The Queen of Versailles (2012) - How the other half live

This documentary offers an engrossing look at one family as their lives change drastically. David and Jackie Segal start the film proud of their wealth, they are billionaires. They are also developing what will be the largest house in America, which is modelled after the palace in Versailles, France. However, the 2008 economic crisis hits and things change. They owe millions of dollars and can no longer afford to develop the house. Whilst this shows how the top 1% were affected by the economic crisis, it also allows for a commentary on the American dream. David came from a normal background and then built an empire. Jackie came from a background where she worked hard and got paid little. They believed in the American dream and it worked for them. However, David made most of his money through easy money from the banks, a corrupt system and with Wall Street benefiting on being morally rotten to the core. So when this system crashed, these billionaires found that they could no longer rely on this system they had built their whole lives around. 

At times the family seems repellent. They have staff from the Philippines who have come from incredibly poor backgrounds. One of them hasn't seen her children in years and another sends all her money home. I found myself feeling repulsed at the Segal's for not helping their staff see and help their families. David also boasts that he is personally reasonable for the election of George W. Bush and jokes that this might not have been done entirely legally. He also jests that if it wasn't for him that there probably wouldn't have been a war in Iraq. he also seems incredibly obsessed with the surface appearance of things. He supports the Miss America foundation and we see him flirting with the many winners. Miss America is an organisation that I dislike as I can't stand the idea of women parading around on display for judges to decide who is superior, mostly based on their appearances. All of these aspects of his character adds to a feeling of schadenfreude when you see things start to go wrong for him.
 

Jackie is a compulsive spender and is also obsessed with outside beauty. However, she does have a certain kind of charm that you see more towards the end of the film when you see her dealing with her husbands bitterness with loyalty and love. If only she could stop buying so much pointless items long enough for me to feel more empathy for her. However, the fact she doesn't makes this film filled with various emotions and doesn't provide any easy answers. You feel they are at times awful and at others just used to a very different way of life than the rest of us. They are removed from the world and are in their own bubble. Yet they still have a longing for more that is in some ways identifiable. Lauren Greenfield directs the film so that you can decide what you think. It could have been done with far more judgement, however there is some empathy which makes the film compelling viewing filled with issues that are very current in this struggling economic climate.