In 1997, Fox Rich and Rob G. Rich were newly married high school sweethearts trying to start a business in Shreveport, Louisiana, when a moment of desperation led to a botched bank robbery that landed them both in jail. Jared was able to hold a vitural interview with both Fox & Rob Rich. Check out what they had to say.
F: Hey Jared!
J: So good to see y’all here together. Good to see a smile on your face Mrs. Fox, that is well deserved. I just wanted to say that the flashbacks of your family were just melting me with your kids and I’m just so glad you picked up a camera back then. But the thing was, it was funny, because I had questions of faith that I was preparing before faith was even introduced into the documentary, because I knew that it had to have taken something supernatural to get through what you want through. I do know that our God is a father to the fatherless, but it would’ve been extremely difficult without your better half. So, my question would be, how did you go about implementing a spiritual foundation without a strong father figure present?
F: I think because Rob WAS present. People can just not even imagine. There is no way in the world I could raise those six boys to be the fine young men that they are by myself. I mean I wanna give myself kudos, but unfortunately, that shit ain’t real. I'm not that good. But just for my husband to have maintained the respect of our children, you know. Unlike other parents, I couldn’t have said, “When your daddy comes home, he’s gonna deal with you.” Maybe more like, “Wait till your daddy calls collect tonight.”, or, “Wait till you go to visitation next weekend.” And you know what? When he sat there with them, he wasn’t gonna lift his voice. He wasn’t and does NOT use profanity with his sons, but by the time he would just look at them and say, “Son?”
J: That’s all it took? (laughing)
F: It was done! (looks at Rob) Like, it shouldn’t be this easy for you, right? So, it was just the fact that even though he was physically absent, he was totally present and emotionally attached and engaged with his children. Fathering from wherever he was, however he could.
J: That’s awesome, thank you.
J: The moment, Mrs. Fox, that you popped, at the desk, where you were just giving it to the cameraman, you know. How often did those kind of explosion moments of the frustration actually happen rather than you just kind of being used to the disappointment? And did you have to go to another room to hide it from the kids to keep their hope up? How did you deal with that?
F: Nooo, we had to deal with it as a family. All of this is a family thing and the weight is not gonna be carried on one more than the other, cause we were all gonna feel it. But for me, I had to conserve my energy, Jared, because we had a big battle going on. As a poor family of eight, we were taking on the whole state of Louisiana for our freedom and for our life. So, we couldn’t go out expending energy on the system, right? We had to be very wise in how we addressed [the system], and by the time that the camera man was there that day, I was really tired. And I exhibited more than I really wanted to show or give-
J: Nah, it’s real.
F: But you gotta stay in control. And at that moment, I was fuckin tired.
J: I believe it, thank you.
TIME is on Amazon Prime Video October 16th, 2020.
Jared Sims (Contributor) is born and raised in Tampa, FL. Loves writing music and watching movies while in high hopes of seeing himself on the big screen one day.Click Here to check out Jared's Articles.