Currency Broadcast Review

If you want to find out more about the concept of currency, then you need look no further than the YouTube video which is simply named ‘Currency’.  This is an eight minute look at the meaning of currency, and uses an intriguing concept to reveal how money – and in particular one single banknote – travels between different people as it is passed from hand to hand.

The first forty seconds flash by rather quickly (you’ll see why when you watch the video) and they offer a unique picture of how currency and money changes hands every split second of the day.

That is the whole idea of this video – to show you how a simple, single dollar bill can travel miles in a single day.  Do you ever think about where your money goes next after you have spent it and handed it over in payment?  Probably not; once we are finished with our own currency, we tend not to think about it again.  We are only interested in the money we have at the present time.

This short video might just get you thinking differently though, and when you do you will come away from watching it with an altogether different view of how money circulates through society.

There is no narration in this film, and other than the small amount of information presented on your screen at the very beginning, there is no interaction with the audience other than showing you what is happening during the whole procedure.

This is an amateur movie but it is no less entertaining for that.  It has a sole aim, and that is to make you think about how money forms an essential part of our lives.  The actors in the film take on certain roles, such as a vicar, a young child and so on, and each of them interacts with the dollar bill which provides a common thread throughout the story.

In this sense the film doesn’t need any narration; this is a story which is played out through the visual aspect of the film alone, and it is very interesting to watch.  We tend to think about certain areas of society having more money than others, and that is certainly true.  But we also think of those areas as being entirely separate – for example poor neighbourhoods and rich neighbourhoods wouldn’t seem to have any connection with each other at all, and yet the dollar bill (which is clearly marked so you can see its journey throughout this short video) connects them all without anyone even realising it.

This is a powerful message, albeit a simple one, and it certainly does make you think about money in a completely different way.  That is obviously the aim of the maker of the video, lwhitneyb, and it is also worth reading the information given in the ‘more info’ section as well, since it tells you a little more about the direction of the video and its overall purpose.

There is background music on the video, but it doesn’t detract from what you are watching, although you could quite happily watch this with the speakers off due to the lack of narration.  The quality is very good and while this is the only money related video the member has posted to date, it is a valuable contribution to the many currency related topics already being shown on YouTube.

You can find this video at http://youtube.com/watch?v=MUjg_4IDV9Y and if you have a few minutes to spare you should certainly watch it.  You won’t learn anything about the economy, or about currency in any real depth, but it does give you a different viewpoint which is very refreshing from the sometimes heavy videos and opinions offered by those who have a real and deep understanding of money and what it means to us.

This is a video made by someone with a different viewpoint.  As such it provides a more basic counterpoint to other videos on the subject of currency, and it shows that money connects us in ways we never would have thought of.  Even if you don’t visit other areas of society, your money may still end up there thanks to the process of buying goods, paying for goods and receiving the right change as a result.

This is good to watch as a quick film with a viewpoint, which isn’t marred by any economic information or in depth analysis of the money markets.  It is quite simply a basic video in the best possible way – and for that reason alone you should watch it.