Extreme wealth is everywhere on screen – audiences love movies and shows that give us a peek into how the other half (or, rather, 1%) lives.

“Here’s the thing about being rich: it’s fucking great. It’s like being a superhero, only better.” Succession

It can be a lot of fun to escape into these bougie worlds… and to watch these people who seem to have everything actually have to struggle every once in a while.

“I will not not be rich!” Big Little Lies

But how true to life are these portrayals, really? And how do these narratives shape our perception of the wealthy – and ourselves – in real life? Let’s take a deeper look.

THE REALITY OF WEALTH

While many of our favorite movies and shows feature characters that are kind of like us but whose lifestyles might seem to somehow just magically stretch beyond what their jobs (or lack thereof) in real life would afford, other shows go in the totally opposite direction and bring us into the world of the ultra wealthy. For these characters, money isn’t even a question. They have so much that they’re essentially entirely insulated from the world of regular people. These kinds of mega rich people absolutely do exist in real life, but they’re often hidden away in their penthouses and private islands, only seen by the rest of us when they’re featured in a fawning article or presenting their ideas on the world stage. On screen, however, we get a peek behind the curtain, and an idea of the immense highs and surprising lows of life on that level are like.

While the recent trend asserting that all rich people dress simply isn’t totally accurate – there are plenty of genuinely rich people who love to flash their wealth via their clothes – it is true that many members of the upper echelons of society do skip on many things that have become social markers of money, like visible logos.

“She’s brought a ludicrously capacious bag. What’s even in there? Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail?” Succession

As Billions showrunner David Levien told The Guardian, “These guys were so far beyond wealthy that they don’t have to obey the standard codes… They don’t need to impress anyone.” But that doesn’t mean that they don’t signal their wealth at all, they just do things a little differently. The focus is more on if you know you know items that only other obscenely wealthy people would even notice, like Kendall Roy’s luxury cashmere baseball caps or Bobby Axelrod’s Audemars Piguet watches, which cost tens of thousands of dollars each.

“What have I done wrong, really? Except make money, succeed.” Billions

We also often see wealthy characters shaming other people for trying to “follow the rules” and fit in.

“Where do you buy your suits by the way, Tom? Like, maybe that’s why I’m just not moving as fast as you. I just don’t have that, like, boxy, corporate look, right?” Succession

While Monica’s huge NYC apartment on Friends might have felt like a pipedream for most of us, it would have just amounted to a room in one of these elite character’s many homes. Real estate – from palatial apartments to, well, actual palaces– isn’t just about having a place to live in every major city in the world, it makes up a very important part of every wealthy person’s investment portfolio. While many people are struggling with the reality that they might never be able to afford to buy a home, the elite often have multiple residences across the globe – and none of them are cheap.

“I will be looking for between $60 to 70 million.” “Okay, wow, so like… $63, or-?” “Done.” Succession

While Logan Roy’s Fifth Avenue mansion doesn’t really exist, it’s not an unheard of sum for that area of Manhattan. Highclere Castle, which served as the home of the Crawley family in Downton Abbey, was reportedly valued at 72 million pounds, and costs over a million pounds per year just to upkeep. And, of course, the mega rich wouldn’t be caught dead hopping on a regular flight with the rest of us normies – so they also need chauffeur and a private jet, or sometimes an entire fleet, to flit them from destination to destination; Forbes estimates that the Roy family owns around $50 million in helicopters and planes alone.

While peering into these elite lives can be incredibly entertaining, they can also be kind of hard to relate to on a personal level, so shows and movies often provide a (comparatively) less well off audience surrogate to help guide us into this world.

“Everybody, this is, uh, cousin Craig, by the way.” he waves “Craig? It’s Greg, no?” Succession

THE (RELATIVELY) BROKE AUDIENCE PROXY

When creating a story about a difficult to understand or detached-from-reality world, inserting an audience proxy character who is also experiencing everything for the first time (and thus needs everything explained to them) can be a great way to help the audience find its footing. In stories about the ultra-elite, these are usually significantly less wealthy characters who, for one reason or another, are thrust into this world of money. It could be as simple as falling in love or trying to make ends meet or getting sent to a new school. The immense wealth in these circles is just as confounding (and sometimes off putting) to these characters as it can be to us. They help keep these stories tethered to our own reality, and help remind us just how ridiculous the lives of these people can be.

