Undercover Boss

The Class Dismissed video reminded me of a show called Undercover boss. The show is basically about the senior executives working undercover in their own company. Each episode features the executives pretending to be a new employee. While they are pretending to be a new employee they get to experience different jobs within their company. The show is essentially providing an inside to the viewers and the owners themselves of what a working class employee goes through everyday in their jobs. Almost every episode features labor intensive jobs, jobs that are held by lower or middle class people. The workers in the show are told they are being filmed as part of a documentary about entry-level workers in a particular industry. During the time the undercover boss is training the style of the show of the show changes a little bit. Usually the bosses because of their class are not use to hard labor work and many become overwhelmed and frustrated by their performances. Usually the bosses fail at their jobs, there is an episodes where an executive couldn't hammer in a nail and another where the boss was working at a white castle factory and he could not properly use the machine that boxed the buns. During this process and the time spent with the real workers the bosses begin to appreciate their workers and realize the intense amount of work that these workers do everyday. I actually hate this show but i have to recognize that for a media critic it is a good show to use for analysing. The show demonstrates a clear division of classes. The show is about labor workers, i noticed that almost every episode featured a minority. Usually African Americans or Latino workers. I can only imagine what they get paid. The boss who ironically is the person that employs these people based on their job performance themsleves cannot  do the jobs that they employ people to do. The show also features the stories of hardship and struggle the actual workers go through creating a sort of pity and sadness for the working class. However by the end of the show the bosses become humanized and humbled by their experience and the real workers are rewarded by promotions or a raise. Somehow after the whole melancholic experience of the show we end up in the same place. This idea that if the working class work hard they will eventually be rewarded. The idea that people can move up by being honest good workers. However the reality is that as the video mentioned 62% of our societies population is working class and the fact is that most of that 62% of those people  work hard everyday and are not rewarded for their hard work and go unnoticed. Shows like this try to make us believe that there is justice and that those that do work hard can achieve a higher class and the American dream. When the reality is that they are the continuance of class divisions.
 Links to some previews:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/undercover_boss/video/1427497830/undercover-boss-white-castle-episode-preview
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/undercover_boss/video/?pid=Fix9Rqazy9mwnQ1pjNtVI7OwjXFB8mdd&vs=homepage&play=true