#to quote parasite: nice because they are rich

[sailermoon]

I was talking to my mom after we left the shower about how our rich in laws are “nice people atleast” and i immediately thought of that parasite quote “they are nice because they are rich”

[boxingcleverrr]

So of course, my Real Housewives love led me to watching Paris In Love, and...

That quote from Parasite super applies.

Ki-taek: They are rich but still nice. Chung-sook: They are nice because they are rich.

I feel like if you want to see a real world example of that, AND ALSO the paranoia the ultra-rich have, oftentimes in place of empathy (I don't think hers has been replaced, though, due to what she went through in Provo, it's just very often veto'd by her paranoia), watching her reality show is very educational.

It has a much more serious tone than a Housewives show. And since that is the case, laid bare is the generational trauma of her mother, Kathy, who was a grasping movie star's daughter who met a genuinely rich man in highschool, and has felt forever the impulse to save and starve and present the perfect image always, always worried she will lose this golden ticket, despite her wealthy husband loving her unconditionally. So she raised her kids to the letter of every How To Be Wealthy handbook in raising super cloistered rich children.

When Kathy Hilton's daughter was out partying with drag queens, trying to numb the pain after a sexual assault at 15, her response was to send her to a scared straight camp, unaware that it was basically a scam to torture teenage girls while male staff watched. Because why would other rich people scam ME?

You can learn A LOT from this show, like damn. The profile of Very Nice, Very Clean & Tidy. Of course they can be nice, nobody goes against them. Of course everything looks clean, they pay a lot of money to make sure bad things are cleaned up.

For all the other (very true!) iffy things you can say about her, Paris spoke up on that front, at least, and said no, actually, my problems were not cleaned up: I was just traumatized at 16 and my traumatized acting out was televised. And my family has penalized me for it for the last 20 years. So yeah, of course she's very nice, but extremely private, not even letting her parents know she had a kid until he was a week old.

Very nice, Very clean.

[dreamyinwriting]

Just a personal opinion, but a lot of the capitalism/rich people critique of late has felt sour and unfulfilling. I am not holding these films up to Parasite and claiming that they’re lesser than; this is simply a comparison to a movie that had similar aims (rich people critique) and did a better job of it, IMO. (The Menu inspired this observation.)

In the Parasite-lites, the rich are parodied to the extreme. They’re more caricatures than characters. Sure, rich people can act like this in real life. But this is fiction. A critique of reality requires a steady, purposeful hand. With critiquing capitalism, you can’t just give in to your base instincts of going “lol rich people” without potentially jeopardizing the point you want to make.

All critiques reflect reality, but not all reflections are critiques.

By having the rich characters act so goofy---even if rich people, in real life, act similarly---you paint the rich as harmless. You take away the threat inherent in their existence. The rich are not harmless, no matter how ridiculous they are as individuals.

In Parasite, the rich were aloof but not exaggeratedly stupid. Their money afforded them distance from the back-breaking that comes from constantly fighting for survival. Parasite was done with a steady, purposeful hand, one that does not let you forget that, despite the quirks behind the rich individual, there is a system behind them that harms.

Some quotes from Parasite:

“Not ‘rich, but still nice.’ She’s nice because she’s rich. Hell, if I had all this money, I’d be nice, too!”

“Rich people are naïve. No resentments. No creases on them.”

[ezraprotestcmlit101]

Parasite: The Chef's Kiss of Classism

This movie is what I call the Creme the Crop of the commentary on Classism.

Having grown up in South Korea, this film has been dissected and discussed at length about what the capitalism and consumerism mindset poisons the indivudal.

If you haven't watched the movie, the brief summary is that a poor lower class family infilitrates a upper, high class family to experience what the "better life" could be.

Essentially, this movie talks about the heavy social inequality amongst the populace, with people trying to fight tooth and nail to obtain a piece of the rich cake.

And this movie was listed with quotes that get unpacked.

"They're rich but still nice." "They're nice because they are rich."

"Do I fit in? Here. This place."

South Korea always had a harsh discrepancy when it comes to the rich and the poor. It's something Korean culture has always had a hand in commenting on: The need to want something more that is above you is poisonous you forget your roots and began clambering up to see. It is an unfortunate situation, as things stand, the much like with those left behind in the Brown Girl in the Ring in the previous post, Parasite is a story about the lack of solidarity.

It is unfortunate, as I have witnessed something like this first hand. I will not go into specifics, but I have seen situations of how the poor sustain themselves, and it becomes a dog eat dog world.

I want to do away that this level of disconnect between the classes. For South Korea, our history is what should keep us together. We are all one people. Especially after a year of colonialism, we have to band together more than ever.

[twiceasmanysunbeams]

PAULINA FLAVIUS as the DAME WITH A CASE

A hardboiled detective is loafing around behind his desk, waiting for something to happen. The impetus for getting the story going arrives in the form of a dame. Richly dressed, she cuts an impressive figure. She states to the private eye that she has a case for him. Don't expect the dame to be what meets the eye. She might know more about the case than she is letting on... Sweet as saccharine, is she truly as kind and earnest as she seems?

@gc-appreciationweek

[transmutationisms]

okay i mentioned this in the tags but genuinely i have this like whole vampire theory of the roy siblings LMAO so traditionally (like, since the 18th or 19th century i think) the reason vampires can't see their own reflections or cast a shadow is supposed to be because they don't have a soul. i like the work this does as a metaphor with the roys: none of them are 'real', they don't see themselves as real, so they'll have these flashes of insight looking at each other but retain massive blind spots when they try looking into the mirror, metaphorically speaking. there's nothing of substance looking back, they're only composed of what they take from other people.

speaking of which, i've mentioned before that for a show obsessed with bodily fluids (piss mainly; there are at least 28 different bathroom scenes i've counted) there's not really that much blood flowing. the exceptions that come to mind are the therapist at austerlitz, kendall's wrist after the car crash, and kendall's nosebleed after logan yanks him from rehab in iceland. whereas piss is used as an assertion of power and dominance, blood spilling is much more life-threatening, which ties nicely with the vampire concept (there are plenty of folk beliefs about the undead that don't involve the drinking of blood; vampires are feared in a very specific way because of it). if the roy kids are metaphorically blood-suckers, part of their problem is that they keep trying to suck each other's blood and they're all relatively bloodless on account of being dead. they're dependent on the draining of other people to give them life and self-image.

the characters most overtly compared to parasites are sandy and stewy, and i can never help but think of the marx quote (capital is dead labour living vampire-like by sucking living labour etc etc). but the reason that comparison is made is ultimately just because they're capitalists, which the roy kids all are as well. they like to think they're better than private equity guys like stewy (shiv and kendall especially like to think this) but kendall guts vaulter and all three of them are explicitly living off their dad's fortune: parasites attached to parasites, another description we get of sandy in relation to stewy in "prague".

bloodsucking is a potent metaphor i think because vampires are on the one hand totally devoid of substance to the point of being literally soulless, and on the other hand drinking directly from the source of life itself. so much of the horror comes not just from a fear of death/decay but from that mismatch between being drained/pale/lifeless and simultaneously utterly sanguine, but only via another's blood. the roy kids see others as sources to bleed dry and see themselves as insubstantial; other people see them as monsters out for blood.

i also like the vampire tropes wrt to the roys because we often think of them as these like, ancient ideas and it's true bloodsuckers have been in folklore for a long time, but most of our recognisable vampire tropes date much later (primarily 19th century, lots specifically from bram stoker and "carmilla") which i think nicely parallels the way the roys think of their family business as this, like, thousand-year dynasty but really they're extremely nouveau riche. which i think also contributes to their bloodthirst and inability to perceive themselves head-on in any objective way. they fear disappearing and not existing because fundamentally they feel like they lack whatever is supposed to be anchoring them to the earth (soul, conscience, etc) and when they look at/inside themselves there's nothing looking back.

anyway there's my succession vampire thoughts of the day thanks

[codenamesazanka]

what’s that quote from parasite? “They are nice because they’re rich. Rich people are naive. No resentments. No creases on them. It all gets ironed out. Money is an iron. Those creases all get smoothed out by money.” That’s the UA kids.

