The Class of 30 Rock

The once NBC but now Comedy Central television show 30 Rock is a great representation of multiple classes in one centralized show. The range is from working stiff like Kenneth Parcell a simple page and to the head of NBC Jack Donaghy. You can see a large representation of class in all of the in between characters. All of the people that make the lowest income are depicted as ignorant and back woods southern like Kenneth. They use his stupidity and desperate need to be like to represent why he is only ability to do the job of an NBC page. Even other characters that have a lesser jobs are depicted as balding fat unable to get relationships or are an ethnicity. You can see how the people of race are either simple writers or a receptionist for the upper level employees. As we move up the social ladder in 30 Rock the people become more intelligent happier and better looking. This depiction gives off the perception that to be successful it takes unrealistic qualities like beauty to gain an important position. It is this Show that exemplifies all aspect of class but shows them with specific stereotypes that are unrealistic.

What about the real working class TV shows?

Although there are plenty of TV shows on that represent middle class and working class that we have talked about in class such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, etc, what about the shows that actually show a real working class figure? I put in some thought about this whether or not there are any shows on network TV that shows a working class. I came up with the Discovery Channel. Although these shows may not directly address class, they provide a good sense of what a working class does. Shows such as Ice Road Truckers or Deadliest Catch provide a good example of the working class. Although these shows only focus on men mostly, the fact that none of these real jobs are given to any character in a sitcom or or drama. These shows specifically follow men around showing the extensive labor and challenges of these day to day jobs. The men on the show basically put their lives on the line for the money that they earn. If any of us have seen these shows such as the ones I've listed or even other shows such as man vs. wild, these men are dealing with human nature and the rick of putting their lives on the line. Something besides the money that these men know they are dealing with is actually putting themselves and their family and safety at risk. Do we see this anymore in certain TV shows such as family guy? Maybe, but if Peter is stupid enough to put his hand in a slicer it becomes funny and comical and most likely he will still end up with his hand. I wonder if the majority of us even watch shows such as these. We watch the cartoons we do because they are comical, but do any of us watch these other shows such as Deadliest Catch and laugh? Probably not.

Response to Class Dismissed

While watching "Class Dismissed: Media and it's Representation of the Middle Class" I was overwhelmed with the amount of repition and submission that media networks demand from the consumer. It is this unconscious brainwashing of the television consumer (mainly the workers) that leaves popular culture at a loss for identity and accurate cultural representation. When connecting these points addressed in the documentary to television programs I have watched in the past, it is this "bufoon blue-collar male" that dominates most popular television series. The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family, all are examples of such, and also are all shows I have watched countless times. People return to these shows and the ideas they express time and time again, not paying attention to the horrible effect this can have on one's own loss of identity and submission to the controlling elite of prime time networking. This then also intertwines with the Marxist article, defining the political economy and the capitalist thirst that feeds these images to the popular demand. Another point I found interesting within the documentary was how the “working class” has fed into the ideal of identifying as middle class, in order to stifle the unwanted title the working class has come to mean. Yet, as explained, this delusion of a middle class portrayal is in fact not at all what the majority of the population truly represents. I found this part of “Class Dismissed” critical to broadening the knowledge of those who continue to be brainwashed and feel more “comfortable” identifying with the middle class, when this is not reality.

Costumes and Culture

A poster campaign was started by a student organization (Students Teaching Against Racism in Society) at Ohio University and has managed to spread widely across the internet.[1] The photo above on the left (viewer's left) shows a poster released as part of this campaign. The poster on the right is a part of a parody campaign apparently meant to counter the original. There are a few other counter posters that show fictional characters holding photos of people in costumes of them (including a character from Avatar (sorry, I never saw the movie so I don't know who that is) for one). These parodies, however, seem to strengthen and demonstrate the racism that is being shown in the posters from Ohio University: they compare POC to fictional and non-human characters. While intended to make a joke along the lines of "It's Halloween, relax!" "It's no big deal!" or maybe "Can't you take a joke?," these posters show first hand the dehumanization necessary and indicative of racism.

When seeing the backlash against the educational campaign, the question that came to mind was "How can someone argue with such a clear demonstration that they are showing real people as caricatures, stereotypes, and generally Other?" It seemed to me that the parody is actual helpful to the original campaign, but it seems that others have not analyzed it the same way. For someone analyzing the symbols in these posters and the context, it becomes clear that the backlash is reactionary and an attempt to reassert privilege and hegemonic standards. Similar to how Rod Stewart was seen as a "rebel" by actually spouting conservative and reactionary views (conservative as its original meaning: one who wants to keep the current society), people who support the parody posters can envision themselves as "talking straight" "saying it how it is" and ridiculing others for being "too p.c."

