This past weekend I had the chance to watch Born Rich, a documentary about rich kids. The documentary was directed by Jamie Johnson, the twenty-something heir to a Johnson & Johnson fortune. In it he interviewed eleven other twenty-something, super-wealthy kids and provided his own narration (the latter choice was possibly a mistake; his voice lacked the pitch resonance necessary to seem compelling).
With few exceptions, the overall impression of these kids who will "never need to work a day in their lives" is not positive. A good job interview question is "what would you do if you were given ten million dollars?" The interviewer is looking for some sign of creativity or drive by asking this question. Sadly, these kids live that question but have no idea how to answer it. Most of them seem to have at least superficially latched on to a life of fencing, horses, or shopping. (The idle rich personified.) Poor family relations also seems to be a common theme.
If you decide to watch Born Rich, and I highly recommend that you do, you really should turn on the director's commentary. Jamie Johnson's commentary is much more compelling than his narration of the documentary and he touches on more interesting subjects than he does in the main body of the film.
Posted by david at November 15, 2004 11:32 AM