Meanwhile the League embodies this:

“You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned. Look around you. Did you think these people made a plan to sleep in the sports hall with you? But here we are now, sleeeping together on the floor. So, there's no need for a plan. You can't go wrong with no plans. We don't need to make a plan for anything. It doesn't matter what will happen next. Even if the country gets destroyed or sold out, nobody cares. Got it?”

[piracytheorist]

(different anon here that also needs to rant - apologies in advance) would be also real nice if some stans could just use anti tags and also not insult/namecall real people who like a fictional character that they hate? then they tell you to 'go outside and touch some grass lol just a joke why u mad?' (little do they know some of us are bedridden thanks to covid, so nope I can't! at most I can open a window... being able to see grass and people should be enough tho)

-- also, just to add something: Lisa was canonically 14, a child! when Umbrella started experimenting on her and her family (her parents were executed when the scientists didn't like the results of the experiments)! she was chained like an animal! for 30 YEARS! injected with not just viruses but parasites too! you find most of this in the game!

meanwhile the lords were grown adults emotionally manipulated into being implanted w cadou (one could extrapolate Miranda used the whole family spiel for Donna after losing Claudia - and for Moreau too; finding a cure and being pretty forever for Alcina; unknown for Heisenberg - and yet all that is STILL just reaching on my part :/ ), and the moment she saw they were unfit vessels for Eva she dropped them like hot potatoes, she handed jars of cadou to them (you can find them in their houses, and the Duke has one in his wagon) and p much told them to make themselves useful and experiment on villagers too (while Karl uses corpses, one of his notes practically says that he's one failure away from using live villagers) bc further experiments on unfit vessels would be a waste of her precious time looking for the perfect one. why waste her time on failures when she can use them as more figureheads to keep her godlike status and control over the village?

(this comes from me being a giant lords fan, but being unable to find anything about them being taken from their families as children, experimented on and tortured (as fellow fans say) in the game. i've read every note, quote, concept art text! other than the 'humiliation' and 'forced to serve her for decades' 'won't let us leave' Karl mentions, i saw nothing. so where the f are they getting it from? if there was an article from the devs i missed I'd love to read it! all we know is that they are all the last desendants from their respective noble families, the 4 founding houses (does that mean that they're all kinda rich and powerful? just not moreau lol). maybe dlc will have answers. maybe not.

once again I'm sorry for the long rant.

Yeah, some stans just take it upon themselves to proclaim how "right" they are for liking a specific character, and how everyone who likes other specific characters is stupid and out of touch with reality. Same shit happened in the previous fandom I was in, for the TV show Once Upon a Time. That's the reason why they also refuse to use anti tags. They're so self-absorbed that they think their opinion is the only right one, and that EVERYONE has to hear their negative thoughts about that character because they're RIGHT and EVERONE SHOULD BOW TO THEM HALLELUJAH.

At this point, the moment I see people post negative stuff in main tags without using anti tags, I just block. I used to be against blocking people on tumblr, but at this point it's gotten tiring, and one of the main reasons I visit this hellsite is to peacefully fawn over Mold Dad. I don't have time for people who hate on him (or Mia, for that matter) and think everyone is obligated to listen to them.

I'm not sure how much manipulation there was in Miranda experimenting on the Lords. Heisenberg says, in his diary, "I'll never forgive [Miranda] for what she did to me," referring on her altering his body and taking away his consent and dignity. I thought that she simply kidnapped them and just straight-up experimented on them without any talk about it. Maybe I reached a wrong conclusion, lol. But in any case, they all reach the point where they do the same thing to the rest of the innocent villagers. Heisenberg using dead bodies is still immoral, like, I doubt he had the clear consent of those people, when they were still alive, to use their bodies (concept art shows him overlooking his Soldats or sth gravedigging for new corpses), and using a person's body however you like, without that person having agreed to it during their lifetime, is considered immoral in most cultures. Even if he somehow had the consent of all the people whose bodies hung around his factory, the fact that he even CONSIDERS using live people for his experiments... that's no freedom fighter, darling. That's turning into your abuser. Which is an actual thing that happens sometimes to abuse victims, and a much more interesting dynamic for Heisenberg than woobifying him and only presenting him as an abuse victim. He's not misunderstood. He uses people's corpses to make an army. He's no poor little meow meow. He has a conscience and he woke up and chose violence. And he looked sexy doing it.

Again, I have seen people say "Poor Heisenberg was taken away by Miranda when he was a kid" and I'm like "DUDE WHERE???" If anything all that sounds like further woobification by the stans, like it's okay if you love him and want to give him a super tragic childhood, I'm a whumper myself, I get it, but again it's just a headcanon. Unless I've missed something myself, lol, I'd like to see it if it has.

no worries! you are under no obligation to answer, being acknowledged and letting me rant in your inbox is more than enough <3 was just feeling a bit cranky after my shift yesterday then saw the other anon and brain just went 'I wanna rant about this game too'

Yo, I love this game an irrational amount especially considering its genre, so I love talking about it, and its characters, and everything, and though I try not to dwell on fandom wank, sometimes it feels cathartic to talk about how said fandom wank is just wank XD So rant away about re8 all you want, my inbox is open and waiting! <3

[twinnedpeaks]

if this isnt want u need right now feel free to ignore or delete it but heres some stuff that might offer a bit of distraction. id also encourage anyone who reads this to answer the questions too just so you have a little something nice to read

what are your favorite movie quotes? hmm something i think of all the time is "they're nice because they're rich" from parasite and i always laugh when somebody says "I've got a bad feeling about this" in star wars cause they say it like 4 times per film

a positive / calming memory? mine is cuddling with my cat 🥺 i can never stop smiling whenever she snuggles up with me and purrs until she falls asleep

a weird food u love and a popular food u hate? idk if its that weird but i love salmon sashimi and i hate anything with marinara sauce except pizza lol

if u could have any pet (including exotic and/or fictional) what would it be? mine would be babu frik from star wars i LOVE that little guy...or a small dragon that would be sick

im sorry things r so rough. i sincerely hope you find some relief soon. personally when my thoughts are so bad that i cant sleep, i watch netflix on my phone until my eyes hurt and then I'll probably end up passing out pretty soon lol. if u have netflix some shows i recommend are unorthodox, money heist, criminal minds, and queens gambit. for movies i suggest what keeps you alive, the call, forgotten, and stowaway.

you are honestly kind. thank you for taking the time to distract me a bit, i love these.

i love 'victims. aren't we all?' and the crucifixion joke from the crow. and all of donnie darko has wonderful dialogue. many more of course.

hmm probably also meeting my dog and her falling asleep on my chest when i cry.

dont have an answer

a snake, a sphynx cat, or a wolf. and ive been in the process of getting a service dog for years now.

you have good taste and a kind heart. thank you love.

[hermosasola]

04.05.20

[Shoplifters] Heart-wrenching film. A must watch. Six people are bonded together not by blood, but by poverty, hardship, and definitely in a way, by love. The movie reminds me of that quote from Parasite:

It’s not that they’re kind in spite of being rich, they’re kind because they are rich.

When you’re rich, it is easy for you to be nice to others and be generous. Poor people, on the other hand, can’t spare to think about others, when they themselves can hardly make ends meet. Probably because of this sad reality that the director created a family where no one is related. They don’t have to be with each other, but they kinda need to. There still lies within them that selfishness of the poor, because of which they constantly find ways to make use of others, to survive. But they don’t abandon each other; to me, that’s kindness. And they truly care for one another. Can they be called a family, then, when no one shares the same blood? They must be! Just giving birth does not automatically make you a mother.

