 |
 |
HBO: This movie, in some ways, seems like an
extension of some of the ideas you explored in
your first film, 'Born Rich.'
Jamie Johnson: It was an extension of 'Born Rich' and also, at
the time, when I started the film, there were a
number of changes in the economy: George
Bush was undoing cutting taxes that Bill
Clinton had put in place, even though the
economy was doing quite well. And there were
a number of people writing about this growing
wealth gap, this sense of Two Americas.
I had seen firsthand, through my own
personal experience with my family and the
people immediately around me that were from
other affluent families that their wealth was
increasing at a huge rate, and much faster
than the rest of the country. And I thought,
you gotta absolutely explore this in a
documentary film.
HBO: And in doing that you become a pariah of
sorts by asking questions you weren't
supposed to ask, which is usually the
moments in the film when the conversation
dies.
Jamie Johnson: Yeah, that's a great way of saying it because
that often does happen. I think talking about
inequality in this country is so uncomfortable
for people that when you bring up the subject,
they often can't engage with it in any way at
all and they don't want to-especially people
who are vastly rich, because they have these
mixed feelings about privilege and their
position.
And bringing the topic up, talking about
wealth, talking about inequality forces them to
engage with those feelings of uncertainty they
have. And they would prefer to reject the
conversation. They would prefer to kill it. And
that's really what I'm trying to do with this
film, is ensure that the conversation isn't
killed.
And rather than trying to find solutions,
which so far no one really has, my mission
has been to keep putting the questions to
people in hopes that maybe there will be some
gradual resolution of the problem. It was very
important to me while making this film to try
and reach out to those iconic figures in this
debate, in order for it to be a film of
significance and really contribute to the
discussion of inequality and this discussion of
the growing wealth gap in economics in
America.
HBO: The cab driver is a wonderful exception among
all these wealthy individuals. How did he end
up in the film?
Jamie Johnson: Well, Jimmy, who is the character that you
see in the taxi cab, he is one of those people
that you run into while you're making a
documentary film and you start a
conversation and then, all of a sudden, that
conversation turns into a conversation with a
camera and then, all of a sudden, it turns into
an interview and you get this great content for
the film where you didn't necessarily expect
to. They're part of the pleasant surprises while
on the journey of making a documentary, and
often they're the richest moments in the film.
HBO: One of the more interesting issues the film
explores is whether or not the wealthiest in
society have a responsibility to help out those
who are less privileged. What are your
thoughts on the subject?
Jamie Johnson: I think it certainly is the responsibility of the
rich to support and regenerate society. And I
also think it's the responsibility of our
government to provide basic infrastructure
and social support for many people who need
it. We can afford it as a country and I think
it's something that is beneficial to everyone at
the top, and everyone at the bottom-
meaning, I think there needs to be a basic
level of health care, a basic level of education.
I think you need these institutional systems of
social support, and I think it's the
government's responsibility to provide that.
Now someone like Milton Friedman
fundamentally disagrees with that, and that's
an age old debate. But right now, the rich are
capturing too many of the rewards of the
economy at the expense of everybody else.
HBO: What do you hope audiences will take away
from the film?
Jamie Johnson: Well, I hope they'll get to see something that
they normally wouldn't get to see, which is a
window into this world of great wealth, and
hear the opinions of these vastly rich people
about how the economy is structured and
what it's doing to the wealth gap-whether it's
decreasing it or increasing it, whether it's
contributing to the problem or resolving the
problem. I think rarely do you get to hear
candid statements from the vastly rich about
inequality and about how they feel about it.
I know people socially who live in countries
where the wealth gap is more extreme than it
is in America and they live with full-time
security. They live with the threat of getting
kidnapped, or they live with the threat of
people invading their homes. I can't imagine
why anyone would want to increase the level
of inequality in this country to the extent
where we had that kind of internal conflict
between social classes. Is it possible?
According to the experts in my film, yes, it is
possible that America could reach that level of
inequality where we have internal conflict that
could even be armed conflict. It's a frightening
thought, but I think it's a very real possibility.
I hope that the message of this film reaches
people that are vastly rich and that they
realize there is a sense of responsibility that
they need to have to the greater society. They
can't just keep capturing more and more
wealth and distancing themselves from the
majority of Americans.
|
|
|
|
|
