Name: Status Anxiety
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2004-03-06
Duration: 2 h
Rating: 7.8
Cast: Alain de Botton, Stephen Bayley, Les Brown

This is a good film for sociology classes as long as the professor explains some of the inherent biases and the apparent agenda of the author of the book, Status Anxiety. I watched the film on PBS and, as a sociologist, liked the discussions about Marx, Weber, and other notables. Weber actually defined class to include wealth, status, and power, so the inference that it is something less falls short of describing an accurate depiction of the topic. The NY Times review refers to Botton's book as superficial and although I would agree, it did offer a good introduction to the British view of class. It is somewhat difficult to ignore that someone whose culture is a monarchy can accurately describe the class structure in such universal terms. Perhaps American sociologists (such as C. Wright Mills, for example) might be a better source of information. Botton's description does sketch some notables worthy of mention including William James, Adam Smith, Marcus Aurelius, and Schopenhauer but his selections are covered in most freshman philosophy, or civilization courses, and far better than the documentary. What was annoying in watching the film was the obvious liberal, left-wing agenda that Botton imposes (and not at all in a subtle or artistic way) about his anti-gun stance. As trite as it seems, it is not guns that kill people, but people that kill people. I found the clip contrasting Robert Norquest with the grieving mother whose son is murdered (shot) by a gang member to be more of an advertisement for the politics of the liberal left than an accurate description of crime and violence. "If all guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns." In addition, the right to bear arms, part of the American Bill of Rights, is something the British just cannot understand. After all, that is one of reasons the "colonists" revolted against King George in the first place. I do like their tea though!

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Investigation about modern life's side effects: stress, anxiety, peer envy.

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

See which big screen releases you can watch from the comfort of your couch.

Theatrical Releases Coming to Streaming

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Jeremy Strong, Sebastian Stan, and Maria Bakalova in The Apprentice (2024)

Status Anxiety

Photos

Top Cast8

User reviews3

More like this

Related interests

Storyline

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed