Good Mardi Gras: Made In China Movie Review Example

The documentary film Mardi Gras: Made in China was directed by David Redmon and won a large number of awards. There are many films about the pros and cons of globalization for the USA and China, but this film is in many ways unique. The director shows how difficult the production process of the beads is and at the same time how meaninglessly the beads are used in New Orleans during the Mardi Grass celebrations. By means of the contrast scenes and focus on the beads, which are useless products, the film makes the viewers sympathize with the Chinese workers. A lot of other similar films are not so powerful and touching. In addition, the interviews with the various stakeholders in China and the USA make the film interesting to watch. It is possible to see what the people think about the production and the use of the beads in two countries. As the result one may shape his or her opinion about the broad issue of globalization. Finally, the film provides very rare shots from the Chinese factory and the viewers will be very surprised to see a demanding production process and conditions in which the Chinese people work and live.
Personally, after watching this film my understanding of globalization has not changed, because there have been many news articles, films, etc. concerning the extreme conditions in which the Chinese people must work. At the same time, I cannot agree that the situation is so catastrophic. If to analyze the period from the 1978 until nowadays one will see that China and Chinese society have changed dramatically and the change has been very positive. Now China is a strong country with a very large middle class and a lot of American companies prefer to work there because they think that China is a very promising market. At the same time, I do realize that thousands of people continue to work very hard in China and other developing countries and the American companies should be more active in providing better working conditions including higher wages and work safety.
If I were a Chinese citizen living in the rural area, I would probably prefer to work in the conditions shown in the film. In the cities there are much more opportunities and working in a factory helps many uneducated people to get out of the extreme poverty. Next, if I had enough skills and experience, I would work for a multinational or Chinese company that offers significantly higher salaries. Unfortunately there is a very high level of inequality in the Chinese society and a lot of people have to work hard in order to survive.
People in the developed countries may have a very large impact on the companies that have outsourced production overseas. They should pay more attention to the origins of the products and especially the conditions in which the people work in the factories. If the conditions are unsatisfactory, there should be a lot of criticism in the social media and traditional media so that the criticized company was forced to act more responsibly. Unfortunately, by simply paying attention to the origin of the products we cannot eradicate the poverty in the other countries. However we should be compassionate and eager to help the third world countries to catch up with the developed countries. The companies always strive for efficiency and high revenue – this is why they have outsourced production to the other countries. Improved corporate social responsibility standards and the public opinion should make them pay more to the people that work in the very unsafe conditions.