Chain of Love (2002) by Marije Meerman

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Movie Response: Chain of Love (2002) by Marije Meerman Chain of Love (2002) is a documentary film highlighting the plight of Filipino domestic workers in Europe. The film, directed by MarijeMeerman illustrates the participation of the Filipinos in the international labor force through caregiving and how it affects the women involved, their families, and those of Western countries. The film addresses the increasing demand for domestic help in the United States and Europe that has led to the migration of numerous people from developing countries, including the Filipinos. The increasing demand for domestic care providers in Western countries is attributed to an economic survival tactic, whereby both parents have to work. At the same time, individuals in developing countries, most women are seeking for better employment opportunities that can enable them to support their families and relatives. They are, therefore, forced to abandon their children to provide childcare in the West. As Rhacel Parrenas suggests, Filipino women are considered as the prominent caregivers the United States and Europe, mostly because they are compliant, caring, and above all, they speak English (Meerman n.p). Other than the transnational role of women as caregivers, the film draws attention to the gender inequalities of globalization and the plight of poor immigrant women in contemporary global economies. According to Parrenas (31), Chain of Love brings about the concept of the international division of reproductive labor. It presents how gender-based challenges contribute to the issues of migration and how the purchase of services and reproductive labor interact in international economics. For the love of their children, siblings, and parents, women have to face transnational challenges while seeking financial resources abroad for themselves and families left behind in their home countries. As Belen narrates in the film, it is not always an easy decision having to leave their children to take care of other children (Meerman n.p.). But these women do it not for themselves, but for everyone they care about back home. In what can be termed as an international shift in the areas of care and love, maternal love of the Filipino women is an export product and hence a source of income in foreign currency in the country (Parreñas 71). Leaving their children behind is a distressing sacrifice of a mother, a sacrifice that has a price to be paid. While these mothers are exchanging their love and care for money in foreign countries, who are looking after their children back in their home countries? Similar to Parrenas’ The International Division of Reproductive Labor, the film depicts the structural factors that result in poverty that force women migrate to foreig...