Shoplifters was profoundly touching. And while it explores a heavy topic that is poverty, the movie itself is light-hearted. It does not involve exhausting arguments between the family members of whether or not they should take the child in; you know, the kind of fights you would normally see in other films before the abandoned kid is accepted. In Shoplifters, acceptance comes naturally, it’s like that little girl has to be with them, “she chose them”. Light, but impactful. Also, the actor who plays Shota made an excellent performance. Truly the star of the movie.

Please do watch Shoplifters. It does not contain any gasp-for-your-air kind of plot twist, but it surely will warm your heart and help you believe a little bit more in the kindness of people.

[sailermoon]

plus I’m already mortified enough with their family given the fact they didn’t know I was vegetarian and couldn’t eat anything at the bridal shower 😭 and they seem like nice people (‘they’re nice cause they’re rich’ parasite quote) but I’m just so uncomfy around them because of our large class differences

[something-in-the-seas]

November 18th, 1968

Ryan proves that he has not learned a thing since Bioshock. 

“Sally can say whatever she wants, just because she was one of the millions born today does not give her authority over me.”

One would think that after nearly ten years of dealing with Andrew Ryan, Jack would be immune to his rants and demands, but his father was exhausting. Truly exhausting. Just attempting to have a simple conversation with him was draining.  He could say the sky was blue and Ryan would then argue that the sky was actually green. Or, he could say that the weather was nice, and Ryan would then complain about how it was too hot or cold for his liking. Nothing ever satisfied him.

Jack supposed it was to be expected given how devoted he was to his beloved city. He put his heart, soul, everything he had into its creation, including his billion-dollar fortune, which, in turn, kept him trapped here; with them. None of his rich buddies in New York cared enough about him, Ryan alienated practically every ally he had there by considering them too ‘simple’ for his grand utopia. Besides, if any of them were as callous he was, they would have laughed him right of the city for daring to ask for a handout. Hell, not even the media cared. When word got around that he had somehow been spotted on the shores of Saratoga Falls after nearly twenty years, the only mention of it was a small paragraph in The National Enquirer. The grand return of the prodigal son was instead a fizzle; unbefitting for the once richest man in America.

 And so, Andrew Ryan was stuck in a small town, full of people he loathed, depending on his ‘greatest disappointment’ to provide for him in his senior years. It was like some twisted purgatory for him, but instead of somehow learning from this and bettering himself as a person, he decided to make everyone as miserable as him. If he couldn’t be happy, no one could.

How very collectivist of him.

“Dad, it’s gonna take five minutes tops,” Jack said as he rubbed his temples. Yep, there was that migraine. “Come on, all she wants is for everyone to be here.”

“Everyone will be here, and when they arrive, they can go to the fridge and take a slice,” Ryan replied with a wave of his hand. “I’m sure there will be plenty left unless your wife sucks them down like the human vacuum cleaner she’s become lately.”

Jack scowled. “You don’t talk about Elizabeth like that, you got me?” he warned, wagging his finger.

And the older man crossed his arms and huffed, as if he were a child being scolded. “General Hospital is almost on, it is the one fulfilling thing I have left in my life, so I demand silence while I watch it.”

“You want to watch your soap opera? Fine, you can watch your soap opera. I’m sure Sally will compromise with you and we can do cake during a commercial break.”

Ryan shook his head. “No, that will not work.”

“What do you mean that won’t work?”

“ABC’s commercials are only thirty-seconds long, I’d miss too much in the time it takes for you to gawk at the cake, snap unnecessary pictures, and harmonize off each other like hyenas in coitus.”

Leta, who had been silent the entire time, cringed at that lovely metaphor. She looked at her father to see what he was going to say next, but frankly he didn’t know how to respond. His blood pressure was sky-rocketing. It was taking everything in him not to lose his patience, which was exactly what his father wanted so he could have the upper-hand.

If Ryan’s stubbornness was genetic, Jack was really going to be in trouble in the next few years with the baby.

Thankfully, what sounded to be a herd of elephants stomping down the steps meant that his two other girls. Sally and Masha, were coming down, and with them, his wife. Finally, a united front. Dealing with Andrew Ryan was a family affair and he desperately needed reinforcements.

Ryan reacted appropriately for a man of his age when cornered by his son, his pregnant daughter-in-law, and three teenage girls. He huffed like a toddler during a tantrum. It was a pitiful sight. For a man who used his wealth and talents to build the most advanced societies ever conceived to get away from welfare to pout in his bathrobe and bunny slippers as he relied on his son to survive must have been humiliating.

But, Andrew Ryan would never admit defeat. That would take away the last shred of dignity he desperately clung onto. From an underwater city full of deranged addicts to soap operas and birthday cake, he’d go down kicking and screaming, never admitting being wrong or pinning the blame on someone else.

Sally’s the first one to speak. Unlike the other girls, who were much more combative and aggressive when it came to ‘debating’ with their grandfather, she had a different approach. “Grandpa, I know you want to watch your show,” she began as she sat on the edge of the kitchen table, playing with one of the straps of her faded, pink denim jumper shorts. “And, of course, your happiness matters. So, we can do cake after your show is over, how does that sound.”

Ryan paused for a moment. His brows furrowed as he put a hand to his chin. Jack was impressed. It was looking as if she had him, a nigh impossible feat. “No.”

“What do you mean no?” Sally, taken aback, asked incredulously.

“What, you can’t spare five minutes of your time to sing?”

“No, I cannot, Elizabeth,” the older man replied matter-of-factly.

Leta, who had been silent since entering the kitchen with Jack, finally chimed in. “You get to watch your show, though? Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“After the show is over at nine, it will be my bedtime.”

“Bedtime?” Masha scoffed with a smirk. “What are you? Five?”

“No, it is called aging, Masha!” Ryan snapped, his eyes narrowing at the fifteen-year-old. “And while it may be hard to understand due to your youth and the seemingly infinite energy that comes with it, as people grow old, they get tired earlier. Therefore, they have to go to sleep earlier.”

“Oh, so you’re Benjamin Button, then? Got it, with every passing year, you turn more into a man-child.”

“Very smart, Masha. I’m surprised you knew that reference. I would think it’s too old and complicated for your small, feeble mind, unlike, say The Beatles high on whatever brain-frying drugs they take to spew their bolshevik propaganda garbage-”

Elizabeth put her hands on her hips. “Sally’s willing to hold off and wait until your show is over, and here you are, doing what you always do: being selfish and inconsiderate of everyone else around you!” Her lips pursed. “One day. That’s all we were hoping for. One day of you just going with the flow and not arguing-”

“Well, then let’s just do cake now then!”

“We’re waiting for Janice and Rosie! I want everybody here so we can all do this as a family!” Sally said, though her sweet facade was beginning to crack and show a hint of annoyance.

“And there will be plenty of cake left for them when they are here!”

The stress-induced migraine Jack had finally reached its boiling point. He was putting his foot down, figuratively and literally. He pressed his finger into his father’s chest. “You’re doing cake with us no matter what time we do it, and that’s final,” he hissed. “I don’t care if it’s three in the morning, your ass is going to be there.”

“Or what? You’ll drag me out of bed?” Ryan asked, staring down at his son’s much larger finger as if it were a joke. “Frankly, this country may be a husked shell of what it used to be, but I know I am well within my rights to go to bed when I please and you can’t force me to do anything.”

Jack scowled. His index finger poked deeper.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You thought that ten years ago,” the younger man said. “You really want to test that hypothesis again?”

That seemed to change Ryan’s tune. His bemused, smug expression dropped as his brows raised and eyes shot open. He glanced down at the finger jammed into his chest and then back up at his son’s frown for a few seconds before slowly brushing away his hand. “I see, you have made your point.”

“I know what’s going on.” Masha chortled, nudging at Leta with her elbow. “He doesn’t want to meet Janice’s new boy-toy, Daniel-”

“David,” Elizabeth corrected.

“Yeah, sure, David,” Masha continued, rolling her eyes. “Why else would he want to do cake now and run up to bed with his tail between his legs?”

