Fame & Fortune: Filmmaker Danny Schechter New documentary fires a shot at credit card culture
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Bankrate: It's chilling to see how close to the bone most Americans are playing it today.

Schechter: I just saw a report from England that said that 30 percent of the people are 30 days away from financial crisis. People are living on the edge, and they're aware of it. You add to this unemployment. For instance, General Motors workers just got a big buyout. Well, you're going to run through that in three years. Then what? You have a lot of people going for short-run gain, you have a lack of social safety net and no real health care compared to other countries.

Bankrate: Has financialization become so endemic in America that there's no going back?

Schechter: Yeah, we're all trapped in this, in part because it doesn't have a reality to discharge it. It's only later that it all catches up with you. You know, if you're a kid, you want to look good in school, you want to have what everybody else has. You'll notice there has been a steady increase ... as brand names and consolidation affects a lot of different industries, the price of things has gone up dramatically. You go to the Gap, suddenly you're paying $19.99 for something you could get for $9.99 before, whatever. The hidden costs of marketing and advertising are not really obvious to many consumers. The credit card companies have it down to a science, while we have it down to a bunch of hunches and guesses. We have become prey because they're really aware of people's vulnerabilities and needs. This is why this film is so important.

Bankrate: And also why it likely won't be presented by your friendly financial institution.

Schechter: Now the struggle begins. You find that a lot of the distribution companies are tied into a lot of the big media companies, who are in turn dependent on a lot of advertising from a lot of credit card companies that bring you the Super Bowl and all these other events. You don't want to alienate the people who are paying the bills, so there is a lack of courage to really question this, and this takes on the whole financial services and financial industry which is so irresponsible, so unaccountable. We're up against a big target. Fortunately I have an executive producer who was able to pay for the film and has some money to help us market it.