Living on One Dollar

Following the mold of Morgan Spurlock, 4 college grads spend 8 weeks in the impoverished Guatemalan hills. They live on a dollar a day. An entirely predictable consequence of malnutrition and sickness ensues, while your heart latches on to the children and hardworking townspeople who live in that reality.

On the surface, it'd appear this movie is trying to pull your heartstrings. And perhaps it is. But what is most remarkable about "Living on One Dollar" is how well this little documentary is made. It's narrative is perfectly developed, it's tone perfectly shaped. The pace sails along wonderfully, never getting itself stuck by trying to be overly emotional. The photography is beautiful, too.

If this is what's to come of a generation of young filmmakers, I'm very excited.

What a wonderfully humbling & memorable documentary! I watched this along with an entire high school campus in our attempt to share with teens what true poverty looks like. This documentary does not try to overdo anything. It's simple, concise, and impactful. It's a piece that gives one a new perspective in how to look at life and the hardships that we all have to endure. If one thinks his/her life is hard, this documentary may very well serve as a starting point to help an individual see that most hardships that many of us perceive truly do pale in comparison to what over 1 billion people in the world have to live with everyday. It's a great documentary to share with people regardless of age, race, gender, and class level. Watch it and tell people about it. Perhaps, together, many more people will become compassionate enough to help others who truly need our help.

I'll start with some positives- it was insightful to see how the locals live, and their daily struggles. A completely different way of material living, even though we all have the same fundamental human needs and aspirations.

Some negatives- I felt the guys were quite naïve and underprepared. A lot of the "profound" things they learned were really obvious, and not at all fleshed out by the format or execution of their experiment. A longer stint, involving real subsistence farming or laboring could have provided more context. Just starving themselves on bananas and beans couldn't possibly achieve much.

Nevertheless, it was reasonably entertaining to watch and I'm glad they mixed well with the local population and spent time telling their stories. I particularly found it interesting how there was a real community and family spirit that is dying in modem consumer society so it was good that this was highlighted by this short documentary...

I was glued to this documentary from the first few seconds. This is a very important story to tell and the filmmakers get it bang on. It really gets you thinking about the world we live in and how harshly people have to live. But it also creates hope for the future and provides inspiration to act. The families that are featured really make the film. I was so interested in seeing how they lived despite how little they have. The filmmakers adopting this way of life makes it all so very real. You can really feel how it would be to live on one dollar a day. When I realized the lack of nutrition options, it really hit home. I have also become so grateful for the clean water that comes out of my tap. I cannot wait until the future episodes are aired.

You can take this for what it's worth. Some of the IMDb critics make good points, some just reveal their inner hang-ups. Yes, two college kids decide to "go for it" in a poor land. Good for them. Yes, they did not work but made a budget to simulate life in poverty on a buck a day. I also felt like they had a cushion called a bank account. They at least strove for integrity with the paper number each day.

This did lack depth of character. They discussed these people had much more going than what the surface showed, but did not go there. Mistake. They are college kids, not Spielberg! If you take what they gave us, work with it. They at least did something and need credit for that! Bottom line is those in the States are like the frog in water. We are boiled to death in Western culture and those in "poverty" have far greater riches which should have been the focus.

Relationships are more solid over there. Male-female roles not confusing. Walk by faith a daily occurrence. When you have little, people are what matters. We have lost most of this in the USA. People are so consumed in their own lives (technology has made life worse relationally) that they do not trust anyone and live shallow, desperate lives by being busy to drown out the loneliness. When life crashes in, who do you call? We call 9-11, they call each other. Don't get me wrong, we are blessed, but we don't need each other anymore like they do.

So who truly is more rich?