Life and Debt (2001)

Documentary look at the effects of globalization on Jamaican industry and agriculture.

Director:

Stephanie Black

Writers:

Jamaica Kincaid (narration), Jamaica Kincaid (novel)

Stars:

Belinda Becker, Buju Banton, Horst Köhler

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Belinda Becker	...	Narrator (voice)
Buju Banton	...	Himself - Singer
Horst Köhler	...	Himself - Director, International Monetary Fund (archive footage) (as Horst Kohler)
Michael Manley	...	Himself - Former Prime Minister of Jamaica
Stanley Fischer	...	Himself - Deputy Director International Monetary Fund
Michael Witter	...	Himself - Professor of Economics, University of West Indies (as Dr. Michael Witter)
David Coore	...	Himself - Former Minister of Finance, Jamaica
Bill Clinton	...	Himself - President of the United States (archive footage)
Jean-Bertrand Aristide	...	Himself - President, Haiti
Yami Bolo	...	Himself - Singer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Lipetzky	...	Himself - U.S. Potato Board (archive footage)
Kathy Owen	...	News Anchor
Jerry J. Rawlings	...	Himself - Former President, Ghana (archive footage) (as Jerry Rawlings)

Storyline

Documentary look at the effects of globalization on Jamaican industry and agriculture.

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Plot Keywords:

globalization | farming | dairy farm | coffin | loan | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

lifeanddebt.org [us] PBS [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

Life & Debt

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,902 (USA) (3 August 2001)

Gross:

$241,297 (USA) (22 March 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tuff Gong Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Narrator: "Jamaica was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493. Not too long after, it was settled by human rubbish from Europe, who used enslaved but noble and exalted human beings from Africa to satisfy their desire for wealth and power. Eventually the masters left, in a kind of way; eventually the salves were freed, in a kind of way. Of course, the whole thing is, once you cease to be master you're no longer human rubbish, you're just a human being and all the things that adds up to; so too with ...

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Crazy Credits

Special heartfelt gratitude to the interviewees who share the truth with such eloquence.

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Connections

Referenced in The North Pole Deception (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Zimbabwe"
Written by Bob Marley
Performed by Dean Fraser
Published by Fifty-Six Written and Performed by Buju Banton
© 1997 Songs of Polygram International, Inc./Germain Music/Gargamel Music (BMI)
Used by special permission Buju Banton and Donovan Germain Penthouse/VP RecordsHope Road Music,
Ltd./Odnil Music, Ltd./Blue Mountain Music, Ltd. (PRS)
All rights for North and South America controlled and administered by Rykomusic, Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights for the rest of the world controlled and administered by Rykomusic, Ltd. (PRS)
Special permission RAS Records

User Reviews

Fails Economics 101 but yet treats you like the moron.

Given the gushingly positive reviews this movie has received elsewhere on IMDb, given the negative review I am about to give it must be clear that I must be some pro-big business evil white capitalist who probably drives a Hummer and kills baby seals for fun, right?

No, not really. I am actually rather skeptical of many globalization's claims, specifically how they relate to income distribution. However, apparently unlike many of other commenters, I actually know a thing or two about economics and refuse to be swayed by the emotionally strong but intellectually bankrupt arguments that, for the most part, this movie consists of.

Here's a basic summary of the movie: 1. Jamaica is straddled with significant debts to the IMF (the movie states US $7b) 2. The IMF is a mechanism created by rich white countries to keep poor dark countries poor. 3. As a tourist, you will ignorantly go to Jamaica and enjoy your time. All the while, most of the money you spend will go back to foreign corporations. The Jamaicans will smile at you as they serve you, but secretly they mostly hate you, or at least what you represent and are doing to their country.

Overlay this theme with somber reggae music and implications of racism and you have a story that would make the ignorant want to join the ranks of the Molotov cocktail at any given G8 summit.

Unfortunately, it's pretty much complete nonsense.

For example, one thing that this movie states is that the IMF (or some other international boogeyman) forced Jamaica to devalue its currency out of some evil plot to economically enslave Jamaicans. The reality is that the previously artificially high Jamaican currency served only the Jamaican elite – the IMF's insistence that the Jamaican currency actually be subject to market forces (as part of a structural adjustment program associated with the IMF loans that were intended to keep Jamaica from slipping back into the fiscal irresponsibility that got it into the position of needing to take loans in the first place) ensures that the country remain an attractive destination for tourist dollars and gives strength to its export businesses.

Let's not forget: Jamaica is a beautiful country that can generate money through tourism pretty much as easily as Arab countries can pull oil from the ground. Jamaica had benefited from generally moderate and reasonable colonial rule and has had no significant conflicts since. It sits within enviable flight time from the wealthy USA and enjoys status as a destination for Europeans as well due to its historical ties. Its people, culture, and music are generally seen in a positive light. In short, Jamaicans are very lucky indeed compared to, say, Haitians.

And so the movie goes on and on. Look at the poor Jamaicans. You are a stupid and fat tourist. Don't you even consider when you flush the toilet in your hotel that some of the waste goes into the same ocean that used to bring slaves from Africa? (Yes, this is actually what the movie pretty much says at some point – the point of "you Jamaican – since you inherited a sound governmental and educational system from Great Britain, why can't you set up proper laws to prevent this if you are so concerned?" is nowhere to be found.)

In short, according to this movie everything that happens bad to Jamaica is not Jamaica's fault. Its America's fault that Jamaica's farmers use inefficient and ancient farming methods to the point where they can't even compete with imported food even given the Jamaican currency weakness and relative ease of transport. Large foreign businesses are evil because they both set up shop there to "exploit" local Jamaicans by giving them jobs, and then by pull out when corruption and inefficiency make them unprofitable.

Jamaica has relatively high literacy (partly a colonial legacy). It also has high levels of fundamentalist religiosity and substance abuse – two factors that the film doesn't really go into, since, well, that would be far harder than just pointing fingers.

I feel sorry for the people of Jamaica. Theirs is no easy life. But, to put the blame on tourists and the IMF, arguably the two things that are actually keeping the country afloat and not disintegrating into Haiti, is perverse. Don't fall for this movie's propaganda.