On Halloween I saw many "Native American" costumes. I wondered if the people wearing them had any idea that Native Americans are still around, they seemed to assume they were some character to be brought to life in their costume straight from the urban outfitters previously titled "Navajo" line. I wondered if they knew that Native Americans experience poverty at very well above the national average, that Native American women are "2.5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes as other women in the United States,"[2] or even that their costumes were terribly inaccurate.

It is a true mark of privilege when one can get away with saying something isn't offensive when responding to a message by the oppressed group telling them that in fact they find it offensive. Privilege allows one to think that they get the say on what is offensive, when in fact that judgement belongs to the people being offended and oppressed. Clearly they would know better when they are being depicted in a demeaning way.

Fake Housewives of Fantasy Land

The Youtube clip "Class Dismissed" - really opened my eyes to how television shows portray certain classes of people.  For example, the show "Real Housewives of Beverley Hills" shows the public how upper-class people live their comfortable lives. Watching this show has made me despise these women because of the way the creators have portrayed them. Because I do not judge people instantly, I realized that not all "upper-class" people act like snobs, such as these specific house wives act.  Not all upper class women receive a large amount of plastic surgery nor do they allow "high-school" drama to invade their personal lives every single day. Creators of this show have been able to create some type of "Fantasy Land" for these women to play around in, while entertaining audiences around the world.  While the show can be entertaining, it leaves viewers believing that this is the way the upper class is in real life. While they have money, unlimited resources, and a pension to dress like they're 20 years old - housewives also have children. Housewives who watch the show either feel offended by the fact they these mothers barely spend time with their children, or by the fact that they even should be labeled as "housewives." I mean come on, if my mom dressed like these women, I would NEVER let her leave the house - let alone meet my friends. All in all, television shows put a large mask over their entire cast members, giving the viewers a false identity of who these women are.

Workplace Sitcoms

As I read the article by Butsch and watched the documentary in class, I couldn’t help but to think about sitcoms today and how class is portrayed in them. My two favorite shows are “workplace sitcoms”. They are The Office and Parks and Recreation. These shows are labeled as workplace sitcoms, but they do not relate to the working class that the documentary are article refer to. These shows try to reinforce the popular idea that we are all part of the middle class because all of the people in these shows are middle-class citizens. Some of them are even upper-middle class citizens.
In Parks and Recreation, the main character, Leslie Knope, wants to climb the ladder of political success. She is trying to succeed in a world that is full of upper-middle and upper class males. All of her bosses are males, which would probably ring true in real life. I was trying to see the different types of classes in this show, but it seems that there is only middle-class citizens portrayed on this show except for Andy. Andy is the only one who does “manual labor” by being a shoe-shine. He is a young guy trying to be in a band. He is not educated and got married really young, but he is seen as the lovable character who is always trying to do good. This is one of the characters that was discussed in the documentary and article.
In The Office, we see that all of the people are working in an office and are middle-class citizens. They do, however, offer some glimpses into the warehouse. These characters would be representative of the working class. Darrell, the main warehouse worker, usually seems to be smarter than many of the workers in the office, especially Michael who is the manager. This is counter-hegemonic because the working class is portrayed as more intelligent than the middle-class. In one episode, the Michael is trying to find drugs and he immediately goes to the warehouse crew which is a stereotype that some people may have about a lower-class society. The workers actually sell Michael some basil and make a profit from him. This can be taken in two ways. One: The workers are intelligent because they made a fool of the boss. Two: The workers are scammers and not deserving of a higher position.

Tough Guys or Girls? American Horror Story

In a recent episode of the FX series American Horror Story, they look back at the first owners of the house the new family lives in. It was a doctor and his wife and their new born baby. Back in the times of the 1920's in which this family lived, men were supposed to be in charge and "wear the pants in the relationship" and it was even acceptable for the man to disrespect his wife. But in this case it was the complete opposite. The wife was extremely verbally abusive to the husband, constantly calling him names and mocking him, making him feel completely useless. This in turn lead to him having a serious drug problem. This women was pure evil and no one would do anything about it because the man was supposed to be the one in charge. We look at the roles men play when they are the bad guy but we rarely ever look into how women can be just as abuse, just not in a physical manner. Words can be just as harmful and lead to just as much pain as physical abuse and men are not the only ones to blame. Although it is more common for the man to be abusive we should not look past the fact that sometimes women can do just as much damage with their powerful words.