In her much praised documentary THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES Lauren Greenfield follows the family of a billionaire who loses it all in the economic crisis. On the eve of the crisis the resort mogul David Siegel and his younger wife Jackie have plans to build the biggest house in America. But when the real estate bubble bursts it is a death blow for the Siegels’ empire. Its loss demanded vast changes in their lifestyle, character and world-view. Their incapacity to adapt – particularly on Jackie’s part – led to a tragedy of epic proportions. Greenfield recorded it with a sharp but compassionate eye.

It pains Lauren Greenfield to see how American girls and women increasingly confuse their appearance with their identity. She derives this observation in part from the book The Body Project by the social historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg. The book suggests that in the United States, girls are less protected by traditional institutions such as the family and religion. That makes them more vulnerable to advertising and media, in which the body and physical appearance play a prominent role. One consequence is that many girls and women regard their body as a project, in the belief that it is the most important expression of their personality.