Class divisions highlighted in popular movies

by Charlie Smith on December 27th, 2010 at 4:28 AM

1 of 1 2 of 1

One of the hallmarks of Canadian journalism is its reluctance to deal with issues of class.

There isn't much written about how a growing gap between rich and poor stifles upward mobility.

Tax cuts for the super-rich are seen as a sensible public policy by many media commentators.

And those who cover the B.C. legislature rarely focus much attention on income assistance, laws and regulations that discriminate against single parents, or B.C.'s dreadful child-poverty rate.

But there's a hopeful sign on the horizon from an unexpected source: Hollywood.

New York Times writer A.O. Scott recently penned a piece pointing out that class consciousness has re-emerged in a big way on the silver screen.

Citing such films as The Town, The Fighter, The Social Network, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Scott suggests that American cinema has begun highlighting social divisions.

In the case of Ben Affleck's character in The Town and Mark Wahlberg's character in The Fighter, they're seeking admission into the middle class, which is set up as the ideal.

Hollywood still packs a punch in influencing how people in the mainstream think. If there's any doubt, look at the impact that a 1979 movie called The China Syndrome had on the nuclear-power industry, which still hasn't recovered.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

Comments

5 Comments

HellSlayerAndy

Dec 27, 2010 at 7:57pm

<i>New York Times writer A.O. Scott recently penned a piece pointing out that class consciousness has re-emerged in a big way on the silver screen.</i>

But after reading the piece, Scott assures us it won't be much of a threat because he could have wrote the same pointless mess the year Slumdog Millionaire won the Academy Award and when Denzel did he his LAST everyman role in 'Pellham 123' or any number of Walhberg movies with the best 'class' conscious effort being 'Boogie Nights' and the final scene where marginalized 'workers' are forced into a dysfunctional 'family' as a mockery of American middle class values.
But who cares....more people saw the dumb fascist garbage Hollywood actually puts out like 'Despicable Me', Ironman 2 and Inception.

Bruno15

Dec 27, 2010 at 11:49pm

Charlie, the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island melted down in 1979. I seriuosly doubt it was this movie that crippled the nuclear industry.

Beth

Dec 28, 2010 at 10:56am

This movie did cripple the industry because by the time the nuclear accident happened at Three Mile Island around two weeks after the film's release, people (filmgoers and movie feature readers, at least) had had their eyes opened to the nefariousness of cover ups as depicted in the film, and educated about the cause and consequences of nuclear accidents. Once in the know, they wouldn't have swallowed any bullshit the spin doctors or govenment told them about Three Mile Island.

On another note, am I the only one who squirmed when the white 13-year-old in "True Grit" gave orders to the African-American man and child?
Beth

Second Nation

Dec 28, 2010 at 3:26pm

The role of film in influencing the populace is clear, as Charlie asserts; just look at the backlash against the undead after the Lord of the Rings movies.

Seriously, is it the slow holiday season or what? I want some journalism!