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Class Themes in Film and Fiction

They’re Just Like Us: Race and the White Working-Class on Roseanne

August 16, 2018 by Owen Cantrell Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, May 29th, ABC Entertainment canceled the reboot of Roseanne after Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, comparing the former Obama advisor to an ape. ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey stated, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.” The show debuted in March to huge ratings and a second […]

Filed Under: A World Without Classism, Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Dismantlng Classism, Pop Culture Classism, Racism in Media & Pop Culture Tagged With: class cultures, classism, race and class, racism

Roseanne and the Changing Working-Class

March 27, 2018 by Owen Cantrell Leave a Comment

When ABC’s Roseanne premiered in 1988, it arrived in the era of Reaganomics with policies that stripped power from unions, sent blue collar jobs overseas and flattened wages throughout the Rust Belt.[1] Roseanne Barr, creator and star, argued the show intended to “speak directly to working-class viewers in an active feminist voice over the people’s airwaves […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Electoral politics, Gender Class Intersections, Politics and Class, Pop Culture Classism, Race and Class Tagged With: class cultures, race and class, stereotypes, union-bashing, working class

Roseanne: A Working-Class (S)hero Returns

March 27, 2018 by Souri Somphanith Leave a Comment

The Roseanne reboot promises to tackle love and politics. Pack your bags and hit the road, folks. On  March 27th we’re going back to Lanford. The return of the hit 80s/90s sitcom Roseanne is the latest in a wave of nostalgic revivals hoping to recapture our hearts. And while other reboots have stirred up controversy, […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Pop Culture Classism, Race and Class, Women and Class Tagged With: class and pop culture, class cultures, low-wage jobs, race and class, stereotypes, working class

Phony rags to riches stories

October 9, 2014 by Lita Kurth Leave a Comment

I just finished watching the movie Julie and Julia, and it irritated me in the same way that many books and movies have irritated me lately: they purport to be the story of extremely humble origins turned into ravishing success through pluck and persistence. But they aren’t. I didn’t mind, in fact I preferred the […]

Filed Under: Class Themes in Film and Fiction Tagged With: pretense, privilege

“Sixteen Tons” brings mine wars of ’20s and ’30s alive

June 25, 2014 by Carol Alexander Leave a Comment

“Are the mules okay?” Not to diminish hard-working mules, but the mine boss’s urgent question after an accident captures the cruel reality thrust upon generations of underground coal miners, whose toil fueled America. That authentic quote valuing mules over expendable common laborers jumps off the pages of “Sixteen Tons,” (Hard Ball Press, 2014), described as […]

Filed Under: Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Labor movement, Workplace classism Tagged With: immigrants, labor history, low-wage jobs

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Class themes in Oscar nominees #1

February 24, 2013 by Yeewon Nyon Leave a Comment

A darling of the film award season this year, the American fantasy drama film Beasts of the Southern Wild (BOTSW) has been nominated for numerous prestigious awards, including a Best Actress nomination in the 85th Academy Awards for the youngest ever nominee, Quvenzhané Wallis, at nine years old. BOTSW did not only capture its viewers’ […]

Filed Under: Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Poverty, Race and Class Tagged With: disaster, film, gender, poverty

Les Miz: Class themes in Oscar nominees #2

February 24, 2013 by Betsy Leondar-Wright Leave a Comment

The poverty in the Les Miserables movie seems more realistic than most poverty portrayed in fiction in one crucial aspect: the way desperately poor people in Les Miz are preyed upon. Fantine is deceived and ripped off by the Thénardiers, who try to extort as much money as possible from fostering her daughter. Then as […]

Filed Under: Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Poverty Tagged With: blaming the victim, bullying, classism, criminal justice system, immigrants, poverty

Silver Linings Playbook: Class themes in Oscar nominees #3

February 23, 2013 by Julie Withers 1 Comment

Movies about mental illness are a favorite of the Oscars. The nominees are often serious affairs with sad endings and a key point: it sucks to have a mental illness. Underlying that key point is the idea that having a mental illness creates an outsider status of not being normal where one lacks access to […]

Filed Under: Class cultures, Class Themes in Film and Fiction, Classism in Everyday Life Tagged With: downward mobility, mental illness

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