Kids + Money

For you guys that do have a subscription to HBO, I highly recommend you set your Tivo for Kids + Money by Lauren Greenfield. It's a fantastic peek into the thoughts of various teens and pre-teens on consumer culture. It's basically a series of interview "portraits" of kids from various economic backgrounds in LA.

From Phoebe:

In L.A., the money is on the surface level. When you meet someone, it’s like, “Hi. I’m this person. I’m rich,” or “Hi, I’m this person. I wish I was rich.” It shows up everywhere. How tan you are, what jewelry you’re wearing. Girls have $3000 book bags just for school. It doesn’t stop in high school—what car you drive, where you work, what kind of suit you are wearing. It’s a whole image thing that Hollywood forces you to fit into.

And below is the trailer:

Comments

[Tim Jackson]

I would ask the rhetorical "what does this say about our society", but I won't bother to insult all of us. This is one of those classic portraits of what is wrong with our value center. This also does not bode well for our future, considering our present; our economic crisis is driven by unrealistic spending habits and the need to have even more. These kids show that branded into their every word. It's as if nothing else matters- good or bad. The emphasis of money on these kids is shocking. I certainly remember its influence on my own childhood, but it was secondary to other things or a means to an end; earn the money to buy the (blank). These snapshots of youth detached from reality and attached to the need for more are not infrequent or new. It's been brewing for decades really. However, I think it is now a pretty solid indicator of some of the ways we have gone wrong. Our current economy is built on this irrational consumerism. The stimulus packages being floated about rely heavily on putting money in the hands of Americans... so they can SPEND it and not SAVE it.

Pretty sound philosophy to me...

[El Gaffney]

why we don't do groups in la :)
seriously though, thanks for this tip. set my dvr for tues 8:15am est on hbo signature - for anyone interested, i think that's the next time it's airing.

[paulmcenany]

Tim-

Long time, no see, man! Glad to see your up and about, feeling better and back to the overseas trips.

There's this vicious cycle that we got ourselves into with credit (which I haven't escaped) where we've put all of our economic growth on the card. Now that those get maxed out, there's nowhere else to go. And for thousands of companies operating on a philosophy of sacrificing everything for short term gains, we're in some serious, and not easily fixable, trouble.

I will say this on the stimulus package, at least there's no talk of just sending out checks like the last time. Dumbest shit ever. Now they're working on creating jobs through strengthening infrastructure, expanding broadband, building more schools, etc. Things that help us out short term, but will also move us forward. Here's hoping it works.

And let me know what you think, Seth! The two sisters at the end of the show have the most interesting dynamic. I feel bad for the guy that ends up with the younger one...

[El Gaffney]

Sister A -"I want to have a lot of money."
Sister B -"And a good career."
Sister A -"No. I don't want to work."

I thought it continued to get more interesting. Worth 30 minutes of people's time. Definitely better than "Rich Kids."

[JaynieK]

is there any way to view this other than on hbo? i'd love to see it...

[Paul McEnany]

I'm looking for it - but not having much luck! I'll keep poking around, though...