Friday, January 21, 2011

Born Rich

Watch at least 20 minutes of this documentary.

(If the embedded video doesn't appear on your screen, here's a link.) This is a film made by Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson empire. The movie garnered a lot of controversy when it came out, and Johnson was even sued by one of the kids who participated in the movie. Here's a link to Jamie Johnson's articles for Vanity Fair. Read one of them. Think about what the concerns of the ultra wealthy are and how they behave. Does this insider's perspective offer you any new insights into the upper class? Write a paragraph about what issues this video and article raise for you and leave it as a comment. Make sure to include your name as it is listed on the roll.

17 comments:

  1. Ciera Tate:yesnewsight into the upper class. Cause when i think about the upper class is sort of like the middle class. Cause the upper class is worried about thier standards not lowering and the middle class is worried about getting more money and raising thier standards. To me think of the upper class as not having any worries and for the most part being carefree. But from the article it seems like their worried about where they invest their money and how they can get more and if its a good investment. So mainly to me the middle and the upper class are a like because the middle is worried about getting more and the upper class is worried about their standard dropping and not having enough to concern their self as rich.

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  2. Yes, the insider's perspective offered me a completely new insight into the lives and minds of the wealthy upper class! In several ways the documentary and article contradicts each other at times. For example, in the documentary the wealthy that were interviewed just happened to be young adults & in the article the wealthy were considered of older age! Also in the documentary I learned that most of the rich people weren't as happy as I would've thought. Some of them have experimented with drugs because they were so overwhelmed with guilt of having more than others and others expecting more of them. In the article I was shocked to learned that just as the middle class the upper class yet too worry about falling down a class & trying to stay a float! Overall, I learned to never think no one class have it better then another & that some way or another you can always find something to relate to no matter your class!

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  3. Stephan Loston--->Just the first few minutes into the movie provided me with a new insight about upper class people such as; I didn’t know that rich folks donated millions of dollars to charities each year I thought they were very selfish people. I also didn’t know that’s when young adults turn 21 they inherits a lot of money. A problem that I notice in this movie is that even though rich people have the world at their fingers they still not happy because they have a million problems and this movie witness to the fact that many millionaires are miserable. He said his self that no one talks about money. I learn that all rich kids are not given everything they want most of them have to work for it. Another issue I notice was that back-in-the-day a lot of rich folks were crooks, many use to “rob” the system. Nevertheless, many of the young adults were lied to and ashamed about their wealth.

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  4. Every class has their own worries. Rich, poor, and even inbetween. They may not deal with the thoughts of how to pay the next bill or when the next time they have to eat, but they do have thoughts about what will happen to them if their money is taken away from them, or lost. Of course, most of them don't have to worry about this unless it's going to happen, then they'd have to get used to society as we know it. The same would be happen to us if we were to spontaneously receive wealth one day, we'd have to adjust to their lifestyle...or keep our own, which doesn't usually happen. Everyone has their problems, everyone has their own advantage. In my opinion, the most worrisome topic to the rich..and well...everyone, is to be accepted into today's society - and whether or not you're able to stay in that place or not."

    -Quintel Sibley

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  5. Sylvester Nzekwe- This was a good documentary. When it got to the part about the guys father-that was the most interesting. It seemed as if he was scared or nervous of people knowing his situation. just as a person with aids doesnt want people to know, he was the same way about his money He wanted to be able to go anywhere and be looked at as a human being rather than a dollar sign. I guess its true, more money more problems

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  6. Ja'Kayla Johnson>>>Is documentary really gave me alot of insight on the upper(rich) class! In my opinion i always thought upper class never worried about anything since they were so rich, but the reality is they face problems just like any class would. The upper and middle class are somewhat similar in a way, worrying to never drop a class is the major similarity. I learned that even though upper class has it better money wise they have problems just like the common man does!

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  7. Delwin Williams

    Honestly,the video made me look at the upper class population differently. My expectations prior to viewing the video was already nonchalant due to their lifestyles and ignorance they oftened showcased to the world by way of the media.The documentary of the younger generation of the millionaire hierness expressed how their family basically told them lies just to cover up the truth about their wealth. That caused some of them to grow up with alot of concerns and questions on why would their own parents lie. Just like the guy who did experiment with drugs and alcohol just to fit in with his peers because being ashamed of being richer than his friends. There was only one thing that stood out about the parents as a positive was the preaching of having to get an education in order work for what you wanted in life.Yeah they have the money,cars,and power; but they were people just like us dealing with problems and issues in their everyday lives.

