Not My Life

Not My Life (2011) was written by Robert Bilheimer and co-directed by Bilheimer and Richard Young. Glenn Close narrated.

Even though it's ten years old, this movie isn't outdated. It depicts the horrors of human slavery--sexual, financial, and military. It makes clear that there is no activity so cruel that no human being would do it to another human being. These cruel activities are carried out every day, around the world, including the U. S. They are happening as I write this review and as you read it.

The movie shows us signs of hope, but, to be honest, the organizations and governments struggling against human slavery appear very weak in the face of so much evil. In each country highlighted--Brazil, Cambodia, India, Sudan, the United States--groups react against human trafficking, but most endings aren't happy ones.

My only criticism of the movie is that, at the end, there's no suggestion of what an individual can do to fight against the evil. There's not even a statement like, "If so see something, say something." That's too bad because what you're left with is the thought, "The world can be a terrible place, but there's no way I can make it better, even in a small way."

Not My Life has a high IMDb rating of 8.2. I agreed that it was excellent, and rated it 9.

It's really hard to say anything negative about a documentary unless it is just grossly inaccurate. I don't believe this documentary was grossly inaccurate if inaccurate at all. I don't think there was a sinister agenda nor do I believe this was the political slant of one party or another. It was just the cold hard reality that too many young people live in and too many of us (like myself) are ignorant of.

It is difficult to watch anything documenting the abuse of a person or people. It is doubly hard to watch when the victims are helpless children. This documentary spanned the globe showing the injustices committed in Africa, India, Asia, Europe, South America and even the good ol' U.S. of A. Injustices of greedy heartless criminals looking to profit or satisfy their lusts via innocent children.

Its a very sad and jarring documentary with first person accounts of some of the most atrocious behavior. It is a chronicling of the worst of humanity. Your heart strings will be yanked not tugged and you will quiver and shake at the deplorable conditions and situations that both boys and girls are put into. Poverty was the common denominator but not always the driving force behind why these young souls were forced to do the unthinkable.

But the documentary wasn't all bad. There were the survivor stories and the selfless men and women out there working hard to make a difference. They are merely making a small dent in the problem but one life saved is better than no lives at all.