Hacker Cinema
Reversal of Fortune
2005 · Film · documentary · 68 min
Directed by Wayne Powers
A documentary that explores what happens when a homeless man is given one hundred thousand dollars and the free will to do with it whatever his wishes.
2 positive1 neutralfrom 3 commenters
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3 comments on Hacker News
You should check out the movie reversal of fortune. It follows a homeless dude that was given 100k no strings attached. He was specially chosen as he did not have any substance abuse issues. Despite that the story has a sad ending but it does humanize the struggle as you grow to like and empathize with the guy while the slow rolling train wreck carries on
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversal_of_Fortune_(2005_film)
> Reversal of Fortune is a 2005 Showtime documentary that asks the question "What would a homeless person do if they were given $100,000?"
That sounds like such a great film about this issue. Ted sounds like a really hard-working recycling bum. Since Ted is employing himself, Ted is an entrepreneur.
A good thought experiment to put this into perspective is: what happens to the average employed person when they are given $100,000? Except we do not have to do a thought experiment; this scenario occurs thousands of times a year all over the world for lottery winners. The largest study of lottery winners that I know of found that receiving (average) $100,000 doubles the chances of a person going bankrupt: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/REST_a_00114
Some people who win the lottery and go bankrupt end up worse off than before winning the lottery (also worth looking at: http://brandongaille.com/22-lottery-winners-bankrupt-statistics/). Ted, on the other hand, after spending a few months living the high life, went back to his old recycling business.
A lot of former tech entrepreneurs who gave up their dreams of running their own business (even some who went through Y Combinator!) can stand to learn a lesson from Ted's perseverance and positive attitude.
Could you provide sources? Search results are not so clear.
Should You Give Money to Homeless People?
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/03/should-you-give-money-to-homeless-people/72820/
"The short answer is no. The long answer is yes, but only if you work for an organization that can ensure the money is spent wisely."
Reversal of Fortune is a 2005 Showtime documentary that asks the question "What would a homeless person do if they were given $100,000?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversal_of_Fortune_(2005_film)
"When asked by Oprah how much of the $100,000 he still had, Ted replied "none." Ted also mentioned that he is homeless again, and content with his current circumstances."