David Siegel, his wife, Jackie, and their kids lived a life of luxury due to David’s fortune from owning the largest timeshare company in the world. However, the downturn of the economy caused their opulent lifestyle to end and a life of uncertainty to begin. The documentary, “Queen of Versailles,” shows the Siegel family struggle to learn how to live a life of poverty after their money is lost, all the while having their dream home, Versailles, become stripped away from them as well. Through the voices of David and Jackie, the general audience gets a clear visual of how the American dream of climbing up the social ladder can both be achieved and taken away. In order to to demonstrate what a lack of humbleness does to someone and to show the real-life struggles of people during the recent depression, “Queen of Versailles” uses symbolism and depressing stories.
Three symbols used in the documentary are a chair, music, and fireworks. At the beginning of the documentary, before the Siegels lose their money, David is being interviewed sitting on an ornate throne. The throne represents the money, power, and greed that David has and exudes. Later, at the end of the documentary after the money was lost, David is seen getting interviewed in a common chair instead of a lavish throne, thus demonstrating how he has been humbled by his experience(s) and how he no longer can be equivalent to a king, especially the king of Versailles. Another symbol used was the change in the type of music. At the beginning of the documentary when all was good with the Siegels, the music was somewhat cheerful, demonstrating that there were no problems for the family. However, after the Siegel family’s luck spiraled, the music began to change. Instead of happier tunes, the music became very gloomy in order to show how depressing the situation was. Yet, the music would also start to become more cheerful whenever there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Therefore, the music represents the effects of being too greedy and what happens when one is not humble. A third symbol is the fireworks at the end of the documentary. Fireworks normally are used for happy occasions but I feel that that is not the case here. I believe that the fireworks show the crash and burn of David Siegel’s business as well as the shortfalls of the American dream.
In order to show the effects of the economic downturn, the documentary shows interviews of both the Siegels and humble people, thus appealing to pathos. The interviews of the Siegels after they faced hardship are used to show a humbling experience. Before, the Siegels had interviews where they seemed very arrogant and domineering. However, as the family goes deeper and deeper into debt and cries and complains about their issues, their problems, the audience gets moved to feel bad for them. The audience feels even worse for the people who never had obtained wealth, such as Jackie’s friend, Tina, who lost her house and the Siegel’s nanny who struggles to make money for her family back home. Seeing these interviews of the how bad people struggle in order to fulfill the American dream causes the Audience to be humbled and hopefully realize that life could be worse than it is.
“Queen of Versailles” showed how even when people believe they are on the top of the world, they can always be toppled. Yet, it also showed how even though people can fall, they are never out of the running to rise again.
The Versailles Mansion
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/david-siegel-unfinished-mansion-75-million-westgate-resorts-tiger-woods-37835.html
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