Born Rich (2003)

A documentary on children of the insanely rich. Directed by one of their own, Johnson & Johnson heir, Jamie Johnson.

Director:

Jamie Johnson

Stars:

Ivanka Trump, Georgina Bloomberg, Si Newhouse IV

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ivanka Trump	...	Herself - Real-Estate Heiress
Georgina Bloomberg	...	Herself - Media Heiress
Si Newhouse IV	...	Himself - Publishing Heir (as S.I. Newhouse IV)
Luke Weil	...	Himself - Gaming Industry Heir
Cody Franchetti	...	Himself - Textile Heir
Stephanie Ercklentz	...	Herself - Finance Heiress
Josiah Hornblower	...	Himself - Vanderbilt / Whitney Heir
Carlo von Zeitschel	...	Himself - European Royalty
Christina Floyd	...	Herself - Professional Sports Heiress
Juliet Hartford	...	Herself - A&P Supermarket Heiress
Peter L. Skolnik	...	Himself - Attorney (as Peter Skolnik)

Storyline

A documentary on children of the insanely rich. Directed by one of their own, Johnson & Johnson heir, Jamie Johnson.

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Plot Keywords:

heir | affluence | wealthy | rich kid | interview | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 January 2003 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Luke Weil claimed he was tricked into appearing on camera and filed a lawsuit in 2002 trying to prevent this film from seeking distribution, but a New York state Supreme Court justice ruled in favor of director Jamie Johnson.

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Quotes

Luke Weil: Did you ever have an encounter that rubs you the wrong way? It's whoever pisses you off. And I'm up at boarding school. And this kid's from like some shit town in Connecticut. You know, I don't know. I can just say, fuck you, I'm from New York. I can buy your family, piss off. And this is petty, and this is weak. And this is very underhanded, but it's so easy, you know.

User Reviews

Compelling below the surface.

The supposedly inane problems of inherited wealth are reframed quite well in this film. I felt that there was an important contradiction made clear. America's 400 year old flight from Europe's monarchies and class systems is both long over and yet still taking place. I don't believe that this contradiction has anything to do with money.

Personal dignity is the prize at the end of the American dream. And yet dignity is far more elusive than we'd like to believe. This has a lot more to do with practical parenting and the real value that children have to their parents and how it's shown, NOT how much they spend or can spend on their children.

Americans have steadfastly (in principal) defined personal worth by personal achievement. Whether you began your days in humble circumstances or not, you can with effort, create the wealth and comfort for yourself and your family that you need. This is the American Idea. And yet this principal becomes mere theory for those whose lives are defined utterly by someone else's effort, often long before they were born.

The problems of these people are somewhat anachronistic to the rest of us. And also quietly disturbing because there is a wound that the American identity struggles with on the subject of wealth, power, history and privilege (royalty). Americans are both attracted to the glamor of privilege and repelled intellectually. Some part of our problem is universal; how to define personal value when those with power apparently don't need to worry about it. There is an important moment in the film where, in a candid remark, a young man describes a sense of pique he'd experienced where he had said to himself about someone he was annoyed with, "we could buy your family," and he believes it. This says volumes about the sense of narcissistic confusion that stems from an identity where basic values have not been passed down and personal dignity is not fought for. What more compelling is that the young man also seems to be aware of that fact.

A few of these people seem to be trying to reset their values to relate to the rest of us. This is a specifically American virtue and it separates them from the rest who have delusions of relevance bloated even more by this film's interest in their lives; they wouldn't be out of place in the courts of Europe a century ago.

A fascinating film.