When Sean was 22 years old, his life seemed like a blank slate. He would get his master’s degree at the English university where he studied thanks to his dual nationality. After that, expat life awaited. And eventually a house for sale, a car in front of the door, a family. But he couldn’t get past the second year of study because of a gambling and weed addiction and a psychosis. Eight years and nearly a ton of debt later, cottage-tree-bug sounds a long way off, says Sean.
The number of young people under the age of 24 with financial problems has increased by 70 percent in the past five years, says presenter Edson da Graça in the intro of Out of the red† The effects of the money problems are well known: “I feel poor, fat, stupid and stupid,” Sean tells Da Graça, who follows five young people in debt. They are linked to a socially committed entrepreneur who helps to put their lives in order.
Because paying bills is the last thing on your mind if you have to survive. When Mert (25) wakes up, his first thought is: ‘Where am I going to sleep tonight? That’s the battle which I have to wear every day.’ Usually he succeeds, but there is not much time left for something else. He lives one day at a time, so it remains manageable.
Mert can move mountains with his charisma and talent, you can see that immediately, and yet his life keeps getting stuck. Despite his situation, he managed to get a job and a place to stay with a colleague, but he quickly loses both when he finds the targets doesn’t make it. Before he knows it, he will be spending his days and nights at Schiphol again. And then everything starts again.
In episode two, he ends up at Happy Tosti, a lunchroom in The Hague where people work at a distance from the labor market. There the cheerful owner is ready to help. He is surprised that he has to deal with a homeless person, so neat and well dressed Mert approaches him. They are looking forward to it, but before the real assistance can begin, Mert first has to show whether he can make a decent sandwich satay, because it remains television.
Utilities remain uncomfortable to look at. Even if they, like Out of the red, were clearly made with the best intentions (Edson da Graça used to be in debt himself, he says) and provide insight into complex problems. That’s because of the promise the title makes. Involuntarily you are, just like with cheap formula films, waiting for the ‘denouement’, a debt-free life for Mert, Sean and the other participants. This expectation clashes with the genuine interest in the young people that the program also evokes. And there’s something about that… yes, uncomfortable.