Alain de Botton's 2004 documentary based on his book Status Anxiety, running over two hours. It asks why people in rich societies are still unhappy, and examines how worries about success, snobbery and meritocracy drive that anxiety.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN recommends it as an illuminating, eye-opening long-form take on status, luck and how we judge the successful and unsuccessful.
This doc is eye-opening: this video (although it's over 2 hours and I fell asleep the first time I watched it). but TL;DW: People are always looking for status, because status means others acknowledge and praise them. And today's celebrity culture means being famous is seemingly a quick way to gain status. With a better community you'd have friends who like you and acknowledge you because they got to know you and your character.
Strongly recommendsnetsharcMay 2019
“This (2+ hours) documentary about status is quite eye opening”
Documentary on status and recognition
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Luxury goods are status symbols, we buy them because we crave status because deep down we crave recognition from others in society. So I wonder if urbanization/the trend towards more loneliness is the problem. If you have a tightly-knit community, you'd have people who appreciate you because of your character, sense of humor or good company; not because you drive a fancy car. And nowadays we don't really have real communities anymore, just polarization through the Internet, where people try to feel better about themselves by putting down others. This (2+ hours) documentary about status is quite eye opening: this video
Strongly recommendsArnoVWJun 2021
“I can highly recommend the book (and documentary)”
Status Anxiety documentary with gems like vicar versus TV preacher
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If you found this article interesting, I can highly recommend the book (and documentary) "Status Anxiety", by modern philosopher Alain de Botton. The video has a couple of gems, such as the comparisson between an english country-side vicar, and an american TV preacher. this video
RecommendsshenanigoatAug 2015
“For those who want to condense the reading experience, here is a 2.5 hr documentary version”
Documentary condensing Status Anxiety book
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Agreed. I also really enjoyed Status Anxiety. For those who want to condense the reading experience, here is a 2.5 hr documentary version this video .
RecommendsflycaliguyNov 2016
“May I suggest you watch Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety next time?”
Alain de Botton documentary on status
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May I suggest you watch Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety next time? Might hit two birds with one stone. this video
RecommendsnetsharcJun 2017
“I find Alain de Botton's essays enlightening, here's a 2+ hour documentary about it”
Documentary on meritocracy and status
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Meritocracy is an interesting "religion", which we unconsciously believe in, and one can probably argue is the basis of the Republican ideology. "You're poor? That must mean you're lazy!" I find Alain de Botton's essays enlightening, here's a 2+ hour documentary about it: this video , and a 4 minute summary: link
RecommendsnetsharcNov 2019
“Alain de Botton has an illuminating documentary about status”
Illuminating documentary about status
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Hah, just like in that Black Mirror episode, where the main character avoids interacting with the waiter with a 3.x rating for fear of being judged by others as someone of lower status (score). Alain de Botton has an illuminating documentary about status (2h30m version: this video , 5m version: link )
RecommendsnetsharcAug 2022
“or even a longer documentary”
Longer documentary on meritocracy beliefs
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Well, the US is a fine example of your realization. People like to preach "You just need work hard and you'll be successful.". If you believe that, then on the flip side you'd have to believe, "Those poor people are poor because they're lazy.". To me that's why there's a lot of people screaming and yelling about "Handouts for the poor!". A good video about it: link , or even a longer documentary: this video
RecommendsnetsharcJan 2023
“Interesting long-ass documentary about status”
Long documentary on status and meritocracy
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I skimmed through the review, it seems it's skewering this book and the arguments it's trying to make. But curious, if other people see expensive cars as status, me showing up in a fancy car means me showing up with status. If I'm female and I show up with a Louis Vuitton bag, that also means showing up with status, but with a Michael Kors bag? As a female friend told me a few years ago "Ewww, everyone buys that brand, it's now 'cheap'."... Interesting long-ass documentary about status: this video , but also about the "meritocracy" and the US' idea of "If you work hard you'll be successful" which imply the flip of it: "If you're poor, that means you're lazy".
RecommendsnetsharcNov 2025
“This 2+ hour documentary partly talks about it, in particular from ~28m”
Documentary partly on hard work and luck, from 28m
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Too many people buy the American dream of "If you just work hard enough, you'll be successful.". If you believe this, then you'd have to believe the opposite: "If you're poor and unsucessful, that means you didn't work hard enough, you must be lazy.". And too many trust-fund kids or kids from rich parents who could afford to send them to expensive schools (or rich enough to live in a district with a well-funded school) dismiss their luck and believe "I'm successful, that must mean I've been a diligent and smart worker.". Also, beware of survival bias, most of people in here will have similar paths (born with smarts, good education, high-paying IT job, great success) and probably have similar beliefs about hard work and luck... This 2+ hour documentary partly talks about it, in particular from ~28m: this video
RecommendsnetsharcAug 2026
“A relevant segment on a 2h+ documentary”
Segment on work ethic and judging the unsuccessful
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If only the government thought like this, instead of blaming those family members of being "lazy welfare queens"... A relevant segment on a 2h+ documentary: this video Or before that: this video If you've absorbed the American teaching that "if you just work hard you'll be successful", then you'd have to believe the opposite: "if you're not successful that means you're lazy".
Cites itbellyfullofbacMay 2021
“Here's a 143 minute citation”
Long documentary cited on work ethic and luck
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Here's a 143 minute citation: this video Or a 6 minute one: link TL; DW: the flip side of the American/Protestant work ethic which says "Work hard and you'll surely succeed" is that then you'd have to logically view that the people who are failing/have failed in life are lazy. The reality is it's mostly luck, good or bad, that make you a billionaire or living in a van at 80. At least this logic is common among people who say "We don't want a welfare state, that's basically state-approved theft of my money by welfare queens.". On the topic of status, I can see why racists are threatened by a more equal society: it would mean the black family would be just well-off as them, and it would suck to not feel superior to "those lazy people". I guess this isn't much of a citation...
Cites itnetsharcMay 2022
“After watching this (long) documentary about status anxiety[1]”
Long documentary on status anxiety
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It'd be interesting if you had a brain tumor and could just ask your neighbor to operate it out - but I guess you'd still need to rent an operating room. I guess humans would be like general purpose computers that you can program to do anything (let's assume all of the computers are equally specced). You said "entertainer", so it makes me wonder if people will still be wowed by acting or singing performances if they could also do it as competently. Would humans have to be like Borg units in this scenario? But to return to the labor market, I guess no one get's paid 6 figures because they're "one of the few" that can architect the JSON for a webapp for some food delivery service, everyone can do that! People would still buy food because maybe not everyone wants to be a farmer, and people would still buy plane tickets because there are not enough resources to build everyone a plane (or an operating room). After watching this (long) documentary about status anxiety[1] (or shorter summary: [2]) I like to see things from that perspective. Would the labor market have financial advisors if we're all competent at managing our wealth, would we even be chasing wealth (which we mostly do because IMO it's a status symbol) if we're all equal? [1] this video [2] link
