on individual credit card debt. What I took away from the movie is that consumers are not educated enough about credit cards and fall into the traps of high interest rates and ridiculous fees. The government is basically owned by the banks and consumers are at a disadvantage so we have to empower ourselves with knowledge. If you want to learn about the credit card industry you should definitely watch The Secret History of Credit Cards at PBS which contains an awesome interview with Ben Stein. I am really waiting for someone to make a documentary focusing on housing foreclosures and subprime lending because I want to understand how that happened.

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