Sometimes, it feels oddly satisfying to watch a documentary about a subject completely disconnected from one's life. Case in point: a three-part documentary about Liliane Bettencourt, the world's richest woman - a topic I clearly know nothing about. Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to L'Oréal thanks to her Nazi-collaborator father, seemed to have led a pretty uneventful life - by billionaire standards - until 1987. That's when she met socialite photographer Banier, a fishy character if ever there was one. Banier, 25 years her junior, became her constant companion and the object of her lavish generosity, receiving over a billion euros worth of "gifts" during their "friendship."
This understandably annoyed Liliane's only daughter, Françoise, with whom she always had a strained relationship. To make matters worse, Bettencourt's large and handsomely rewarded entourage began to nourish an increasing antipathy against Banier, eventually leading to a major corruption scandal involving illegal financing of Sarkozy's campaign and tax fraud.
From an outsider's perspective, it looks like Banier was very successful in taking advantage of an elderly, lonely lady whose mental faculties were on the wane. Despite Françoise's legal actions, her only success was getting Banier out of the will, even though her mother wanted to make him her sole heir. Notably, Banier had pulled the same trick in his youth with another elderly lady, compounding his felonious streak.
During a rather sad interview - sad because of Bettencourt's clearly declining physical and mental conditions - when asked if she regretted being too generous with Banier, she proudly replied something like "There's no such thing as being too generous, therefore no regrets". However, one thing is being generous to everybody around you, and another covering in gold one single person who had a habit of making friends with elderly billionaires developing dementia, certainly not with elderly ladies in retirement homes.
On a side note, judging by the appearances of Liliane and her daughter, it doesn't seem like L'Oréal cosmetics are particularly effective. Françoise, having inherited her mother's fortune in 2017 and now being the richest woman in the world, clearly can't even be bothered to get a decent haircut. But who would care about haircuts and cosmetics when you own an island in Seychelles, apartments in Dubai, and everything else to soothe the pain of a mother who loved a swindler more than you?