“I’m not running with my tail between my legs. As I recall, I am not a dog, but a human being, Masha, and human beings do not have tails-”

“Oh, shut the fuck up-”

“Hold on, this is what the problem is?” Jack put his hand up, silencing everyone. Now it was all starting to make sense. “Janice’s boyfriend? Really?”

Ryan crossed his arms. “You know how these college kids are today! They all fall into the collectivist group mentality and are pumped out by schools to hate the free market! The very same system that has given their mommy and daddy wealth and the cushy, comfortable life they have!” He turned his head away and huffed. “Especially in California, the breeding ground of parasitic degenerates like those goddamn hippies.”

“You haven’t even met the kid and you’re already got him out to be a bum!” Jack cried.

“Oh, but I have heard plenty about him! He’s from California! I bet he’s ‘free-spirited.’ A real ‘bohemian.’” Ryan said with finger quotes. “The last thing we need is her bringing a hippie into the house. They don’t bathe because they believe all the water on Earth is going to magically dissipate, so they roll around in their own filth. Like bringing a farm animal into your home.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Janice wouldn’t date a slob, Andrew.”

“You don’t know what that college has done to her! It’s changing her!”

“Whatever you say.” Jack shook his head. “Listen, they’re going to be home in the next ten minutes so I’m expecting you to be on your best behavior-”

Ryan was flabbergasted. “I am not a child, son-”

“Then stop acting like one,” he replied as the group began to disperse. “You’re going to be there for cake and you’re going to be nothing but polite to David. End of discussion.”

“Now, wait a minute-”

Jack wrapped his arm around his wife and led her out of the room, but not before waving his hand, his back turned away from his father. “No, no, this discussion is over.”

And before Ryan could open his mouth again to argue, he was alone in the kitchen. He turned his attention down to the floor, where Spot, the nine-week-old Australian Shepherd laid, completely exhausted from barking at a beetle an hour prior. The puppy blinked at him.

“I’ll tell you this,” he said. “I’m not shaking that parasite’s hand. I’d rather not risk getting the bubonic plague, thank you.”

Spot tilted his head. His big ears flopped over. 

“Well, at least you listen.” 

[livable4all]

What is rich-washing?

INTRODUCTION

What is rich-washing? It is when cultural products and advertising make it seem like everyone is rich.

It's similar to whitewashing, where a problem is covered up and made to seem fine, when it is not; or Hollywood whitewashing, where white actors take roles over people of colour; or activist whitewashing, where white activists are spotlighted over people of colour; or greenwashing, where things are made to seem environmentally good, when they are not.

Much has been written about the media biases regarding sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, harmful depictions of mental illness, and other biases that stereotype or denigrate specific groups of people. However, not as much has been written about classism in North American media and entertainment.

Rich-washing is a type of classism, but it is much more than that. 

Rich-washing completely flips the facts: in the real world, there’s a huge majority of financially precarious people at the bottom and a tiny minority at the top. 

And for those at the very top in the U.S., their wealth is growing. 

Rich-washing takes the bulk of people on the planet and makes them disappear –– they are over-looked, glossed over, cropped out of the picture, written out of the story.

Rich-washing is gas-lighting on a grand scale. It is so wide-spread that it is almost invisible. Like the dish soap ad used to say, we’re soaking in it.

Because it is such a blatant misrepresentation of the world, rich-washing has many harmful effects on people and the planet. It is important to expose this type of propaganda to reduce its harm.

However, the answer is not to change entertainment to only reflect social reality. No, this is not a call for censorship, but to point out how pop-culture is currently censored by those who hold the purse strings. Ultimately, the answer is to change our social reality to make it less harsh and more livable for everyone. More on this at the end.

Pop-culture is being censored by those who hold the purse strings

Most people are not rich but you’d never know that in today’s 21st century North American TV shows, movies, print media, social media and especially advertisements. (For whatever reason, entertainment in the UK has more social realism and much less rich-washing.) 

Images of the rich and super-rich have come to dominate everything in a massive cultural mono-crop of shining hair shining teeth shining cars and shining homes filled with shining gadgets.

Yes, there are exceptions (see end). However, these exceptions are mostly “drowned in a sea of irrelevance” (as Aldous Huxley said).

Ursula Franklin called this general effect “censorship by stuffing”. Specifically with rich-washing, the ‘rich’ images are so numerous that they obliterate every other view of society. 

“It is all too easy to confuse the sheer quantity of media with diversity of viewpoint. We do not notice that essentially the same messages are being repeated.” –– Mediaspeak, 1983

Get out the corporate pressure-washer, aim it at the public, turn it on max.

Or as Bertolt Brecht said: “The powerful of the earth create the poor but they cannot bear to look at them.”

Advertisers also don’t like it when the poor look at each other.

“In the 1960s... CBS dropped a number of popular prime-time shows such as ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ and ‘Andy Griffith’ because they attracted the wrong audience –– elderly, low income, and rural viewers. Advertisers had become keen on young, affluent urbanites…” ––Social Communication in Advertising, 1986

One of the worst things rich-washing does is make people think they are in a minority when in fact they are a huge majority.

Most Americans, for example, live paycheck-to-paycheck according to Forbes.

Rich-washing takes an enormous psychological toll because it creates the idea that lack of income is some kind of personal failing, rather than a systemic economic failing that affects many, many people. That’s one reason why unemployment is a huge factor in suicides. 

“When the money isn’t there... feelings of deprivation, personal failure, and deep psychic pain result. In a culture where consuming means so much, not having money is a profound social disability.” ––Juliet Schor, The Overspent American,1999

Rich-washing also creates social solidarity and affinity with the rich, since proximity creates affinity. 

People get used to seeing things from the point of view of the rich and may also take on the idea that their own riches are just around the corner. This has political implications (more on that below). 

In addition, it’s common for negative characteristics to be attached to people who are poor. 

Laziness, criminality, stupidity, and lack of morals, are often characteristics attributed to fictional poor people. This has real world consequences.

Film critic Roger Ebert famously said that movies create empathy.

“...the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us."

While many movies have indeed had a positive effect on society because of this empathy effect, entertainment products can also empower negative stereotypes. And when it comes to the war on the poor, Hollywood most definitely is not on the side of the poor.

“In a lot of films, especially coming out of Hollywood, less fortunate families are portrayed as imbeciles.” ––Chris Stuckmann, movie review of Parasite, Nov. 6, 2019

“It’s a central assumption of our pop-culture that people who have nice shit are good, and people in poverty are bad.” ––Cracked Podcast, “Why pop-culture hates poor people” 2015-03-02

“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” ––Warren Buffet, quoted in Plutocrats by Chrystia Freeland, 2012

With all the vilification and humiliation of poor people in pop-culture, who would want to identify with the poor and not the rich? Who would want to identify with the economic losers and not the economic winners?

“…it is the general policy of advertisers to glamorize their products, the people who buy them, and the whole American and economic scene.” ––Elmer Rice, quoted in Mediaspeak, 1983

Advertisements are highly polished rich-washing because companies need their products associated with winners not losers.

But rich-washing sells more than just consumer products.

Rich-washing sells political ideas. 

Rich-washing reinforces policies and laws that benefit those at the top of the income pyramid. So it is not surprising when we learn that income inequality and wealth concentration have been getting worse.

Income inequality and wealth concentration in the U.S. increasing since 1980s.

“Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, says income inequality in the U.S. has become so dire that if he were in the White House, he would declare it a national emergency.” Barron’s, 2019 

Instead of looking at the big picture and wondering why is it that so many people are poor, people assume or are told that it is their own fault if they are poor. People point fingers at themselves, at other poor people (lateral violence), but almost never up at the top.

“If there was ever a system which enchanted its subjects with dreams (of freedom, of how your success depends on yourself, of the run of luck which is just around the corner, of unconstrained pleasures…), then it is capitalism.” ––Slavoj Zizek, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, 2009

This type of deflection ––away from the rich and scapegoating the poor–– was also behind the witch-burning craze of centuries ago. 

