Thoughts on Generation Wealth

Generation Wealth starts out as a follow up. Lauren Greenfield's debut monograph was Fast Forward: Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood, which took a look at the lives of students at her own alma mater, largely the children of the rich and famous. Published in 1997, twenty years later she was revisiting those students to catch up with them.

That was an important part of the movie, but it ended up looking at much more of her body of work, some of it focused on wealth, but some of it focused on image and types of addiction, and also looking at her own life, where her focus on work could show some similarities with some of her subjects.

Certainly many of the people in the documentary have had wealth and fame, but they don't all still have it. Whether that is due to larger financial collapse, criminal charges, or a decision to walk away, many people are in reduced circumstances. One woman was never wealthy, but she acquired a lot of debt getting plastic surgery, and is shown living in her car.

Her financial situation might have been exacerbated by her daughter's suicide. That could seem unrelated, except for earlier footage. She justifies the plastic surgery for her daughter's sake, as it will make her a better mother and teach her about self-esteem. Seeing the messages that the daughter was carving into her own skin before her death, no, it didn't help at all.

There are complicated reasons for that, and for any of these individual stories. The one message more clear than that wealth is fleeting is that it doesn't bring happiness.

It is interesting that some of the previous encounters with the subjects were focused on addiction. The common thread is that they are pursuing something that never succeeds in satisfying them. It appears that the incomprehensible wealth never satisfies either.

Florian Homme offered his wife her pick of yachts. What she wanted was for him to put his phone away during dinner. He lost that relationship before he lost the wealth. He might be able to salvage his relationship with his children, but it is not a given.

One hard-driving businesswoman held the record for spending on her personal appearance. She said it's a free country, so if you want to work 100 hours a week to make more you should be able to do that. There are arguments that could be made about a lot of that, but her arc ended up being more about her desire for a child. It led to rushing into marriage and fertility treatments at 40, needing a surrogate, trying to dictate everything the surrogate did, and still having her child born prematurely. The marriage did not last long after, but she does have a healthy child now, and her perspective has changed. It is not clear that she has learned anything based on the interviews, but I still can't begrudge her having a child that she loves.

That's the thing: none of these people should be terribly sympathetic, but you still see their humanity. If they are doing or have done things that make happiness unlikely, you can still wish for something better for them.

In the movie Greenfield is preparing her photographs for a show, but she is also preparing for her 20th anniversary. As she examines her own focus on work, and how her own parents' work affected their relationships, there is room for reflection but her relationships are intact. Adjustments can be made - like inviting her son to join her on her next trip - but because the relationships were always nurtured, corrections seem more desired than necessary, and very possible.

Relationships across generations are important. For Greenfield's children, parents and grandparents who went to Harvard is one kind of pressure. For one of her original subjects - the son of the drummer in REO Speedwagon - not being able to live up to his father is a real concern that is demoralizing and demotivating. It seems quaint for someone who remembers REO Speedwagon but for whom they were never a big deal. For him, it was real, and something he needed to deal with to find his own path to happiness. It's interesting how often that involves having children, but that can be a negative experience too.

These thoughts may seem random, and they may not seem to directly connect to yesterday's thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians, but just keep them in mind as we go back to more on the 2018 Black History month reading.