Who can possibly forget the timeless childhood classic Blank Check? It was one of the first exposures to the benefits of having a lot of money we received as kids. It showed us the appeal of a lifestyle many children didn’t think they ever had a chance of experiencing, and thus planted the seed for what would turn into a natural yearn for accumulating wealth and power.

Around the time the move came out I was still playing with toys and watching cartoons. Catching a nip slip on one of the rated R movies my dad was watching was as far as it went with me anticipating adulthood.  After watching Blank Check, however, my mindset was completely and forever changed.

Preston Waters, the main character in the movie who also went by the name of Mr. Macintosh, revolutionized the way many Generation Y youngsters perceived the future. Instead of just enjoying the age we were currently at, the primary focus became learning how to grow up the fastest and make the most money to live the most lavish lifestyle possible.

This movie has taught us a vast array of lessons about what life could be like if we actually got all the money we could possibly ever want. Let’s break them down:

It is okay to dream

Preston was only 8 years old during the course of the movie, but he was sick of the mediocre life his family had bestowed upon him. He wanted more and he knew exactly what would save him from just being average: money. The kid showed all of us that it is okay to want more, that it is okay to be dissatisfied with the bare minimum.

Stunting is a habit

Blank Check introduced the concept of faking it till you make it or as we like to call it, stunting. Preston didn’t spend his money conventionally by investing it in the stock market. Instead, he decided to spend it all on the coolest things he can possibly buy.

Whether it was a big house or a water slide from his bedroom into the pool, Preston gave himself a life any kid would dream of having and showed all of us that the moment we do make some sort of money, we should go out there and spend it on the things that would make our lives more fun. Who can forget his bouncy castle boxing ring?

The dream girl

At the age when everyone was worried about cooties, Preston was actually trying to chase down a female FBI agent in her mid 20s. He was dead serious about getting her to be his girlfriend and he went to all extremes to impress her. What he showed us here is that age is just a number and that if you like a girl, go after her no matter what. He was never hesitant or shy, he saw what he wanted and he went after it.

It is lonely at the top

One of the sadder and thus more realistic lessons from the movie is that it is indeed lonely at the top. We witnessed a kid that had all the money in the world, all the toys, the dream girlfriend and the biggest house become incredibly lonely because he didn’t have anyone he really cared about to enjoy his success with.

Any wealthy person will agree that this is truly what it is like to be rich. As the famous quote goes, “you can be unsuccessful and have friends or you can be successful and have no friends.”

The sky is the limit

Preston made every kid who watched that movie want to get rich. So many members of Generation Y will cite this film as an influence as to the reason why they started thinking about how great life would be if they had as much money as Preston Waters.

He showed us that the sky is the limit and that no dream is too big or no toy is too crazy to have. He showed us all that the average life is not for us, and that the real fun lies within money and power. Preston attained a level of happiness that we couldn’t resist dreaming of, and the sheer fact that this happiness exists was enough to motivate a great number of kids do whatever they could to live like he did.

Act as if

The last lesson we can learn from Blank Check is the concept of acting “as if.” Preston Waters showed us that if you have to act as if you were a billionaire named Mr. Macintosh, then do so, if you need to act as if you were a CEO then do so as well. Always adapt to every situation of this nature, no shoes are too big for you to fill. If he can dope everyone by being Mr Macintosh, you can too.

Closing thought-

Preston set a precedent as far as long term goals for the children of the 90′s. He showed them that they should aspire to make a lot of money on their own and that life could be more fun than you could ever imagine if you have enough cash.

He is the reason a large amount of children developed an attraction to luxury, and thanks to Preston Waters, some of the kids that were effected by Blank Check the most are well on their way to being able to consume their lives with the most lavish forms of pleasure in the world.

Richie O’Flaherty | Elite.