Anthropologist Marvin Harris in his book on “the Riddles of Culture” noted: 

 “the principal result of the witch-hunt system (aside from charred bodies) was that the poor came to believe that they were being victimized by witches and devils instead of princes and popes.” ––Mavin Harris, Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches, 1975

It turns out that if you get people fearful of imaginary things and suspicious of their neighbours, they are less likely to join together in a peasant revolt and storm the castle, pitchforks in hand.

“It is from us and our labour that everything comes, with which They maintain Their pomp [!]” John Ball of the violent Peasant Revolt of 1381

When it comes to numbers, it should be obvious that the one percenters at the top have a precarious hold on power. 

“Why has the response to rising inequality been a drive to reduce taxes on the rich? ... It’s not a simple matter of rich people voting themselves a better deal: there just aren’t enough of them.” ––Paul Krugman, The Great Unraveling, 2003

Rich-washing protects the status-quo by reinforcing the idea that most people are rich, and if you are not, it is your own fault. Rich-washing thus deepens poverty and enlarges the holdings of the super-wealthy.

Rich-washing can also push people into unhealthy behaviours –– everything from compulsive shopping and debt, to self-medicating, and even crime.

As it turns out, when people started watching TV in America in the 1950s, a particular type of crime suddenly rose: larceny (theft of private property). Researchers attributed the increase in larceny to feelings of “relative deprivation and frustration” and that upper- and middle class lifestyles were “overwhelmingly portrayed” on TV. (Impact of the introduction of television on crime in the United States, 1982, noted in Mediaspeak, 1983)

Another troubling by-product of rich-washing is how people become very vulnerable to scams and schemes. 

“We are no longer ‘family’ we are ‘warm prospects.’ ––anonymous reviewer of False Profits, 2015

People want to believe the promises of all kinds of scammers offering them the American Dream. (Check out Season 1 of The Dream podcast). Because of the shame and pain of being poor, because of being an outcast from the perceived norm of upper-middle class consumption, people are desperate to get some dignity and hope back. Many women get into recruitment marketing for “the sense of community, friendship, and purpose that comes with being a vendor.” 

However, less than one percent of Multi-Level Marketing participants make a profit. 

“Failure and loss rates for MLMs are not comparable with legitimate small businesses, which have been found to be profitable for 39% over the lifetime of the business; whereas less than 1% of MLM participants profit. MLM makes even gambling look like a safe bet in comparison.” (PDF) John M. Taylor, 2011 Consumer Awareness Institute paper at FTC.gov.

Ironically, the stories of big-time con artists and scammers have become popular entertainment themselves and are the subject of many documentaries, movies and podcasts. 

Finally, the biggest harm from rich-washing is to the environment ––our biosphere upon which all life depends.

“Modern economies expand, but the ecosystems that provide for them do not.” ––Steven Stoll, The Great Delusion, 2008

Mass consumption is a requirement of the current economic growth model and rich-washing helps keep it all going. So we end up with things like ‘fast fashion’, disposable everything, and planned obsolescence. 

“Left unconstrained by other forces, the free-market system is one of the most restless, destructive arrangements ever contrived ––tearing down and building up, obsoleting last year’s fashions and praising this year’s, ... and scheming always to reduce the arts and sciences to sycophancy. None of which is a secret...” ––Thomas Frank, The Wrecking Crew, 2008

Rich-washing irony ––who is ruining the environment: rich or poor?

“World's richest 10% produce half of global carbon emissions, says Oxfam” ––Guardian, 2015

Rich-washing has another sadistic effect on low income people’s mental health. The world, it seems, is waking up to the potentially catastrophic harm being inflicted on the environment. And yet poor people are still made to feel like pieces of shit, even though they consume the least and do the least harm to the planet. So really... f*ck off with your spectacle of sparkling gold-plated glorification of the wealthy, please.

Three reasons for rich-washing

As previously mentioned, one reason for rich-washing is that corporations want their advertisements to reach higher income viewers. Another reason for rich-washing is for political propaganda: it protects the status quo by pushing the idea that everyone is mostly rich, and if you are poor, it is your own fault. 

A third reason for rich-washing is that media creators, like everyone else, need to survive financially. Creators need to attract viewers. In most cases, this has led to an overwhelming focus on the rich and famous.

“Sponsors prefer beautiful people in mouth-watering decor, to convey what it means to climb the socio-economic ladder...” ––Mediaspeak, 1983

Today, due to an increasingly crowded arena and variety of cultural products, this is a bigger challenge than ever before. What’s going to get people’s attention? What’s going to be popular escapism? Very often this will be flashy settings, fancy costumes, a focus on the wealthy or the royal. Just how many shows about royalty do we need? Never too many apparently. 

And when a story goes for gritty settings and characters, this usually means crime, jolting action and high conflict.

As Jerry Mander wrote in his now ancient 1977 book about television, things like violence, death, jealously, lust, materialism, conflict, the loud, the bizarre, the shocking and the superficial are easier to depict on television than their quiet, cooperative, and nuanced opposites. He laments that this is the type of world that TV “inevitably transmits”. No wonder he argued for the elimination of television.

(However, it should be noted that people used to worry about bad effects from “penny dreadfuls” and pocket-books, although Mander points out that watching TV puts people in a passive state, but reading does not.)

David Simon, creator of The Wire, one of the most critically acclaimed TV series ever made, had this to say about the impact of advertising on media: 

“And how exactly do we put Visa-wielding consumers in a buying mood when they are being reminded of how many of their countrymen - black, white and brown - have been shrugged aside by the march of unrestrained bottom-line capitalism?” ––David Simon, The Wire, Truth Be Told (book), 2009, HBO

(Read more about The Wire below, under “Exceptions”)

Another irony about media rich-washing…

Low income people often consume a lot of escapist media because it is a cheap and easy way to get a break from the health-ruining, cortisol-producing daily grind of life on poverty incomes. Fictional and fantastical worlds are often the only affordable escape for those of meagre means. Thus, it is not surprising when people get an intense attachment to their favourite entertainment if it provides them with stress release, comfort and meaning.

“… a 21-year-old in Michigan, finds it easier to get excited about playing games than his part-time job making sandwiches…” ––Andrew Yang, The War on Normal People, 2018

The opening scene of the movie Ready Player One envisions an extreme dystopian version of this. Rickety trailers in squalid surroundings are stacked sky high. Those living inside wear virtual reality goggles to escape from their over-crowded lives into limitless virtual worlds. 

It’s important to note that escapism as a form of coping with stress and trauma has its place. The answer is not to take away people’s beloved forms of escapism. (E.g. the excellent book by Raziel Reid “When Everything Feels Like the Movies”.) The answer is for humanity to strive to create a healthier and less stressful world where people don’t feel such a tremendous need to escape from reality.

But you don’t need to watch dystopian movies to see that public spaces are shrinking and becoming more unlivable. Even city benches are designed to be a miserable experience. (You know. To solve homelessness of course.) It is no wonder people stare into their screens like never before. We are ruining the public sphere and forcing people into private spaces where the goodness or badness of those places is determined by how much money you have. 

The bright glare of rich-washing might be dimming

“Am I alone in being disgusted by excessive wealth? It seems like a moral failing rather than something to celebrate or aspire to.” ––Nigel Warburton Philosophybites (twitter), January 19, 2020

In 2019 there were three movies that ripped the shiny bandaid of rich-washing propaganda off the reality of mass income inequality: Jordan Peele’s US, Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite, and the controversial Joker... a character study only remotely related to the comic book story. 

There’s been much written and spoken about these movies already. Suffice to say that poverty and the underclasses jump out of the screen in unexpected ways and the wealthy are not shown with shining virtuous haloes.

