Born Rich

US Release: 2003

Watched online: Friday 5th October 2012

Rating: PG

Genre: Documentary

Runtime: 1hr 15mins

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

My Review: I was in the mood for an interesting documentary and after some searching this was the first one that stood out to me as interesting. It’s no surprise that as a media and sociology student I’m fascinated by pop culture, fame and fortune and the impacts on society. However after watching the excellent Teenage Paparazzo few months ago, Born Rich didn’t have anywhere enough to say. 

In fact, there wasn’t really much conclusion to the debate at all. 

This is probably due to a couple of reasons: the maker of the film is the heir to Johnson and Johnson and so he himself is what the film is studying - rich kids - and secondly, it is perhaps too short to really make an impact. 

Saying that some of the interviews did through up some compelling comments on what it means to grow up having every possible material thing you want. I even felt a little sorry for one of the interviewees when he said that he could never really trust anyone and how he could never marry anyone that didn’t agree to a major pre-nup. His life seemed to be all about money and I found that quite sad as while he’ll never want for any material thing - the more important things such as family, friends and love he shall almost certainly never have. Because if anything, this documentary highlights what it really means to be rich... and how while you may be rich physically, spiritually you’d be poor.

Score: 6/10