I must confess, one of the appeals of Apple TV’s Emmy-nominated “Your Friends & Neighbors” is seeing how awful it is to be that wealthy. I mean, it’s a TV show, so I’m guessing it’s actually still pretty awesome to be rich. (And if you’re still a Variety subscriber and reading this in print, there’s a good chance you made it big in entertainment and are sitting on a hefty bank account. And if so, congratulations. I still want to be you.)
“Your Friends & Neighbors” gives us a glimpse of what it’s like to be in the 1%, especially in Season 2, as James Marsden joins the cast as a billionaire with plenty of questionable morals. At a time, of course, when it seems like all we’re confronting are billionaires with questionable morals who are taking over the government, the media and everything in between.
But are they truly happy? Sure, there’s occasional nuisance — on “Your Friends & Neighbors,” it’s Jon Hamm stealing some of their loot; in real life, it’s state attorneys general trying to slow down your desire to consume as much of Hollywood as possible. But the answer is yes, yes they are.
How upside down is this world now? HBO Max’s “The Gilded Age” is actually now wish fulfillment compared to 2026. OK, so there was great inequality, rampant corruption and poverty throughout much of the country even as America boomed in the 1880s — but at least the tycoons, magnates and moguls of the era at least pretended to care about the lower class. The Carnegies, the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers all funded stuff that was good for the public, including public libraries, education, medicine, science, parks and culture.
