- Do you ever wonder how 20-somethings on TV
are able to hang out with their friends
in the middle of the day, spend all their time in a bar,
fly to a wedding in Italy,
and still pay their rent and student loans on time?
Because, that's impossible in the real world.
The past few years have shown some progress
towards addressing the lack of racial and ethnic diversity
in Hollywood, but there's one representation issue
that's been ignored for a while, and that's class.
Working class and lower class lifestyles
are rarely depicted accurately in media or film, if at all.
And, when about one-third of Americans
identify as working class,
and about 15% live below the poverty line,
we shouldn't ignore the economic realities
for those in lower income brackets.
And, to help me explain why this disparity
between Hollywood and reality matters,
I've invited my friend Gabe Gonzalez.
- Thanks, Franchesca.
First, let's be clear about what we mean when we say class.
It's not a judgment value, but a way to explain
how our economy and culture are stratified.
The problem with movies and TV,
is that it seems like just about everybody lives in a world
where money and time are no object,
but not only is it dishonest
about the way most Americans live,
it sets unrealistic expectations.
Let's take a look at some of the worst offenders.
Have you ever noticed how big the houses on TV are?
I'm not just talking spacious,
I'm talking two mortgages, and decades-of-debt huge.
This makes sense if we're talking about a show
like Fresh Prince, but when almost every TV show
puts the average American family
in the most unrealistic digs ever, I'm not buying it.
Literally, nobody I know could afford that house.
The home where Modern Family shot their series
recently sold for $2.3 million,
which should be a down payment
of almost half a million bucks.
Anyone want to explain
how the Dunphy parents keep paying that mortgage
with 3 kids and only one working parent?
Phil Dunphy is not a bumbling real estate agent,
Phil Dunphy is the LeBron James of LA real estate.
The crew of friends on How I Met Your Mother
take turns living in a two bedroom
that would probably cost at least $3,000 or more a month,
based on location, which might seem doable,
if you're splitting it with someone,
but any New Yorker will tell you the sheer size
of that Upper West Side Manhattan apartment
is a more epic fantasy than Game of Thrones.
If you want to rent the Friend's apartment in Manhattan,
without the convenient rent control,
it would probably cost over $5,000 a month.
Ask any barista or line cook in New York
and that's definitely out of their price range.
Rachel and Monica wouldn't even be able to afford just rent
if they both worked 80 hours a week.
Or, how about the fact that Lorelai on Gilmore Girls
works as the manager of an inn,
and can afford a 2.8 million dollar home,
and yet she's constantly upset at her wealthy parents
for helping her out financially?
"Thanks for paying for a lifestyle
"that I, an adult, can in no way afford.
"Mom and dad, I still hate you."
Now, at least part of Hollywood's poor job
at representing class diversity
can be explained by technicalities.
Traditional TV shows and Hollywood movies
generally require a location big enough
to accommodate equipment, lights, and crew.
That's especially true for anything filmed
on a studio set in front of an audience.
And look, I get it,
TV and film is always a little larger than life.
Everyone likes something pretty to look at.
But, the problem isn't one particular show,
it's that, in aggregate, we're misrepresenting
what lower income life is like,
and it wasn't even always the case.
Shows like The Honeymooners or All in the Family
not only tackled issues regarding class and income,
but took place in living rooms that actually looked like
they belong to Americans who worked for a living.
And, money issues were often major plot points
that came up frequently.
Even into the '90s, things were a little better.
On Roseanne, both parents struggled
to hold down a job amid a recession.
They dressed, ate, and lived like people
with real world costs.
Fast forward to today,
and we've got sitcoms like 2 Broke Girls,
where broke apparently means you could work as a waitress,
while owning a horse, affording a giant apartment,
and working toward your dream of cupcake shop.
And sure, it's an absurd comedy
that sometimes satirizes privilege,
but it also speaks to our shifting ideas
of what qualifies as broke.
And, if you haven't left a comment already by now,
you're probably thinking,
"It's just TV, who cares?"
Well, false depictions
of what middle or working class people look like
can actually have an impact on our own self perception,
as well as our perception of people
living in poverty or working class conditions.
This impact starts at an early age.
A 2016 study from Duke University shows that
children's movies overwhelmingly mischaracterize
poverty and class struggle.
Out of 67 main characters surveyed,
only 16% would qualify as working class,
and only 4% would be considered poor.
The same research says that by age 12,
children have already developed concrete ideas
about class difference, such as the misguided ideas
that poor people are inherently lazy,
or rich people are inherently smarter.
Very not true, yeah, I've met some rich people.
This is especially why
our depictions of money problems matter.
When poverty or working-class lifestyles
are shown exclusively as a personal failure,
we start to imagine financial stability
as only a reflection of your character.
Working class shlubs
like Homer on The Simpsons, or Doug on the King of Queens,
are often depicted as lazy man,
complacent with their class status.
It's easier for us
to accept their supposed failures, because
"They deserve it, they simply haven't worked hard enough
"or don't want to."
Except that class mobility has been falling for decades,
and systemic factors like wage stagnation,
a globally competitive workforce,
and the rising cost of college,
affect the finances of millions of Americans.
It's easier and less scary
to stereotype working class people as lazy,
uninterested in education, or careless with money.
This casual stereotype reflects another social belief
that can impact young people for life.
As early as age five, research shows that
living in a low income household can become
a major cause of stress, shame,
and other social or emotional problems.
Conversely, children from wealthy households
who don't achieve the kind of academic or social success
that's expected of their class status
can also experience shame or anxiety.
And look, not every show needs to tackle the truth
behind class division and economic inequality,
but when almost 63% of Americans say
they're one paycheck away from living in poverty,
there's less dividing the Haves and the Have Nots
in this country then we'd like to think.
We do a disservice to individuals
experiencing financial hardship,
when we reduce their real life struggle to a stereotype.
- Thanks, Gabe.
For better or worse,
media plays a role in how we understand class and poverty,
but that work also has to continue
in everyday conversations.
Talking about money issues shouldn't be taboo,
because we can't fix a problem
if we don't acknowledge it exists.
Special thanks to Gabe Gonzalez for helping out this week.
Thanks for watching, we'll see you next time
right here on Decoded.