Lecture 13: ClassLecture 13: Class

Professor Aaron Baker

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Previous LecturePrevious Lecture

Race in Hollywood Movies:

• Stereotypes and Role Models

• Whiteness

• Out of the Past, LA Confidential, Boyz n the Hood

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This LectureThis Lecture

• What is Class?• The Middle Class Norm• Class Voluntary• Pretty Woman (1990)

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One DefinitionOne Definition

• Class as Economic Status

Michael Douglas as corporate raider Gordon Gekko in Wall Street (1987)

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Three ClassesThree Classes• Upper Class: A small group with the most

wealth. They often own their sources

of income.• Lower or Working Class: They struggle to get

by. They often live amidst crime, violence, criminality.

• Middle Class: Regarded as most of American society. They have to work, but don’t struggle to get by.

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Roger and MeRoger and Me

shows a level of historical specificity about class unusual in most Hollywood films.Click on poster to see clip.

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Salt of the EarthSalt of the Earth 1954 1954

• is based on an actual strike in New Mexico.

• This clip shows prejudice, and

• how gender difference complicated the strike. Click on poster.

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American FilmAmerican Film• Often views lower and

middle class characters as successful as they move up to next class.

• e.g., Rocky goes from poverty to wealth, fame via boxing.

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Wall StreetWall Street (1987 ) (1987 )• Exception to idea of

class mobility as measure of worth

• Charlie Sheen’s character rejects corporate success because would harm his father, coworkers.

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Class VoluntaryClass Voluntary

• Like ability to move up, his choice to reject wealth typifies the idea of class in American film as voluntary.

• To emphasize free will, class in Hollywood films is often based on values and moral choices.

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Like WhitenessLike WhitenessHollywood shows • middle class an

invisible norm.• upper class greedy,

immoral, unhappy (Chinatown,top right)

• lower class desparate, criminal, violent (Training Day, lower right).

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Upper class characters…Upper class characters…• Often have no

family or love in their lives.

• Middle class are happier because of their strong friendships and family.

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Plain FolksPlain Folks

• Many Americans trace their roots not in aristocratic lineage but rather to

immigrant and/or settler experiences.

• This view of our past fits our love for individual responsibility.

• We want to see our ancestors as pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.

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George Washington Biopic?George Washington Biopic?

• Hollywood movies Hollywood movies reinforce this image reinforce this image of ourselves.of ourselves.

• Many movies about Many movies about cowboys, settlers, cowboys, settlers, immigrants.immigrants.

• Few about the Few about the aristocratic culture aristocratic culture of the founding of the founding fathers.fathers.

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Class StruggleClass Struggle• Unusual in

Hollywood Films• If shown, usually in

the past• Goal of a society of

middle class in which no further change is needed.

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Director John SaylesDirector John Sayles

Matewan (1987) and Eight Men Out

(1989) differ from this norm in showing

class as:

• Not Voluntary

• Basis for Economic Exploitation

• Not Changing for a Middle-Class Utopia

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MatewanMatewan

In this scene, we

see how class

warfare ends

without any gain for

West Virginia coal

miners.Click on the image to see clip.

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GenreGenre• Understanding class

helps show another dimension of some genre films.

• Horror is often about class conflict.

• Femme fatales in noir and gangsters want to move up.

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Horror Films Horror Films

• Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Deliverance (1972): Middle class stray into working class environment.

• A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): Working-class killer stalks a middle class neighborhood.

• Dracula, Frankenstein (1931): No middle class. Aristocrats menace peasants.

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Pretty WomanPretty Woman

• Typifies Typifies Hollywood View Hollywood View

• Class is VoluntaryClass is Voluntary• Middle Class Middle Class

Identity is BestIdentity is Best

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How about Class? How about Class?

• Richard Gere’s character, Edward, fits Hollywood’s portrayal of the upper class: wealthy, but unfulfilled.

• Vivian (Julia Roberts) is Hollywood working class by virtue of her economic desperation, criminal activity (prostitution) and vulnerability to violence.

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Pretty WomanPretty Woman exemplifies how exemplifies how Hollywood shows classHollywood shows class

• Vivian moves up by being with Edward

• He becomes moral by putting people before profit

• Both find middle class values: love, connection, concern for others.

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Money Isn’t Everything…Money Isn’t Everything…

• Both Edward and Vivian sacrifice money for love and family

• Film has it both ways: part of appeal is wealth and luxury of upper class

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Contradiction About Class Contradiction About Class

This clip from Pretty Woman illustrates such contradictions about class.

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Class and RaceClass and Race

• Both main characters chose to be more middle class.

• All the non-white characters are working class, shown happily serving Edward and Vivian.

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As in As in Notting Hill (1999), (1999), another Julia Roberts vehicle, Pretty Woman erases “class barriers in favor of love, but . . . it is the person with the [class] power who does it [Edward], thus reinforcing those barriers.”

(Lehman and Luhr, p. 324)

Pretty Woman Pretty Woman SummarySummary

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End of Lecture 13End of Lecture 13

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