Life and Debt Documentary: Summary and Analysis

Life and Debt Film Write
The tourist who comes to Jamaica focuses on the beauty of the island. Jamaica is the island where Antiguans suffer and want to escape. However, the natives are too poor to escape the island. Antiguans try their best to satisfy the tourists. The natives envy the tourists because the tourists have the ability to leave their boredom and turn Jamaica into a pleasurable vacation. Stephanie Black, the filmmaker of Life and Debt, is attempting to demonstrate that the tourist, through Jamaica Kincaid’s description, witnesses the beauty of the island while being oblivious from the harsher realities of the natives. The major themes that Kincaid addresses include the influence of homeland on identity, culture, and the desire for independence.
The first themes that will be argued are the perspectives of the tourists, the natives, and the omnipotent’s view on Jamaica. The first concept that will be argued is the tourists’ perspective on the natives. In the tourists’ perspective, they stereotype natives as being relaxed, laid back people, without realizing that natives are working hard to satisfy the tourists.
In the tourists’ perspective on Jamaica, they are fond by the beauty of the island and the continuing sunshine. The continuing sunshine in Jamaica represents a lack of rainfall. This lack of rainfall is a lack of fresh water. This lack of fresh water for the natives does not interest the tourists because the beauty and the sunshine of the island is all that really matters to them. Tourists who swim in the sea have no clue the amount of waste that they create. Also, the tourists do not notice that the food that they are eating is from Miami.

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The second concept that will be argued is the natives’ perspective on the tourists. When the tourists arrive in Jamaica, natives automatically label them as being a tourist. In the native’s perspective, a tourist is an ugly human being because they do not look, eat, or speak the same way as the natives do. The natives view the tourists as people who make use of poor people for their own satisfaction.
The natives must work hard in order to prove pleasure for the tourists. The natives are living in poor conditions wishing that they can be the tourists, because tourists have the ability to leave their boredom and come to a place such as Jamaica to relax. However, in Jamaica, getting off the island is not as easy for the natives then it is for the tourists who are visiting the island. The third concept that will be argued is the omnipotent’s perspective on Jamaica. The US and European countries may not have authority over Jamaica, but they push their influence and instigate their authority within Jamaica.
The United States of America and European countries took advantage of the Jamaicans by creating a trade system in order to earn extra money for themselves. This, in turn, jeopardizes businessmen and farmers in Jamaica because it is harder for them to compete with the US and Europe. Jamaicans are manipulated by the IMF, WB, and WTO. The US and European countries have power over Jamaica because the tourists commodify and exploit the natives by still treating them as slaves.
Tourists do not recognize that the natives’ history, culture, and religion and what Jamaica is all about. All that the tourists care about is their vacation time to relax and be treated as royalty. This is similar to the way they were treated before their independence.
The history of Antigua includes Britain controlling the Antiguans. The old Antigua includes many racist moments and slavery work for the Antiguans. The Antiguans speak the same language as Britain. Since English is the Britain’s language, it is also the Antiguans language. The Antiguans did not have any independence until the time of the Earthquake. When post-colonial happened in 1974, the Antiguans went to the church and thanked a God, a British God. Even though the Antiguans got their freedom and independence, they still had to speak the language of those who enslaved them. Also, the Antiguans had to follow the Britain religion because they have been adapted to this religion.
In conclusion, these perspectives have been linked together to prove that tourists are lacking conscious awareness of how the natives live their lives.
This type of agency relates to the book “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid because the Government is also taking advantage of his power of Jamaica. He is taking advantage of his power by delaying the reconstruction of the library because he has, in his perspective, his own priorities to deal with. The library is a symbol of education and culture for the Antiguans. The library can only be re-built if the Antiguans have money to provide for it. The rich people of the Mill Reef Club would help if the old library was re-built. The Government is not doing what is right for the Antiguans. There has been a corruption of the Government because there have been many abuses of power in Jamaica. The funds have been wrongly placed. Drug smuggling is an issue in Jamaica. Also, there has been a misappropriation of political violence.
In conclusion, “Life and Debt” shows the ignorance of tourists who travel to Jamaica for their own enjoyment and satisfaction. Stephanie Black, the filmmaker of Life and Debt, is attempting to demonstrate that the tourist, through Jamaica Kincaid’s description, witnesses beauty of the island while being oblivious from the harsher realities of the natives. The major themes that Kincaid addresses include the influence of homeland on identity, culture, and the desire for independence. The lives of the natives have no interest to the tourists because the tourists come to enjoy the beauty of the island. In the native’s perspective, they view tourists as ugly human beings because tourists are oblivious to how the natives live their lives. The Government is abusing his powers by wrongly placing funds. The United States of America and Europeans took advantage of the Jamaicans by creating a trade system in order to earn extra money for themselves. The Government is also taking advantage of his power. The library has been pending repairs since 1974. The library is very important to the Jamaicans because the library represents a symbol of education, culture, history, and independence.