| 'Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the | | | | representation of reality, Scurlock says his |
| Era of Predatory Lenders' is a documentary | | | | purpose for the film and book was to raise |
| and accompanying book released by American | | | | awareness of how credit and lending issues |
| director and author James Scurlock and is a | | | | are affecting society; showing how banks and |
| stark reminder of the ubiquity of credit | | | | other creditors are deliberately targeting |
| cards. | | | | people who are more likely to have problems |
| | | | paying them back, and how creditors benefit |
| Released to critical acclaim in 2006, the | | | | from connections to the US government, the |
| film consists of a string of vignettes about | | | | debt collection industry, and lawmaker |
| people who have taken on too much debt, as | | | | apathy. |
| well as interviews with Harvard professors, | | | | |
| debt collectors and other authorities to show | | | | As Scurlock himself told USA Today: "The best |
| how too many people have developed a buy-now, | | | | definition [of a preferred customer] I have |
| pay-later mentality, while credit card | | | | heard yet - and this is from a vice president |
| companies are only too happy to provide them | | | | of MasterCard - is an individual who has a |
| with credit cards. | | | | 'taste for credit,' i.e., someone 'willing to |
| | | | make minimum monthly payments - forever.' Now |
| For example, Scurlock interviews the mothers | | | | I know why, if I fail to pay off my balance |
| of two teenagers who through their first year | | | | in full, my credit limit is increased." |
| of college accumulated enough debt for them | | | | |
| to eventually commit suicide. Another | | | | The film received significant critical |
| section shows how a developmentally | | | | acclaim, claiming the Special Jury Prize at |
| challenged woman confined to a nursing home | | | | the 2006 South by Southwest Film Festival in |
| regularly receives credit cards in the mail, | | | | Austin, Texas, and received an 88% rating at |
| despite being unable to get out of bed | | | | the all-important Rotten Tomatoes website, |
| without assistance. On the other side of the | | | | making it certifiably "Fresh". It was |
| credit industry, Spurlock shows how debt | | | | successfully released in cinemas and on DVD |
| collectors get in touch with debtors, often | | | | in early 2007, along with the accompanying |
| resorting to scare tactics in order to | | | | book, printed by Scribner, a division of |
| collect money. As one of the debt collectors | | | | Simon and Schuster. |
| puts it: "The trick is to know how far you | | | | |
| can push them. You've got to push them just | | | | Ultimately, the responsibility for taking on |
| far enough to the edge where they get really | | | | debt lies with the debtor, but it would be |
| freaked, and then pull them back to get what | | | | wise, especially for younger people, to give |
| you want." | | | | 'Maxed Out' a view, if only to fully realise |
| | | | that indiscriminate use of credit cards is |
| While this may at times seem like a skewed | | | | not a good thing. |