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  8. Destini Babineaux
    In my opinion i think the concerns of the ultra wealthy are about there money. They are worried about if they will ever lose there money or there status of being "rich". They behave different from others because they are capable of doing and getting away with things because they are financially stable. They also buy real expensive items without hesitating. When comparing them to the other class they seem like they feel that they are better than everyone thats not considered rich.

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  9. Arrington Morris
    In watching a few minutes of this video, I see that the rich class has about the same amount of problems as the middle and lower class to a certain extent. The main dilemma for the rich and the other classes is that they don't want to lower their class. There are also concern from the children in which, the parents would lie to their children about the family. Also the parents look like they are reluctant to have experiences that other classes are second-nature to, such as when the guy said his mother never road the subway.

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  10. The video and article gave me some new and old insight about "rich" people. I have been around some people who are considered to be upper-class people, and I have realized how some of them are. I thought it was very interesting how most of the people in the video didnt know that they were rich until years had passed them by. A lot of them found out other ways besides their parents. I took that as the parents didnt want that to become a major problem for them while they were growing up; but it back-fired. I see them the same as i did before, because, the people were very caring but they still had their sneaky ways that they wanted no one to find out about (cocaine).

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  11. Otia Stewart
    The insider's perspective offered me a completely new insight into the lives and minds of the wealthy upper class! I knew that some of the upper class donate to charity. But every class has their own worries. Rich, poor, and even in between. You cannot judge someone for the amount of money they have.

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  12. Te’Yonte’ Tillman
    The few minutes I did watch the video it was very interesting and I learned a lot about the upper class that I didn’t know and some things I thought I knew that were still questionable. The teens that were in the video were all born rich. They didn’t know they were rich because their parents never sat them down and told them about their family inheritance. The teens found out they were rich either through school members or through articles in newspapers or magazines. One boy was beaten up by a school member when he discovered how wealthy the boy was. Another boy thought it was normal to be ridden around in a carriage driven by a horse. Being rich bought embarrassment to a boy and he would walk at a fast pace around the corner so no one would see his dad had sent a limo to pick him up from a school function. Some families even went as far as buying their kids few gifts at holiday times so they would think they were normal. The overall message I learned about upper class people is that they go through problems within their family and they aren’t always happy. Upper class people are very secretive. They worry about money even though they’re rich because they don’t want to fall down or lower their standards.

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  13. This documentary offers plenty of insight of the upper class, as seen in the eyes of the younger generations. The young heirs to the family fortunes seem to be embarrassed to talk about what kind of life they lead with the resources they have. I found it surprising how they found out about their own family's wealth. What didn't surprise me was that all of the heirs talked about how they could tell they were treated differently than the rest of society. Although some enjoyed the perks of living a spoiled life, most of them wanted to be treated like a "normal" person. They wanted to have real friends and experience life without people holding their hand the entire way.

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  14. You can be the richest person in the world and still have problems. The few minutes I watched the documentary I learn a lot. I always knew that the upper (rich) class people had problems but the money they had could always outweigh them. It’s kind of funny because rich people are worrying about not lowering their standards and the middle class is worried about raising their standards and getting money. Rich children sometimes don’t get everything they want they have to work for it just like the middle class. The upper and middle class is alike in many ways because they suffer from the same thing and one of them is problems.

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  15. The documentary Born Rich was an interesting piece of film. There was so much info in it I thought was good to know about how rich people live and how their children personally dealt with. Many of the people in the movie did not even know how significant they were until they found out they were rich. They found out that they like many regular people have personal problems themselves and that even with money, it would not help them have happiness in their lives. I thought that rich people had it all, money, fame and happiness but it seems that they are not protected from the dangers of everyday life's problems. It was a good movie from what I viewed.

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  16. After watching this video I realized that all people have problems no matter what they're social class may be. I knew that rich people had problems, but I didn't know that they suffered from emotional problems like everyone else. The only people that actually are considered normal is the middle class.Because they don't worry about money as much.

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  17. Judd CARRIERE
    watching this video made me have a clear view on how the wealthy and the lower class want to be part of the middle class. It si showed that the richest people care more about there money and there apperence, like they have to keep up with there friends.They have to be update, like have the newest car, the Ipad,...etc and most of them do not work so they are afraid that ne they will end up without money. While the lower class people are asking for some money to eat or to have a house to live in. That is why they envy the lower class people who as less problems with there social life.

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