while our economy suffers, we turn to the uber rich for cheap entertainment. check it: mtv's rich girls and cribs, paris hilton and nicole richie's upcoming reality tv show, the simple life, and jamie johnson (of johnson & johnson)'s hbo documentary, born rich. all these shows have one thing in common: lifestyles of the rich and richer. why we pay attention is part, day dreaming and part love-to-hate. everyone is jumping on the rich bandwagon.
last week, we were in talks with a production company for a big cable network show on rich kids and their fabulous lives. the network had originally pitched us the show as wanting to profile us and our company as something cool (we were told video games is cool now). after some initial email swapping and phone conferences, the story was tweaked a bit. it wasn't so much about us being cool anymore but we were being "fitted" for a show about young rich kids and their fabulous lives. the email stated, "need a video...this is more about you and less about the company...want you onboard...profile of you and silvio as young, hip cool cats who lead an interesting life so the work [profile] is definitely a b-story. can we interview you guys wednesday at 12 pm?" others involved included a getty and a club scenester who's opened up some hip watering holes. i argued that we did not live fabulous lives and that we were broke ass...nowhere nearly as wealthy as our suggested match show companions. we were flattered by the attention and hell, i even started thinking about my on-air outfit, but the voice inside said, "cool it."
nervous about the cutting room floor, i started to think, if we do this show, we're going to look like assholes no matter what (i.e. everyone but redman on cribs has come across as a jerk). believe me, i am very fond of making fun of the people from these shows even though i love to watch them. i thought, i'm going to end up making fun of myself on tv. red flags were raised and we conferenced with family in the "industry". they answered with "now is not the right time." so we heed the advice of industry veterans and loved ones, i think we're to keep our eye on the prize. i told the producer to come back to us when they do a special on kids doing interesting things. he couldn't believe we'd pass on this tv opportunity. regarding opportunities, there's always a next time. you can always recreate them.
what's the next big cool thing when being rich is a bitch? paris hilton knows a thing or two about this. and if i've learned anything from watching all this rich television programming, it's that, you seem to trade your financial security for a whole lot of other crazy problems like not knowing what to do with your life because you don't really have to do anything. i'm perfectly happy with being cash poor, loved richly and filled with dreams that never end.
