Although I am not a huge fan of reality shows, there are some that I watch. For instance, I love Bridezillas and Jerseylicious (don’t judge me). I also love, for some inexplicable reason, Downsized. If you haven’t seen it, or even heard of it, Downsized is a reality show about a blended family in Arizona with 7 children–6 of whom are teenagers (and 3 are triplets!)–who essentially lost everything when the economy tanked a few years ago. They were making a ton of money as a result of his construction business and when that dried up, so did their finances. The show follows them attempting to get back on track.
I can’t really figure out how I feel about the family. Some moments I love them and think “Hey, they finally get it!” and other moments I want to reach through the TV and punch every single one of them. I guess that shows what good editors they have! But it does offer a quasi-real picture of what many American families have been experiencing over the last few years and occasionally, there’s a little nugget of good information–like a financial Easter egg.
But this show got me thinking about how many other TV shows and movies are out there that deal with the subject matter of finance. I’m not talking one or two scenes in a grander story; I’m talking the central focus is money. Here are some of the ones that I’ve watched over the years:
Capitalism: A Love Story–this is Michael Moore’s scathing look at the way corporate America dominates every facet of every day lives. Told with true Michael Moore angst, it’s an interesting look at our economic system and its impact here and across the world. I’ve watched this movie a few times and while it makes some good points, it gets a bit preachy for me. I’d rather watch some of his other documentaries like Bowling for Columbine.
What Would Jesus Buy–this documentary follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir on a cross-country trip to stop the consumerism of Christmas and prevent, what he call the Shopocalypse. I remember watching this with a bit of skepticism but it was really quite interesting. His passion is both inspiring and overwhelming.
30 Days: Minimum Wage–this was the first episode of Morgan Spurlock’s show 30 Days and it followed him and his fiancee as they tried to survive in Cleveland living on solely minimum wage. They moved there for 1 month with virtually nothing and tried to see how they would fare. Every time I watch this episode I change my opinion about their experience. They definitely gave it a valiant effort but it was only for 30 days. I think anyone can do anything for 30 days.
MTV’s True Life episodes–say what you want about MTV and its lack of actual music and its crappy shows. True Life is a pretty good one. It’s obviously skewed for its target audience but the show has focused on many financial issues such as being in debt, being homeless, living in poverty, having broke parents and my personal favorite episode “I’m Supporting My Family”. The show provides a look at how financial issues affect the younger population, which gives it an different perspective.
I also enjoy watching what Barbara Ehrenreich calls “recession porn”. It refers to all of the print and TV journalism stories about families affected by the recession. Though I don’t get any sort of satisfaction out of watching these shows about the downfall of others, they do make me think about how blessed and fortunate I’ve been. Plus, they’re just interesting.
I’ve been watching and reading about money long before I started writing about it. I guess it’s just something I’m drawn to. And I’m always on the lookout for something new. With that, I ask you:
Do you watch documentaries or TV shows about money and financial issues? What are some of you favorites?
