So, it dawned on me while watching a documentary directed by an obviously well-to do upper-middle class guy, that most media is slanted towards upper-class sensibilities and perspectives more often than not. This is especially prevalent in movies and tv where the main characters are typically upper-class or even rich. I’d always had an aversion to these depictions, but I’ve never fully articulated my disillusionment with it. The problem is that these depictions of “average” families are woefully unrepresentative of your average person.
My question is: what is some media, in any format, that is informed by a working-class perspective?
I’ve found a few obvious authors out there, like Steinbeck, Bukowski and Irvine. But am interested in not only authors, but artists of all kinds and different mediums. Alternative comix and independent cinema, and things like zines spring to mind as mediums that might have more representation along those lines. Are there any specifically worker derived works that any of you can recommend?
I’ve seen a musical called Rent. It’s about people in New York who are homeless/stuck in poverty around when HIV was at its peak. Honestly I don’t know much about it, I mostly saw it because a friend of mine was performing, but it’s definitely not a typical upper middle class perspective.
I unironically love the description of one of the most successful and influential works of art ever created as a musical you once saw because your friend was in it. That’s as working class as it gets.
If you’re willing to go off the beaten path and take in some indie fare:
Bellflower
Ink
All Heroes Must Die(also known as VS)
Vast of Night
Wasn’t my cup of tea personally but off top of my head the US sitcom The Middle is pretty solidly working-class focused, or at least from what I remember. Also thank you for putting this to words, I feel the same way.
This is exactly why I hated live-action Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows/movies growing up in the 2000s starting with Hannah Montana.
I was never able to articulate why I was repulsed by those series and was considered a contrarian little weirdo, lol. /rant
Interesting, however sitcoms in general really aren’t my cup of tea as well. It was mentioned in other places that Roseanne was one of the few shows to depict working class life somewhat accurately, and with some dignity. A lot of the time the working class is shown in a shallow, stereotypical depiction of what upper-class people imagine it’s like.
Yes! Kids shows are particularly egregious about this. All the kids shows are about rich kids and their rich parents. That’s not to say that kids shows need to explicitly put the problems of class society front and center (although, some small discussion of class and social relations would be nice) but consistently showing kids living out these hyper-capitalist consumerist fantasies is pretty cringe-worthy.
Exactly. The thing that repulses me the most is the fake-y, artificial looking life that is so often represented in entertainment, and then that is what is spun as “normal”. Which I imagine is why these upper-class people even in real life look like the shallow Stepford Wives aesthetic that the movies and tv depict them as, life depicting art it seems.
In my initial short searches I did earlier, Antonio Gramsci comes up as addressing the issue of “cultural hegemony”, where art and entertainment tends to represent the dominant bourgeois culture, which makes a lot of sense. I’ve heard of Gramsci in passing, but haven’t read anything by him yet. I think it’s a good place to begin regarding a critical analysis.
Although, even without a thorough critical analysis, it’s pretty straightforward to realize that the economic barrier for art, entertainment and creating media in general leads to an over-representation of the wealthy since they have the money and means to create and distribute media to the masses, which in turn consolidates their dominance of the popular narrative.
What’s particularly sad about this, is that people that grow up working-class are absorbing messages from media that marginalize their narrative, and cause them to internalize a narrative that leads them to being oblivious towards their class standing and even hostile towards it. The whole “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” concept that causes people to denigrate the poor and working class, even if they themselves are a part of it.
In my initial short searches I did earlier, Antonio Gramsci comes up as addressing the issue of “cultural hegemony”, where art and entertainment tends to represent the dominant bourgeois culture, which makes a lot of sense. I’ve heard of Gramsci in passing, but haven’t read anything by him yet. I think it’s a good place to begin regarding a critical analysis.
Also worth reading is Camus’ short piece “Create Dangerously”, on the responsibility that artists have to challenge.
Death Race
Serious answer, give One Second a watch. Might be the cross of arts importance to everyone in a way you are looking for.
The Batman incorporates a lot of working class struggles into the narrative. Batman is constantly called out for not knowing things that are obvious to working people, but not to upper class people like himself.
I saw One of Them Days starting Keke Palmer the other day. Solid comedy, maybe a little formulaic but comfy.
Music: Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Dropkick Murphys, The Mountain Goats
Comics: Sam Wallman’s Our Members Be Unlimited
Movies/Theatre: Billy Elliot
TV: Firefly (feels kind of politically confused but that feels pretty accurate anyway.),
