The Queen Of Versailles Analysis

The viewing of the documentary “The Queen of Versailles” was an eye opener, going into the film we don’t feel sorry for what is about to happen to them but towards the end we find that nothing will make them happy. The documentary does an incredible job of showing us a world that we will probably never see, as well as, showing us what’s really important in life. It does a great job of portraying the American dream and all the problems they may come with creating that dream. The documentary begins in 2008 and the Siegel’s are making more money than they know what to do with. Everything seems to going perfect for the family. Westgate Resorts is making tons of cash by selling timeshares to their middle class customers whom the Siegel’s lovingly

As if all that wasn’t bad enough, the documentary itself is actually named after a new home that they are building, Versailles. Their current home, at over 30,000 feet, is just “busting at the seams”. [Siegel] Therefore, the Siegel’s find it sensible to begin construction on what will be the largest home in America. Versailles, at 90,000 feet, will have 30 bathrooms, ten kitchens, a roller rink, and a full size baseball field, just to name a few. Then, the great recession hits. Westgate Resorts, whose cash flow depends on cheap and easy credit from the banks, is unable to continue the business of selling people things that they can’t really afford. Mr. Siegel disappointedly has to lay off thousands of employees while blaming the entire situation on “the bankers” and their easy money. [Siegel] Amazingly, throughout the documentary he takes little responsibility and doesn’t seem to recognize the link between his cash flow problems and his wife’s unnecessary spending. In fact, he lectures throughout the movie about the importance of having a mortgage on anything you can in order to “make money on your money.” [Siegel] As the luxury begins to fade, there’s a lot of complaining about the banker’s unfair

There should be such a thing as “enough” money. The Siegel’s had so much money that it completely robbed them of their common sense and more modern upbringing. Additionally, Mr. Siegel’s pursuit of even more money left no time for anything else. At 74 years old, he was working around the clock planning his imminent financial comeback to “from rags to riches.” [Siegel] It was a difficult thing to see, a man his age feeling like a failure when he obviously still had plenty of money and so much to be proud of. Shouldn’t there be a point when you have “enough”