While The Billionaire, The Butler & The Boyfriend, which tells the series of scandals starring L’oreal Queen Lilian Bettencourt, has been released on Netflix, we continue without slowing down and list the series and movies prepared about the scandalous events that terrify people. Prepare your popcorn.
THE BILLIONAIRE, THE BUTLER & THE BOYFRIEND
A GENEROUS PHILANTHROPIST OR A VICTIM OF ABUSE?
Who can ignore a scandal involving the richest woman in the world? Especially if this woman is the head of a world brand… And if it is her daughter who revealed this scandal… Netflix’s series The Billionaire, The Butler & The Boyfriend, which was released last week; it tells about the series of major scandals starring L’oreal Queen Lilian Bettencourt, who died in 2017. This three-part short series documents how Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers’ disagreements with her mother turned into a huge legal battle. The disagreements between mother and daughter come to light with Lilian Bettencourt’s million-dollar gifts to the photographer Francois-Marie Banier, who was with her for a while. Things get tense when Bettencourt-Meyers files a lawsuit to prove that her mother is a victim of abuse, but the real story is revealed with the recording device placed in Bettencourt’s house. The series, which tells the story of a tense mother-daughter relationship and a legal battle involving many people from the upper echelons of the French government, including Nicolas Sarkozy, involves the audience in solving the big secret in the world of billionaires with testimonies, documents and interviews.
“INVENTING ANNA”
HE TRAPED NEW YORK SOCIETY
Inventing Anna, which became one of Netflix’s most popular productions last year, tells the story of a real hero’s world full of lies from start to finish. The nine-episode series is about the reporter named Jessica Pressler pursuing Anna Sorokin, who introduced herself as a wealthy heiress named Anna Delvey and got involved in New York social life. The story of Sorokin, who was arrested in 2017, is quite interesting. The young woman of Russian origin not only finds a pseudonym for herself, but also convinces hundreds of people that she is the sole heir of a fortune of 67 million dollars, defrauding many of her friends in New York, as well as luxury hotels and banks, of 275 thousand dollars. 31-year-old Sorokin, who was released in 2021, was later arrested again due to a visa violation and went to prison. Sorokin, who has been under house arrest in a 43 square meter flat in New York since 2022, makes a living by selling works of art through his Instagram account. The young woman, who has received offers from hundreds of people to adopt her since the scandal emerged, says that she has never watched the TV series Inventing Anna, for which she earned 320 thousand dollars.
“WOLF OF WALL STREET”
THE LOVED WOLF OF WALL STREET
While Wolf of Wall Street, adapted for the big screen by Martin Scorsese in 2013 and starring Leonardo di Caprio, is an excellent film in itself, it is also astonishing that the script is adapted from a true story. It tells the story of Jordan Belfort’s entry into the Wall Street stock exchange with the ambition of making money when he was only 24 years old, and how he defrauded many investors by establishing his own investment firm, Stratton Oakmont, after he figured out the mechanics there. While Belfort, who turned the Wall Street stock market upside down in the 90s, was ecstatic with his earnings of more than $50 million a year, he was literally preparing the ground for his great decline with his drug addictions and a failing marriage. The fact that Belfort, who is loved by those around him because his company provides employment opportunities especially to young people who are not very educated, is making motivational speeches for the investment world today is an indication of irony befitting his character. The movie is watched not only for its story but also for di Caprio’s performance.
“FYRE FESTIVAL”
THE FESTIVAL THAT NEVER HAPPENED
Fyre Festival is perhaps the most perfect flop in history. Because even though one feels sorry for the victims while watching this movie, one cannot help but laugh inside. A kind of Schadenfreude. The 2019 documentary tells about a process that created festival phobia in the music world. When tickets for a music festival to be held on a Bahamas island that once belonged to Pablo Escobar went on sale for 12 thousand dollars each, many people thought that the island would be filled with world-famous musicians, social media influencers, top models and countless famous names. The guests would reach the island by private jets and attend crazy parties while staying in luxury villas. But things didn’t turn out that way at all. Of course, it is not a coincidence that the organizer and mastermind of the festival, Billy McFarland, chose rapper Ja Rule as the face of the advertisement. Moreover, the festival, which would break new ground in the entertainment world, was advertised with an extremely convincing marketing strategy, using an application called Fyre App, which managers and agencies could not participate in. Thanks to the festival spreading through word of mouth in the celebrity world, McFarland signed numerous deals. The real pantomime of the festival, whose advertisements featured top models such as Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, broke off when the participants arrived on the island. The guests, who were brought to another island rather than the promised island, fell into perhaps the biggest scandal in the history of music when they encountered school buses while dreaming of luxury villas, flooded aid tents, open buffets full of exotic foods, a slice of cheese stuck in a toast and waiting for private transfer vehicles. they fell. Ultimately, with the intervention of the American Consulate, the participants returned to their countries and filed numerous lawsuits totaling $100 million, but McFarland was released on bail of $300,000. McFarland was subsequently arrested again as he celebrated his taste of freedom by being involved in another fraud case. The documentary, which tells about this incredible event, is a record in history with testimonies and interviews of the victims.
