Questions
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Remittance begins with an image of the storefront of a manpower agency with a sign that includes the information, “POEA License No. 224-Lb-101499-R.” How would you describe the class that the women inside are taking and what does it have to do with the “transnational bureaucracy” that the Philippine government has developed to “mobilize migrants for export,” according to Rodriguez (2010: 20-21)?
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The decision to work as an “overseas foreign worker” (OFW) is often described as an economic survival strategy for the working poor in developing countries. Yet, economic reasons are rarely the only or most important reason that explains why a migrant worker makes the decision to leave their family behind to work as an OFW. How does the film portray the reasons why the character Marie not only takes a job as a maid in Singapore but also later seeks out an additional part-time job?
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In the introduction of her book Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories, Salzinger (2003: 7) states that while “it is tempting to speak about transnational production as a process that develops without people, or conversely, to assume that it is composed of the accrued actions of many preset individuals,” the “reality is more complex and interesting.” Applying a similar logic to the lives of migrant workers, who are the people and organizations that are often missing from public discussions about OFWs and migrant remittances? How do they affect the everyday lives of OFWs such as the character of Marie in Singapore?
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The filmmakers explain that they initially sought out to make a documentary film about the many women and men who work as maids, bar girls, waitresses, construction workers, and sailors across Asia with “horrible stories about abuse, long hours, disrespect, and failing families back home.” However, they explain, “we found for many of the women working as maids, the answer was freedom, or at least a form of it” (p. 4). What kind of “freedom” does the character of Marie “find” in the film and what difference does it make in her life?
The film ends with a scene of Marie passing by the storefront of a manpower agency. Why do you think the filmmakers chose to end the film with the same scene that it began?
80-100 words for each question.
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