Even the super-rich (in real life) are starting to notice the current economic system is a disaster:

“At least a dozen billionaires have made public statements that call for the super-rich to pay more in taxes.” Forbes, Oct. 15, 2019

Meanwhile, support for a universal income benefit is spreading rapidly. (Thanks in no small part to Andrew Yang.) People are calling bullshit on the idea that there can ever be a living wage job for everyone who needs one. People are also calling bullshit on the idea that only paid work is real work. There’s a huge constituency of people who provide unpaid care for their loved ones. These unpaid carers have been diminished and ignored for far too long by both the political right (who are full of cheap platitudes about ‘the family’) and the political left (who are full of out-dated platitudes about ‘the workers’). 

People are also calling bullshit on poverty itself since it’s obvious that there is more than enough for everyone on the planet to live with dignity and health. There is no reason for poverty to exist at all ––other than out-of-control greed and massive economic lies. Both of which are propped up by rich-washing.   

Because of the increasingly obvious and growing gap between the haves and have-nots, cultural products might finally be moving away from rich-washing to something similar to what Brecht brought to the theatre 100 years ago:

“...the higher world of upper class sentiments is presented from the ruthless viewpoint of the common people.” ––Martin Esslin on Brecht, 1959

Rich-washing erases the vast swath of humanity from seeing any dignified reflection of themselves. It’s time to identify this assault on regular people.

To quote the Vancouver poet Bud Osborn*:

“north america tellin lies in our head make you feel like shit better off dead so most days now I say shout shout for joy shout for love shout for you shout for us shout down this system puts our souls in prison say shout for life shout with our last breath shout fuck this north american culture of death shout here we are amazingly alive against long odds left for dead shoutin this death culture dancin this death culture out of our heads”

*Bud Osborne 1947-2014, from Amazingly Alive and Other Poems, Vancouver, BC, 1997, Independent release, Lonesome Monsters

TO SUMMARIZE... 

Here’s the thing. Public spaces are becoming increasingly harsh. Jobs and incomes are ever more unsteady, unpredictable and unlivable. People’s anxiety is on the rise. Healthy ways to relieve stress are few if you are broke. So people turn to entertainment as a form of escape. But this subjects them to rich-washing which is harmful to individuals, to society, and the environment.  

Entertainment and advertising media have been teaching people that it is ok to hate, denigrate, or laugh at people in poverty. In addition, it has been teaching people who experience poverty to blame themselves, or even hate themselves.

“Propaganda offers him an object of hatred, for all propaganda is aimed at an enemy. And the hatred it offers him is not shameful, even hatred that he must hide, but a legitimate hatred, which he can justly feel.” ––Jacques Ellul, Propaganda, 1962

It is important to expose this type of propaganda to reduce its harm.

However, the answer is not to change entertainment to only reflect social reality. The answer is to change our reality so it is not so harsh for so many people.  

Art can’t be censored. But it can be bent by those who hold the purse strings for their own purposes.

There is no reason for poverty to exist. Letting poverty exist is the costliest, stupidest and most tragic thing society can do. As described in  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, people first need to eat, we need shelter, we need health care, we need a material foundation before we can hope to have healthy, happy life. When people struggle to meet physical needs, they can’t pursue happiness needs. Or to put it another way:

  “Even honest folk may act like sinners, unless they've had their customary dinners”  (“How to Survive” from Threepenny Opera)

Ending poverty with a universal income benefit (aka Freedom Dividend,  Guaranteed Livable income, Universal Basic Income ) is the most affordable and doable solution for people and the planet. It is our best bet to create a livable economy, a livable natural environment, and a livable social and cultural environment for humans.  

In a world with income security for all, we might find our entertainment would drastically change for the better. Advertisers would no longer dominate entertainment. Creators would have more freedom to create. People  would no longer seek so much escapism.

Of course, we will not have utopia ––nor should we try to create a utopia.  But at least we would not be flinging ourselves into a  certain  dystopian future because we think there’s no other choice.  

A livable income for everyone gives us a choice.  #Livable4all - now- for people and the planet.

***

But wait! There’s more....

***

EXTRA SECTION 1: FAKE POVERTY TROPES

Fake poverty tropes in popular culture are different than exceptions to rich-washing (see examples next section). They are not. They are just story-telling short-cuts. They can be fun escapist entertainment, but they are ultimately rich-washing wolves in sheep’s (cheap) clothing.  

i) Rags-to-riches: When someone starts poor and ends up rich. In the past, these tales were called Horatio Alger stories, where hard work and honesty bring success to the hero. A sub-genre of this trope is the criminal rags-to-riches story. Riches are won through criminality, violence, hustles, or scams. This usually ends badly for the anti-heroe(s). However, usually not before a display of luxurious settings and wardrobes. Or in some shows, just piles and piles of cash, gold, jewels, etc.

ii) How can they afford that?:  This is when people with very marginal jobs and incomes somehow have homes and/or lifestyles that would be impossible with a similar income in real life. These are the kind of TV shows that leaves the audience wondering: “What? how can they afford that?”  

iii) Rich Relations: This is when financially poor characters live on the periphery of rich people. These characters might be broke and in debt, but they have close family or friends who are very well-off. Again, even though the main character might be ‘skins’, the audience is shown some fancy settings and aspirational fashion. 

iv) Magic Money Wand: This is when the poverty problems of the hero are magically solved when the hero gets a sudden windfall of money from a wealthy family member, friend, mysterious benefactor, or by winning something.

EXTRA SECTON 2: RECENT EXCEPTIONS TO RICH-WASHING

There are a few notable exceptions to rich-washing described here. Note: UK productions (except for one) are not included because, for whatever reason, the UK has an abundance of TV shows and films from a working class perspective. (See also the films of Ken Loach and Tony Garnett.)

The Wire began in 2002, was only 5 seasons, and is now considered a masterpiece of television. One reviewer describes it as being about “post-industrial collapse” and “institutional dysfunction” in an American city (Baltimore). Sounds bleak, but it was rare social realism with unconventional heroes and story-telling. It had low ratings at first. Apparently, showing that the “American Dream was dead” did not catch on right away. However, HBO, which relies on subscriptions, not advertising, was willing to “simply let it be” said creator, David Simon. He also describes just how much the mass media has failed America’s disenfranchised

The Wire (TV series)

“The Wire avoided victories, preferring to show corruption, failure and decay. ... The Wire was as much journalism as entertainment – a form of protest television.” ––Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 2018

The Wire began in 2002, was only 5 seasons, and is now considered a masterpiece of television. One reviewer describes it as being about “post-industrial collapse” and “institutional dysfunction” in an American city (Baltimore). Sounds bleak, but it was rare social realism with unconventional heroes and story-telling. It had low ratings at first. Apparently, revealing the “American Dream was dead” did not catch on right away. However, HBO, funded by subscriptions, not advertising, was willing to “simply let it be”. according to its creator, David Simon. 

“…how can a television network serve the needs of advertisers while ruminating on the empty spaces in American society and informing viewers that they are a disenfranchised people, that the processes of redress have been rusted shut, and that no one - certainly not our mass media - is going to sound any alarm?” ––David Simon, The Wire, Truth Be Told (book) 2005

Atlanta (TV series)

“...the show’s brilliance [is] at combining absurdist comedy with heartbreaking reality to create something entirely unique.” ––Yohana Desta, Vanity Fair, 2017

Atlanta is a mix of sharp social realism, sudden comic moments, gut-wrenching scenes and hard-hitting parody that includes a searing fake commercial for children’s cereal. It is like the Eduardo Galeano of TV, but with some Salvador Dali, Brecht, and comedy thrown in. Series creator Donald Glover needed to disguise his vision in order to get it made.

