Posted on 02/15/2005 9:13:52 PM PST by Callahan
Anybody else seen the documentary "Born Rich" on HBO. I think it aired for the first time last year and now it's getting another run. The kid who is heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune goes around interviewing various trustafarian types about growing up loaded. Interesting mix (for ardent capitalists anyway) of introspection and obscene behavior from the idle rich who rarely talk about their money.
I've seen it. Most of them are ok except the kid who tries to sue at the end. What a prick
"trustafarian"
LOL! What a truly great word that is.
You should submit it to the word of the day folks.
Brave, brave, brave Sir Dayton is a priviledged idiot.
The Italian model guy cracks me up. Some of these guys are are pretty ugly, so at least they experienced want on some level, but he's good looking and intelligent enough to come off like a Grade A snob. He shows off an antique edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica and sniffs that it turned to crap once it became "for the massses."
It's a common term in England, but it hasn't really caught on here in America yet. I think it's because we're less class- and money-conscious here.
They must get very tired lifting their wallet every day.
Saw it last year. Found most of them a bore -- let's say not really anyone I would want as a dinner companion, or anything else, except the J & J kid himself. He and his dad were interesting and had a fascinating relationship.
On WE last week was a show "Young, sexy and Royal 2". Some of them were out of control but there was a Beauharnais-Romanovsky Prince that said he doesn't use his title. He seemed very normal and laughed at titles etc. It was a fairly good show.
The wealthy oceanfront town I grew up in had at a psychiatrist whose specialty was helping wealthy youths with their self-esteem problems. He was written up in the regional major metro paper... it was truly distasteful listening to his over-pampered patients whine whine whine about their unfair lot in life, how misunderstood they are, and so on. Of course, what they really needed was a dose of Reality 101, with a crash course in Counting One's Blessings. Instead, they got to feed their dysfunction by learning to "assert themselves" (i.e., whine). Pfft!
Trajan88
Johnson's theory about people not talking about their money might be true in his tight circle of bluebloods, but new money is all about showing it off on Mtv. Did you know Russell Simmons has solid gold faucets and sink bowls in his marble bathroom(s)? I like the embarrassed to be rich old money approach better.
That was probably the Johnson guy's dad. His son asked him what he should do with his life and he said, "maybe you could collect historic documents and old maps." It was pretty funny.
The DuPonts who live near me drive Volvos and keep a low profile.
What's mushy about painting?
I lived in Wilmington, NC for awhile which is packed with Old Money... and New Money the closer you get to Wrightsville Beach.
The Old Money typeswere very Classy, but a bit snobbish if you didn't know your place in their society(i worked at the old money CC)
The new money were out and out crass. i take that back. the new money WIVES were CRASS as can be.
the men were very generous with their money tipping everyone(the opposite in the old money circle, if you got a tip in any profession it was in change)
But the new money women... my God. they were mean, petty, obnoxious. you can take the woman out of the trailer but boy... that trailer hangs on tight.
I think it has to do with earning the money. and how you're raised. the person who earns the money tend to be nice generous people. those that didn't earn it tend not to appreciate it.
on to raising. in the southern old money they are raised to be VERY proper. new money on the other hand wants to give as much to their kids as possible because they themselves lacked growing up... turning their own children into brats.
IMHO we are the epitome of a money-conscious society.
It is that the kid portrayed in the story seemed "slow" and out of touch - like he was on mega amounts of Benedryl or something a little more extreme (say absynth or Mary Jane) - or he was sniffing too much fumes.
Trajan88
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.