Review: Foreboding tolls in 'Generation Wealth'
Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 12:02 PM Central
Last updated Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 12:02 PM Central
by John Couture
Recently, Robin Leach passed away and with his death, we were once again reminded that life is short and you can't take anything with you. And yet, if you turn on practically any TV channel or open any social media app these days, it would be difficult to draw any conclusion other than the sole pursuit in life is to accumulate wealth and fame.
I'm not saying that our precarious position on the edge of societal collapse is solely rooted in Leach's ground-breaking show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," but it might have been a leading indicator. We have been obsessed with accumulation since the dawn of time. I mean, there's even a whole commandment dedicated to coveting your neighbor's goods.
But with the advent of reality TV and social media, we have been given the tools to take this obsession to a whole new level. Now, we have instant access to our neighbor's better goods, in HD, 24 hours a day, seven days a week - even on the Sabbath!
Emmy-nominated documentary photographer and director Lauren Greenfield has her lense trained perhaps more acutely on this wealth culture than anyone else. Over the years, she has documented our perverted capitalism in our pursuit of fame and wealth in Generation Wealth.
Much like a train wreck or the reality TV shows that air incessantly, once you start watching this movie, it is impossible to turn away. There's something inherent with our morbid fascination with the ultra-rich and Greenfield taps into this sentiment perfectly.
It's easy to be an outsider looking in and to lob jabs at the wealthy, but it's truly horrific when Greenfield pulls back the curtain a bit to show us what that no matter how wealthy these people are, they are never satisfied. There's always more gold or more bling to possess. Meanwhile, we mock them from afar, but we secretly desire to have these "problems."
It's easy to simply dismiss this film as a cynical fascination on a passing cultural fad, but you only have to take one look at our current political landscape to realize that we truly are on the brink as a society. While Generation Wealth only mentions the Trump family in passing, it's not hard to connect the dots and see how this film's criticism is easily applied to the first family.
The question is what do we do about it and where do we go from here? This is the part of the equation that is weaker by comparison in the documentary. There are vague hints at putting more stock in intrinsic values such as love, but the mechanism for achieving this is lacking.
No, the film (wisely) spends its lion's share of time focused on the baubles that are the fundamental root of the problem. It's a great way to get our attention, but now what? The film might have been better served with more balance, but let's be honest. If we could simply quit our obsession with the wealth culture, wouldn't we have done so by now?
The bigger issue is getting more aware that this wealth obsession is unhealthy and to that end Generation Wealth is a worthy first step. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor was it dismantled in a day. I have faith in humanity that soon we will begin to rebel against this celebrity wealth culture and turn inward.
Generation Wealth is now available on DVD.
