Filthy Moola

Dirty Money is a Netflix Original that looks into some of the most corrupt ways people have made millions. The show does in depth look into how the corruption began and how the accused ended up getting caught. This is a series of documentaries, which is the perfect way to do this show. They interview experts, to analyze the decisions, the accused to see their perspective, and those who bring them down, to see how they caught on. To keep the show interesting they shoot scenes in different places, show visuals to keep your attention, and explain things in a way that anyone can understand. While the series is a documentary, it has a little bit of drama as well. The drama comes into play for the people who have been negatively impacted.




In the episode "Drug Short", the look in depth into the company Valeant. The company is infamous for buying out smaller pharmaceutical companies; then selling the drugs that they sold at a higher price. One of the elements that the show tries to do is make you feel for those affected by the corruption. This episode tugs at the heartstrings because they interview a couple, whose lives changed, because they could no longer afford the wife's pills to help her stay healthy. In one of the interviews a victim of the cost of the drugs wonders what would happen if his children had been born with one of these diseases. He was quoted saying, "It would be like having a stone hung from their neck for the rest of their life."




The episode slowly builds up from showing what happened, to showing how it happened. One of the cool things, that they do in this episode, is when they show how Valeant started making fake pharmaceutical companies to bill insurance companies for prescriptions. They draw up a visual that shows how the chain of fake companies tied into Valeant. They build a timeline throughout the episode. At each point where the company makes a move, they show CNN's stock market show at that time to see how the company would grow or shrink. They also show the video of the trial, which shows the seriousness of the issues and adds to the drama of the episode.




When interviewing different people in the episode, they have different areas and lighting to set the mood. When they are interviewing about intense parts, or when they are exposing the dirty secretive ways, the shoot in dark areas to set the tone. When they shoot on how they started to bring them down, they shoot in well lighted areas. The people when they are being interviewed are also dressed up nice, which shows the sophistication of the show. The show also uses quiet music in the background of certain parts to build the mood as well. The tempo of the music fits what is going on in the episode.




Shows like these help people to understand how corruption works in the world. Most of the episodes in the series are over cases that just about every person has heard of. People might not have that great of an understanding of what happened but they knew a little bit about it. This show is great for people who like to see inside looks of corruption and how justice was brought about.