e.g. – “Oh my god, lets move to Hollywood and sell a script for a Brazilian buckaroos.”

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crore

Thanks for the hearty laugh!

The magical “Never have to work again AND do whatever the heck you want for the rest of your life, no matter the cost” number is now at least 100 million. Billion, however, sounds so much nicer. Plus, not even 100 million can buy some of the yachts the billionaires of the world own.

Also, a specific amount of money doesn’t have any meaning in the context of story — unless it directly relates to another specific amount. And when that happens, I usually want to puke.

Much better, I think, to leave amounts off the table and only refer to the functional value. For example, in Jurassic Park the novel, Hammond offers Grant and Sattler a specific amount of money to come to the park, and Grant replies that it would be enough to fund their digs for the next three years. In the movie, the dialogue was changed so that Hammond simply says he’ll fund their digs for the next three years. That’s the way to go.

A quick look at Wikipedia shows a pretty short list of scripts (less than 50) ever to have been sold for more than $1 million. While Wikipedia is hardly gospel, the point is that the Entourage screenwriters got lazy writing about screenwriters – or perhaps they just put their fantasies to paper and were lucky to have it acted out in front of them.

Normally, this wouldn’t bother me, but the show does a pretty good job of handling the business aspect of Hollywood (Vincent Chase stars in the highest grossing movie of all time, makes a bomb, and suddenly has to settle for Benji, the salaries seem in line with the actors’ jobs, etc.). Throwing the million dollar offer for a script out there to some no-names is the equivalent of Spielberg doing a cameo, seeing a girl in his daughter’s high school play and offering her $8 million to star in his next big movie.

Point? Sometimes a million is a lot and sometimes it’s not enough. Like Grandpa Harry and Aunt Helen, it’s all relative.

It isn’t just a symbol – it’s a metric of how much resources you have to achieve your goals. Having money is the difference between being able to pay a dentist to remove an impacted molar, or the alternative to having to put up with the pain.

A mere symbol wouldn’t be able to make a difference like that.

Perhaps it’s a sign how rich we all are that we could think it is just a meaningless symbol. After all, since I have running water in my OWN HOME (not just within a short walk) and I haven’t lost any friends to starvation, then I’m wealthy by any sensible definition.

Mac

(Although if you still think money is ‘just a symbol’, I’d be happy to help the symbolism by taking it off your hands)

For example, the last time I saw my father’s financials, he had a net worth of right at $7 million (he’s a physician with a practice that fills a lucrative niche and who has mostly invested well over the years). He lives in a big house (though since he lives in the Texas Panhandle, the price he paid for his house is a drop in the bucket compared to what similar houses go for in places like L.A. and whatnot) and has expensive hobbies (antique car collecting, horses, etc.). He drives a nice car (Until recently, he was a Porsche guy. In his old age, he’s become an Escalade guy). He and his wife spend a good deal of money living a lifestyle that is very comfortable.

And while a whole lot of people would be over-the-moon to be able to have that kind of net worth and that kind of lifestyle, I can tell he’s a bit jealous of some of his friends and acquaintances who own things like Gulfstream jets or Las Vegas casinos.