“I was Trojan-horsing FX. If I told them what I really wanted to do, it wouldn't have gotten made." ... My struggle is to use my humanity to create a classic work—but I don’t know if humanity is worth it, or if we’re going to make it. I don’t know if there’s much time left.”––Donald Glover interview, New Yorker, 2018

Black Mirror - Fifteen Million Merits (series)

“What archetype dystopian future does Black Mirror’s “Fifteen Million Merits” choose to model itself after? Orwell’s or Huxley’s? The answer ends up being: a little bit of both.” ––Den of Geek, 2018

Fifteen Million Merits stars Daniel Kaluuya (also the star of Get Out). The episode begins with a dystopian-lite near-future story. However, it quickly compresses the characters ––and viewers–– into a painful claustrophobic nightmare vision of a capitalist hostage-taking entertainment monopoly. 

Breaking Bad (TV series)

This was massively popular show that ran from 2008 to 2013. The main character is a chemistry teacher named Walt who was first motivated to be Bad due to a cancer diagnosis and fear for the financial future of his family. However, once he started down the bad path, he quickly accelerated to the far reaches of very bad badness. Partly this was because of his ‘almost-got-rich’ backstory. In one episode he goes to the house party of his former business partner who is now very wealthy. Walt’s feelings of poverty, failure, and humiliation are stark. In real life this pain is usually turned inward, but in the show it becomes grist for the monster that the character becomes.  Millions of people related to this character who lived under the fear of poverty in the land of plenty.

However, Breaking Bad is mostly a rags-to-riches fake poverty trope even though it was a lower-middle class character’s fear of rags that sparked his need and greed for riches. With its very individualistic focus, the story continues the myth of independence carried over from the fictional old wild west of heroes and outlaws. But in this case the outlaw is the hero.  

But perhaps its lasting legacy will be an oft seen meme showing how Breaking Bad would have had no story at all had it been set in a country with universal healthcare.  It’s accurate to say the real monster in Breaking Bad is a modern wealthy country without healthcare.

Shameless (TV series)

“Few shows have attempted to situate themselves in the living nightmare of poverty—the country’s quiet shame, the marginalized that the middle and upper classes don’t want to see next to the numbing comfort of Modern Family. Television ignores the poor just as Americans do.” ––Flood Magazine, 2016  

In a lot of ways Shameless is a big brash bold exception to rich-washing. The creator of the semi-autobiographical British version said “It’s not blue collar; it’s no collar.”  However, after 9 seasons, the US version succumbs to several fake poverty tropes. Nonetheless, it is unique, and its many fans find the characters in the chaotic, desperate, scrounging, scamming, and poverty-stricken Gallager family relatable. 

“I love how it addresses sex, drugs, poverty, absent parents, and other topics like those.” ––commenter, TV Criticism blog, 2014

Critics have questioned the series for its condescending stereotypes, for turning poverty into entertainment, for relying on too many nude scenes, and for their treatment of black characters.  

But the overarching message and source of comedy for this show is in the title, which tells us that if you are poor, you should feel shame. This family doesn’t feel shame about their poverty. They are ‘shameless’, some more than others, and comedy ensues from their rude, crude, shocking behaviour and occasional truth-telling observations about society.

EXTRA SECTION 3: WAY BACK EXCEPTIONS

In the 1970s there were many more TV shows featuring regular people: Sanford & Sons (set in a salvage yard); Laverne & Shirley (factory workers); and, in Canada, The Beachcombers (salvage).

There were even some down-market detectives including the very popular Columbo who wore rumpled clothes and drove an old jalopy. Fans loved how rich villains would be caught because of their arrogance and snobbery: they assumed Columbo was a bumbling idiot because of his humble presentation.

The Rockford Files detective (1974-1980) also had a shabby vibe. The main character (Rockford) had done time, lived with his father in an old trailer, and had no office or secretary ––just an answering machine on his cluttered desk.  He did, however, have a fast car and was played by James Garner, former star of the popular TV western Maverick. 

Rural set TV series were also fairly common. 

“Over one-third of shows in 1950 were set in small towns or rural areas, mostly Westerns and comedies.” ––Brookings Institute

The Beverly Hillbillies was popular comedy in the 1960s. It was a rags-to-riches and fish-out-of-water story. However, the show regularly made rich people look ridiculous even though the suddenly oil-rich hillbillies were also comic characters. But they were the heroes of their story. This show got cancelled despite its popularity as advertisers wanted younger urban viewers and not the rural and older viewers that show attracted. (Social Communication in Advertising, 1986)

Other rural set shows were Green Acres (inept rich people try to homestead with comic results), Petticoat Junction (another comedy), The Waltons, and Little House on the Prairie (dramas). There was also 17 seasons (1954-1973) of Lassie (a dog) with farming and wilderness settings.Going waaay back...   growing up Canadian in the 1960s and 70s meant watching The Forest Rangers and Adventures in Rainbow Country, both shows featuring child characters who showed off skills such as fishing, wood craft, horseback riding, and wilderness survival.  

EXTRA SECTION 4: THE WORLD’S LONGEST RUNNING SOAP 

“So I'm a British guy who had an overnight stay in Toronto to connect a flight, and I noticed Corrie is shown in primetime on CBC... I’m just astonished anyone outside of Northern England would give a toss about it.” Reddit comment, 2018

You can’t talk about exceptions to rich-washing without talking about Coronation Street, the world’s longest running soap. Set ‘on the cobbles’ of a small fictional corner of working class Greater Manchester in Northwest England, it began in the 1960s and is still going strong. (Update May 2020- the pandemic has in fact interrupted Corrie.) 

Coronation Street has grit, unlike US soaps, which would never have characters working in an underwear factory and organizing actions against management, or working in a fast food shops, barber shops, driving taxi, or grease pits fixing cars. With a few exceptions, most homes on the street look over-stuffed and very lived-in. The real living room of the street is the local pub, a cosy nostalgic setting, and nostalgia is a big part of the show’s popularity. 

The street has changed and expanded over the years, but it has changed slowly. Characters who come and go with frequency except for the core characters. This includes several very popular and very elder actors who get substantial storylines. In addition, “Corrie”, as the fans refer to it, is also known for having snarky battle-axe women characters. One of the oldest was Ena Sharples, and one of the newest, Evelyn Plummer. And unlike U.S. entertainment, younger characters don’t all look and sound like glossy over-polished models-slash-actors. 

In recent years Corrie has tackled numerous serious social issues such as suicide, homelessness, mental health, addiction, male rape, human trafficking, teen pregnancy, life after jail, and spousal abuse (to name just a few). These storylines are done carefully with advice from experts and advocate groups. They also frequently address classism. However, the show is not all doom and gloom. Coronation Street blends silly comedy, murderous villains, crimes big and small, and many ridiculous eye-rolling storylines. Fans heap an equal amount of complaints as praise. But big picture, Corrie is notable for the fact that it almost never got onto the airwaves at all. 

 Contrast between a working class UK soap and a US soap

Other Resources:

Books:

Deer-hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant, who writes about populism in southern rural poor communities in the U.S. (and his hometown) and why they might vote against their own self-interest.

Somebodies and Nobodies by Robert W. Fuller who writes about abuse of power by those who have higher status or rank against those of lower status.

From Movie Lot to Beachhead by Look Magazine (1945) Written at the end of WWII, the publishers wanted to show how Hollywood was not shallow but could rally for a cause and be on the right side of history. A big contrast to today, when it comes to the war on the poor, entertainment is very much on the wrong side of history.

Upside Down by Eduardo Galeano “a crushing satirical expose of the glaring inequalities and injustices of a world turned upside down that many has come to be desensitized as ‘normal.’” (Goodreads review)

The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang (free audiobook on youtube).

The Rebel Sell - Why the culture can’t be jammed by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter. “But these gains [civil rights, social safety net] have not been achieved by ‘unplugging’ people from the web of illusions that governs their lives. They have been achieved through the laborious process of democratic political action.” (All forms of counterculture end up being just another marketing opportunity).

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman “As Huxley marked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.’ Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.” 

Websites Classism in Children’s Movies (a study) - Classism.org  A Guide to Basic Income FAQs - scottsantens.com/basic-income-faq

Podcasts

 Why Pop-Culture Hates Poor People  - Cracked.com 2015-03-02  “Movies don’t seem to understand what it’s like to make less than 200K a year…. If you look and live like a poor person, you might be a serial killer.”  