While some of these audience surrogates might be in it for love or because of circumstance, many are making bank. Even just being near wealth at that level can provide a huge opportunity for personal gain. Working as an Executive Assistant for a high networth individual will probably mean giving up all of your free time and possibly your sanity, but it could also see you raking in well over $100,000 per year. Executive Assistants are invaluable for wealthy people because they’re the ones that do all of the work to keep the rich person’s life in order – setting up meetings, making calls, finding reservations, resolving problems.

“I want you to stay… stay close cause I might need you. But just lay low.” The White Lotus

If you can put up with the intense stress and, often, poor treatment, you could be on your own way to a bit of wealth, though you might not ever really have time to spend it… Most audience proxies also have to operate with the fear that the rug could be pulled out from under them at any moment and they could lose access to that money supply at any time – either by their own choice because they’re finally done or because they’re getting cut off.

“We’re calling Kerry a taxi to the subway so that she can go home to her little apartment.” Succession

THE POWER OF MONEY

The concept that money is power certainly isn’t new – but it can be a little surprising just how much large scale wealth can completely change your connection to everyone and everything around you.

“See money doesn’t just buy you a better life, better food, better cars, it also makes you a better person.” The Wolf of Wall Street

Being essentially totally separated from the rest of the world thanks to their private transportation and restaurants and yachts and estates can completely shift one’s conception of other people – not just so that you see them as ‘beneath’ you, but to the point that you stop even recognizing them as real human beings. This can, of course, lead to some pretty heinous behavior. There’s the large-scale havoc they wreak on the world just to keep their wealth, from destroying the environment to swaying elections. But there’s also the smaller scale, interpersonal deviousness.

“I latch on to somebody and use my money to control them… It’s just not healthy for me, you know?” The White Lotus

This desire for control is what drives so many ultra-wealthy characters – they know that the only way to secure more power is to get more money, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. This desire for dominance combined with a complete lack of consequences for their actions leads to a weird conundrum where the wealthy are totally blase about major things that should be earth shattering, while completely losing it over the most random minutiae.

“The butter is too cold! The butter’s all fucked! You’re fuckwads and you fucked it! There’s dinner rolls ripping out there as we speak!” Succession

In the same vein, these movies and shows also often show us the great lengths less well off characters will go to to stay within the circle of wealth. On Succession, Cousin Greg starts out as a pretty regular guy being pushed by his mom into asking for a job in the family business, and is at first pretty afraid of how dark things can get. But he pretty quickly seems to decide that putting up with the insanity is worth it for the reward. He absorbs some of the Roy family’s worst characteristics and eventually decides he’s willing to do whatever it takes to never leave this world of wealth he’s stumbled his way into.

“Do you want to make a deal with the devil?” “...What am I gonna do with a soul anyways? Souls are boring.” Succession

RELATABLE RICHES?

While wealthy characters might try very deliberately to separate themselves from regular people, there is always a part of them that wants to believe that they’re ‘normal’, that they could fit in and be a regular person if they wanted to. And, of course, narratively it makes sense to try to find some essence of relatability within these characters so that the audience has something human to latch onto.

“Our origin story sucks compared to theirs. I mean, nobody’s rooting for born-wealthy people to become more wealthy.” The Righteous Gemstones

This is often done by delving into the troubled minds of these characters – money can fix a lot of things, but it can’t erase trauma.

These films and shows often show what a gilded cage extreme wealth can be, trapping characters in a world where they feel like they can’t do what they want even when it seems like they have all of the freedom in the world. Sometimes this is because someone else is in real control of the wealth, and standing up to them could mean losing everything.

