Judging solely from what you saw in the film, in your opinion, do you think Jackie is happy with the state of her life, family and marriage?
shareyes. I kind of think she'd be about as happy as she is no matter what the situation was.
shareI think she loves her husband and yeah I think she's a glass half full kind of gal. I think she wishes her husband adored her like he used to but she's making the best of it. She's been up and down so whatever happens I believe she will be ok.
share[deleted]
She looked like a person deeply addicted to spending money and accumulating STUFF. People often exhibit behavior like that to cover up inner problems.
The scene that really got to me was the Walmart shopping spree, where she was just running through Walmart with her kids grabbing everything in sight, and then later people were opening up presents which obviously had no thought put into them. All those bikes were dumped in a garage already filled to the brim with bikes.
She's addicted to consumption. If she could kick that habit I think she could be happy.
It's spelled Raymond Luxury Yacht, but it's pronounced 'Throat-Warbler Mangrove'
She's addicted to consumption. If she could kick that habit I think she could be happy
I seriously doubt it. Her husband loves the idea of her more than her, and if he genuinely cared for her at one time, it's obvious that his work issues were his primary focus for over 2 years.
When she mentions how her husband would "trade her in for 2 20 year olds" when she turned forty, she isn't actually laughing. Sure, some guys can make jokes like that, and you know they don't mean for you to take those words literally. David wasn't kidding when he said that, and look how she took it to heart.
Boob jobs are one thing, but her ever-inflating chest seemed like a desperate attention grab.
She went on an uncontrollable spending spree at WalMart, wearing $300 jeans. That's her idea of cutting back - four shopping carts full of stuff from a low-end franchise store instead of a boutique.
The childish way she brought her children in to negotiate marital problems with her husband. The way he upbraided her about the electric bill (and her inability to hold an intelligent conversation about this with him as an equal partner, not a low-level employee).
Her mention of how it took her a "long time" to love him, but how "nice it was" to have someone care for you like that. Followed by pathetic bids for his attention.
I think she was probably very excited about life once, and possibly happy. But during this documentary? No.
They're coming to get you, Barbara!
When she mentions how her husband would "trade her in for 2 20 year olds" when she turned forty, she isn't actually laughing. Sure, some guys can make jokes like that, and you know they don't mean for you to take those words literally. David wasn't kidding when he said that, and look how she took it to heart.
I don't personally think 40 is old (I think she was 43?), and she's very youthful for her age. But her husband seems obsessed with hanging round beautiful younger women (i.e. their 30 year age difference). I do think it's sad if he looks at not divorcing her for a younger woman purely through the lens of what is less expensive for him (not saying you said he was for sure doing this, but it does seem like something he would do).
They're coming to get you, Barbara!
after having 7 of his kids I am sure she would be entitled to around not much less than half of his assets
I missed the Walmart scene. Could you please tell me which part of the film it is in? beginning, or end?
Sounds juicy..
But to be fair to Jackie, she really is a character.
This family would make a good reality show.
Everyday I learn something new!
Shes only happy when she's accumulating material objects to fill the void in her life. Its never enough though.
So many red flags with this family.. ..shopping addiction, hoarding, the house is a pigsty, neglected animals dying in the house, poop all over the floors, it was crazy.
I think she was happy during the first part of the documentary, when they're very rich and she can buy all the stuff she wants and her husband treats her well. As soon as they start having money problems, she doesn't know what to do with herself all day. The Walmart scene was shocking, not just because she couldn't help herself from buying stuff but because when her kids were opening the presents on Christmas day, they clearly didn't think much of them. Hell, she even gave her husband like 4 board games. She clearly has no idea what her kids actually like and want or that she's infantilized herself for her husband.
I think the really sad part, is that she's not really a dumb, trophy wife. The woman went to collage, she had ambitions. But her desire for money and the "good life" was bigger than the human desire for idependence and making something of yourself.
The good thing for her, though,is that she's become oblivious to the obivous issues in her marriage and her relationship with her kids. So as soon as her husband starts having obscene amounts of money again (which I've read, he does now) things will go back to normal. The bad thing is, both her and her husband have scared their children in ways they don't even know and that will be very hard to overcome for them. I doubt she even knew that her son was sleeping in the maid's room.
Bless those nannies and maids, though. They were the only real balance those kinds have ever known.
What would disguise itself as a rat? A mouse with delusions of grandeur
Many rich people pursue interests their money allows them to pursue - they fly planes, own race horses, travel the world pursuing extreme or exotic adventure and experiences, they invest their money in something that interests them, they sponsor a charity, they sail boats or race yachts, they become obsessed with ballroom dancing or ballet - there are endless constructive things rich people do with their time and money.
Jackie is a smart woman with an engineering degree without any interests other than consumerism. Naturally she's going to shop compulsively and work on her personal maintenance compulsively. That Versailles house is going to be a junkyard if it's ever finished - nobody is going to use the roller rink, sushi bar, screening room, or any of the amenities they're adding in. I don't get her. As a young woman she was dynamic enough to get an engineering degree and work at IBM, then quit on a week's notice and head to NYC. I wonder how she paid for the move to NYC and how she supported herself before her modeling got under way (I'm always curious about that in "quit their job and moved to [fill in the blank]" stories because it's an important point we seldom hear about. But she got out of her first marriage, got into modeling, seemed pretty driven and dynamic. Then she gets married to Dave Siegel and doesn't know what to do with herself so she turns compulsive.
I also suspects she drinks, frankly. I know the plastic surgery and all the kids can hit a body hard, but something about her makes me think she might drink a bit.
Based on the business David Siegel is in, and the sort of cutting down they had to do (such as watching the consumption of electricity) I really question how much actual wealth he has. His lifestyle appeared dependent on monthly cash flow. He didn't appear to possess any income-earning instruments, properties or investments for his personal wealth. His personal lifestyle was supported by his share of the cash flow from business income. When that cash flow slowed, he had to cut way down. If he weren't dependent on business cash flow, the business problems wouldn't have affected his lifestyle.
Joseph P. Kennedy, the original patriarch of the Kennedy family, placed his fortunes in trusts. Do any of the Siegel kids have trust funds?
I'm really curious what happens when David Siegel dies. He's 80. He said something like "If I have to live to be 150, I'll get back where I was." Well, he's not going to live to be 150, but his financial planning doesn't seem to consider that he's not going to live forever. Are Jackie and his underaged kids provided for when he dies? Does she inherit his share of the business?