Class stereotypes and perceptions...

[Warped9]

My father raised an interesting point over lunch while we were talking about a movie we'd watched a few nights earlier.

Why is it whenever people of a poor class are depicted we often see them living in squalor or a messy household? Conversely we often see affluent people who are pricks on some level or other.

I know a lot of poor and lower to middle class folks are actually reasonably well spoken with good manners, personally neatly groomed and their homes are clean and tidy. I've also know more than a few well-to-do folks who are really very nice and wouldn't think of trying to screw someone over.

It isn't just in film and television. I don't know how realistic COPS really is, but the poor and lower middle class don't come off well in that either.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Movies and TV often have to convey an idea with extremes in order to get their point across with a minimum of exposition in a brief period of time. So they'll play upon popular stereotypes to immediately evoke the image they want the audience to see. Therefore, unkempt poor people and stuffy and rude rich people.

However, just as frequently I find they'll make a misconception in the other direction. For instance, on 'Friends' the characters would frequently talk about being broke actors and waitresses, yet they all live in spacious apartments in New York City that you'd have to be making some pretty decent bank to afford.

As far as 'Cops' goes, it's real in so far that they're real people in their real homes, but 'Cops' has editorial control and they're obviously going to show the very worst examples of any given group. Police arresting some guy in decent clothes in a well kept house who isn't drunk and doesn't resist doesn't make for good TV.