“THE LAUNDROMAT”
THE LARGEST LOOP IN HISTORY
This film, directed by Steven Soderbergh, not only brings together stars such as Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldman, but also reveals the most humorous production that can be made on the Panama Papers. Because there is nothing funny about the events. It is a very entertaining and colorful movie for those who are not aware of the tragedy of the true story. The Panama Papers incident, known as the largest money laundering scheme in history, revolves around the insurance company Mossack Fonseca, which issues documents on behalf of more than 214 thousand offshore institutions around the world. The movie, which is about Ellen Martin, who tries to get her money from the insurance company after losing her husband during a trip, discovers a huge scheme while investigating the facts of the events, is quite enjoyable with its sarcastic language, star actors and lively plot. If you are not interested in topics such as investment, insurance, finance, etc., the information scattered throughout the movie may seem boring, but it does not neglect to inform the audience by explaining the offshore system with diagrams. Let us remind you that it is not easy to watch because it does not revolve around a specific character, but it is ideal for those who want a Panama Papers summary in 93 minutes. Its social message is quite strong, including tax evasion and shell companies. By the way, let us remind you that Jürgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, the founders of the company Mossack Ferrera, filed a lawsuit against Netflix on the grounds that their reputation was damaged after the movie was released. The justification was rejected by the court, the Mossack Ferrera company was closed two years after the film was released, and the pair are still wanted by German prosecutors but remain under protection from extradition by Panama.
“ART & CRAFT”
LANDIS PARADOX
Released in 2014, Art & Craft is underrated and known to a limited circle, both in terms of the documentary and its main protagonist, Mark Landis. Mark Landis, who still lives in Mississippi today, donated fake paintings to countless museums for more than 30 years. What he’s doing is fraud, but that’s exactly Landis’ paradox. He was not penalized because he did not earn any money from the works he donated. Landis, who studied at art institutes and attended numerous art courses, prepared a copy of a Maynard Dixon illustration in honor of his father, who he lost at a young age, and donated it to a museum in California as if it were an original. Once he successfully carried out this forgery, the rest came. He was successful enough to get six copies of the same work into the collections of different museums. When the works he gave to the Oklahoma Museum of Art in 2007 attracted the attention of the registrar, the investigation against him was sparked. The investigation, which was carried out secretly for three years, broke out in 2010 when the registrar examined the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum under ultraviolet light, where he went to donate a work of art in honor of his deceased mother. The incident was covered in many newspapers, and although Landis’ deception was accepted by everyone, there was no violation of the law. After all, he was a man who traveled the country on his own money and gave free paintings to museums, and no one could prove the five million dollars worth of damage his gifts caused. Art&Craft, which tells about this interesting event, is a documentary that is at least as interesting as Landis himself.
ARMSTRONG LIE
FROM ADMIRATION TO HATE
Armstrong Lie is very interesting with the confronting story of its main hero, the famous cyclist Lance Armstrong, as well as the production story of the documentary. Alex Gibney, known for his award-winning documentaries, watched with admiration as Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times, overcame advanced testicular cancer and returned to his sports life, and decided to make a movie of his incredible story. The film begins with the famous athlete announcing that he returned to cycling races four years after retiring in 2005. However, as luck would have it; although Armstrong stubbornly denied the doping allegations of those who approached him with skeptics since the beginning of his career, in 2013 he was cornered by the evidence of the press and even his teammates and confessed to all the banned substances he used on Oprah Winfrey’s program. Even though this shock was more shocking for Gibney than anyone else, he did not give up on the project and continued the production of the film, changing the editing from beginning to end. The documentary, which turns from The Way Back to The Armstrong Lie, brings up the debate on whether every means is permissible to win in sports where competition is intense. Armstrong, who destroyed his success and reputation with the doping he used, is receiving reactions from many cancer patients because he uses his post-illness period as a marketing tool. The documentary, which tells the story of one of the biggest scandals in sports history, confronts its audience with many psychological tests.
FUGITIVE: THE CURIOUS CASE OF CARLOS GHOSN
AN ESCAPE LIKE HOLLYWOOD
Describing one of the biggest scandals of the automotive industry ever, Fugitive: The Curious Case of Carlos Ghosn tells the story of Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance, which is as good as a Hollywood movie. When Ghosn took over this powerful alliance in the late 90s, he made radical changes, made extraordinary profits for his brand and became one of the living legends of the automotive world. Ghosn, who saved many sub-brands from bankruptcy and earned the nickname Le Cost Killer with the reformist changes he made, came to the fore with his personal expenses in 2018. Subsequently, Ghosn, who quickly faced accusations of indifference to these expenses and embezzlement, fled from Japan to Lebanon with incredible methods when he realized that he would be caught. The story of Ghosn, who suddenly turned into an international fugitive, is prepared with interviews, archive footage and footage of the extraordinary escape. Today, the famous name lives in Lebanon, which does not have an agreement with Japan on extraditions and lives a life away from the automotive industry and his past. But it seems that the productions made in his name will attract audiences for many years to come. Also, a footnote; another study about Ghosn is Carlos Ghosn: The Last Flight. Those who can’t get enough of this legendary story can also hear what happened in the movie from Ghosn’s mouth.