“You know, it’s about time somebody stood up to Auntie Eleanor. But you, not me, oh God. She can’t ever know I was here.” Crazy Rich Asians

Or it could be the darkness of one’s past and the terrible choices made to escape it via wealth coming back to haunt them. Sometimes this can feel a little like just Nepo Baby Problems…

“Do you want to call your dad?” “What? No, I don’t want to call my dad. Do you want to call your dad?” Succession

But shows like Succession work to unpack how destructive it can be to one’s psyche to grow up under the looming threat of one of the most powerful people in the world.

“What have you had your entire life that I didn’t give you?” Succession

Logan Roy’s children certainly admire him, but they also fear him – their entire lives are based around trying to suss out what would make him the most proud and the least angry. Even after he dies, they can’t stop second guessing their decisions and acting like he’s just waiting in the wings to come out and berate them for their choices and then clean up their mess. We also see how other interpersonal relationships can be negatively affected by the power of money in shows like The White Lotus and Big Little Lies. When it seems like everyone around you is willing to lie, cheat, and bully their way to whatever they want, it can be hard to really trust anyone.

In addition to dealing with their personal trauma, there is one other thing wealthy characters have to worry about: losing their money.

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

When money is not only the source of your social power but your entire lifestyle and sense of self, losing that money becomes the number one fear.

“I will be rich again. I will rise up. I will buy a fucking polar bear for every kid in this school.” Big Little Lies

These characters aren’t even just afraid of being broke, they’re worried about just being less rich. Once you’ve become accustomed to a certain lifestyle, it can feel like it would be impossible to live on any less.

“$5 million is a nightmare. Can’t retire, not worth it to work. Five will drive you un poco loco, my fine-feathered friend.” Succession

So we often see characters willing to screw over friends and family and even implode their own lives in their quest to hold onto their great riches. Media also loves to analyze what happens when they fail – when they try everything to keep their money and it doesn’t work out – through satire. In shows like Arrested Development and Schitt’s Creek, we get to watch formerly rich characters having to come to terms with the reality of normal life.

“I mean it’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost? $10? “You’ve never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you?” “I don’t have time for this.” Arrested Development

Through these types of characters we also see how important keeping up appearances can be for the wealthy – even when they have lost all of their wealth, they’ll do anything to make it seem like they’re still rolling in the dough. This drive to fit in – either by looking like you still have riches that are long gone or by pretending that you’re further ahead than you really are – also affects people in real life, too. Lifestyle creep is when you have to spend more and more to keep up with the lifestyle of those around you, and can lead to even people who make six figures a year feeling like their finances are precarious – a recent study found that 51% of people who make over $100,000 per year report living paycheck to paycheck. And these films and shows about the uber elite can also contribute to this feeling – having so much access to media about these kinds of lifestyles can make them feel more attainable than they really are, especially when they’re all paired with a bunch of of articles detailing where to buy everything and TikToks explaining that you can totally elevate your life with just a few easy steps. It can start to feel like if maybe you just spend a little more, work a little harder, you too could soon be taking your own private car to your private jet to your private estate… but, of course, that’s not actually realistic. But that won’t stop people from trying to find their own way in… At then end of the day, it’s just important to make sure that these kinds of stories don’t untether you from the real world and the reality of your finances – they’re fun to watch, but they shouldn’t make you feel bad or like you’re less than for not having the same kind of money.

WHY WE LOVE THESE RICH PEOPLE STORIES

Stories about the ultra-elite are the ultimate escapism – their lifestyles are often beyond what we could even imagine. And the safety net that their money provides makes their problems perfect for easy drama: the feeling of high stakes but where nothing’s ever really too dire. While we might have to behave and act like adults in our lives, these wealthy characters get to speak their minds and do pretty much whatever they want. It’s just important that we remember that this is all for entertainment, and we shouldn’t try to bend our own lives to try to fit into these molds. While the power that money provides certainly has an allure, as these stories often show, it can also have a dark side. So instead of striving to join the ranks of these chosen few, we should probably instead focus on building a world where everyone can feel safe and secure without having to figuratively or literally sell their souls and keep our enjoyment of the detached uber wealthy to fiction.

“Greg, this is not f*cking Charles Dickens’ world, OK? You don’t go around talking about principles. We’re all trying to do the right thing, of course we are. But come on, man! Man the f*ck up!” Succession