A million dollars was a big deal in pop culture during the 1990s.
It was everywhere you looked.
The song If I Had a Million Dollars by The Barenaked Ladies was released in 1992. The lyrics were all about the dream of how you would spend that much money:
If I had a million dollars
If I had a million dollars
Well, I’d buy you a house
I would buy you a house
And if I had a million dollars
If I had a million dollars
I’d buy you furniture for your house
Maybe a nice chesterfield or an ottoman
Indecent Proposal came out in 1993. Robert Redford’s wealthy businessman character offered down-on-his-luck Woody Harrelson $1 million to sleep with his wife (played by Demi Moore).
In the Disney movie Blank Check, a little kid gets a blank check from a rich criminal after he runs over his bike and almost hits the kid with his car. The kid cashes the blank check for, you guessed it, a million dollars.
The Millionaire Next Door was released in 1996. The book still appears on the shelves of wealth managers (including mine) to this day.
Then you had those weird Publishers Clearing House (what did they even do?) ads where they teased that Ed McMahon and the “prize patrol” would come to your house with one of those giant checks for a million dollars.
In Austin Powers, which came out in 19971, Dr. Evil plans to hold the world ransom from a nuclear attack for…
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? with Regis Philbin became a cultural phenomenon in 1999.
John Carpenter was the first winner of the million-dollar prize when he famously used his phone-a-friend on the final question just to say: “Hi Dad, I don’t need your help. I just wanted to let you know I’m going to win the million dollars.”
But my favorite million-dollar pop culture artifact from the 1990s comes from Office Space.
One of the movie’s most memorable scenes is also about a million dollars.
Peter is having a beer with his laidback construction worker neighbor Lawrence when he asks him to dream about striking it rich:
Peter: Lawrence, what would you do if you had a million dollars?
Lawrence: I tell you what I’d do, man. Two chicks at the same time, man.
Peter: That’s it? If you had a million dollars, that’s what you’d do, two
chicks at the same time?
Lawrence: Damn straight, man. I’ve always wanted to do that. I figure if I were a
millionaire, I could hook that up. Chicks dig guys with money.
Lawrence then asks Peter what he would do with a million dollars:
Peter: Besides two chicks at the same time? Nothing. I’d do nothing. I would relax. I would sit on my ass all day. I would do nothing.
Lawrence: Well, you don’t need a million dollars to do nothin’, man. Take a look at my cousin. He’s broke, don’t do shit.
I never realized how deep this scene was when I saw it as a teenager but there are some solid financial lessons at play here. Lawrence has levels to him.
A lot of people have a retirement number, net worth or income level they’re shooting for.
If I could just get to that number I could retire, start a business, take that trip, have kids, finally be happy, etc.
In his biography, Will Smith talks about the difference between becoming famous, being famous and losing fame:
Becoming famous is about as much fun as the material world has to offer. Being famous, bit of a mixed bag; but fading famous sucks ass.
I guess the corollary with money is that getting rich is fun, being rich is a mixed bag, and losing your wealth sucks.
But you don’t necessarily need a million dollars to do what you want in life.
Michael and I talked about Office Space, personal finance and a lot more on this week’s Animal Spirits video:
Subscribe to The Compound so you never miss an episode.
Further Reading:
Millionaires & Delusions
Now here’s what I’ve been reading lately:
- Job churn (Seth’s Blog)
- The wisdom of the crowds (Chart Kid Matt)
- IKEA abundance (Gale Winds)
- America’s housing paradox (Money with Katie)
- Warren Buffett’s houses (Architecture Digest)
- The 21st century That Guy hall of fame (The Ringer)
Books:
1I was a freshman in high school when this movie came out. Went to see it with 12-15 friends in a packed theater on opening night. It brought the house down. Too bad we don’t make comedy movies any more.