5 ways Hollywood tricked you into hating poor people  - Cracked.com 2015-02-23 

***

The author was raised on books & nature and almost no TV and movies but became a telly addict & movie fan late in life.

[douxreviews]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - ‘Code Yellow’ Review

Keller: "Heard a body came in. We know the cause of death?" Yo-Yo: "No, but if they called us, it means it's not old age."

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to experiment with format and delivers another atypical episode. Like the previous one, "Code Yellow" places the characters on a brand new set where they are allowed to have some fun, is more or less structured as a standalone episode and heavily relies on humor. It's not as successful as "Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson," though, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained for the most of it. Was it flawed? Yes, but it was also fun.

Let's start with the flaws. The events happening in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s HQ were the heavier part of the episode, but to have those events unfold the way they did the writers relied on plot holes and characters behaving inconsistently. First of all, why wasn't John Doe's body isolated as soon as it got to the HQ? Dr. Benson states during the autopsy that the body is flooded with an inert neurotoxin, but what if it wasn't inert? Benson, Mack, Yo-Yo and Keller would've been exposed and doomed already. Then, regarding the bird found inside the corpse, Benson presumes that the knife stabbed on it gave birth to it. Wouldn't it be much more logical to presume that the knife killed the bird instead of concluding that the knife was some sort of bio-weapon? I'm not a scientist and my first thought was that the knife was keeping the bird dead, contained or whatever.

As soon as Benson takes the knife out of the bird and it awakens, Yo-Yo, a speedster, doesn't stab it back in two milliseconds. The bird flies around inside the lab, sometimes low enough so that Yo-Yo can catch it, only she doesn't. Later when the bird starts going inside Keller through his mouth, Yo-Yo has more than enough time to take the bird off of him, and again she doesn't. One could argue that in that moment she was paralyzed with fear, but that's not Yo-Yo at all. Here we have one of the plot holes I dislike the most: a superpowered person not using their superpower because the plot demands so. That could have been easily avoided by keeping Yo-Yo out of those scenes altogether. So simple: have her arrive on the lab's floor when Keller is already doomed.

I might be evil, but I thought this was a gorgeous shot.

As of now, I'm not sure what the writers have prepared for Mack and Yo-Yo, or what was the point of introducing Keller into the mix and taking him out so fast. We barely saw Yo-Yo and Keller as a couple, so it's unclear just how much this is supposed to damage her, but at the very least I liked that, after being so inert for most of the episode, she was the one who killed zombie Keller. It's consistent with the fact that she has the guts to do what must be done, even at great personal cost. So I can appreciate the conclusion, even if the path to get there was rocky. Where the writing failed, the actors more than delivered and I found myself caring about Keller for a few seconds.

Over at Deke's company, the writers stretch their comedy muscles, and not just in the script but in front of the camera as well. Maurissa Tancharoen debuts as Sequoia and, boy, did she make a good job. She might consider acting on a sitcom because she's got the chops. Sequoia was a hit.

I understand, however, why some fans thought the comedy in this episode was totally out of place. Or that the first four episodes haven't felt like "real S.H.I.E.L.D." It made me think of how Alias's fans (myself included) reacted to the fourth season of that show, which ditched its trademark complicated arcs for standalone stories. Even when the standalone episodes were good (and some of them were really good), it felt as if the "real story" hadn't begun. The "real story" has begun on S.H.I.E.L.D., though, it's just being delivered with a different style. That's not a bad thing, and I believe that the entertainment value of the past two episodes will be more appreciated later, but the show will get some criticism if it tries something new and it misses the mark. Having Deke break the fourth wall for no good reason is an example of missing the mark, but I'm forgiving of any episode that gives us stuff like this:

That whole bit with Sequoia thinking that Sarge and his team were mo-cap actors cracked me up, and I respect a show that doesn't take itself too seriously and allows its villains to be part of the comedy too. Hey, I grew up watching Buffy. To be honest, the humor in "Code Yellow" is a mixed bag, but all in all, it entertains more than fails. When fake, seductive Daisy first appears, it's a fail. When she reappears as part of Deke's ploy to defeat Jaco, it's clever and funny, especially after Mack's horrified reaction and Deke's proposal to keep his mouth shut. Rocky buildup, good punchline.

And in the midst of all that comedy and drama, the arc story moved forward nicely, even if the writers wanted to keep us from concluding the obvious. We now know that Sarge and his team are after specific people that don't belong to this reality, which is why Deke accidentally became a target, and they might not be so evil after all. Sarge kept May alive and seemed somehow attracted to her, intrigued at least, which makes me wonder if Sarge is indeed a version of Coulson from another dimension, a brainwashed one that couldn't help but feel a connection with May. Now that May has been kidnapped (again!), we will have a chance to find out.

Intel and Assets

- May going into battle without guns is another writing flaw. We've seen May with guns before and the situation clearly demanded the use of one.

- What's with Dr. Benson? He told Yo-Yo to run, but barely moved. Does he have suicidal tendencies?

- Since Deke is now super rich, can't he fund S.H.I.E.L.D.?

- I liked Trevor Khan, both the character and the name. That's a sexy name, isn't it? Or at least the actor made it sound sexy.

- I loved the bit with the programmer so lost inside his own world that shit was going down in the company and he didn't even notice.

- This is the first episode of the series without Elizabeth Henstridge, which means that only Chloe Bennet and Clark Gregg have appeared in all episodes of the series. However, with Henstridge gone for the hour, Bennet playing a fake version of Daisy, and Coulson dead, none of the main characters have appeared in all episodes.

- Alien parasite bird is very The X-Files. Metallic stalactites coming out of a person's body, very The Expanse.

Quotes

Jaco: "If you consider the infinite complexity of nature, maybe 'strange' is the norm."

Dr. Benson: "Well, this is the strangest autopsy I've performed since... the last one."

Mack: "If this guy wants to take out Deke Shaw, he's gonna have to wait in line." Hee.

Deke: "This is Mack. He's..." Sequoia: "He's large and muscular." Deke: "...an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

A fun episode, hurt by some plot holes. Let's go with two and a half out of four knifes.

---

Lamounier

[lit102]

Doctor Aphra | Kieron Gillen etc. | 2017

After Doctor Aphra’s co-starring turn in Marvel’s Darth Vader, I didn’t think I could love her more, but I’m happy that the first volume in her standalone series (collecting issues 1–6) proves me wrong. Aphra and Vader have gone their separate ways (I forget why) and for the first time since we met her (well, not counting Screaming Citadel), Aphra is on her own, with (questionably) loyal droids Triple-Zero (evil 3PO) and Beetee (evil R2) by her side and wookie Black Krrsantan (evil Chewie) stuck to her like a burr til she pays off her growing debt to him. When I type it all out like that, it becomes clear just how much of a ripoff Aphra is; these are morally gray (or pitch black) versions of characters we know and love. Even Aphra is a hotter, gayer Han Solo (with more than a little Indiana Jones thrown in). But despite — or perhaps because of — this, I adore the series; it’s familiar enough to satisfy and fresh enough to excite, and it never pretends to be more than what it is. In fact, it’s having a damn good time being itself, which is probably why it’s so much fun.

Aphra starts her solo series in debt not only to Black Krrsantan, but to the man who sold her her ship (which looks, by the way, not unlike Boba Fett’s Slave I). He demands payment; Aphra stalls for time. When she sells the valuable artifact she just acquired, she can pay off his loan in one go — and then some. But there’s a problem. The legal buyer tells Aphra that her archaeologist’s doctorate has been suspended; without it, they can’t verify the artifact, and on the black market it will sell for much less. So Aphra must return to her alma mater and confront the man who got her doctorate suspended by exposing the fact that she cheated to earn it: her own father.

In a flashback, we see school-age Aphra, stymied by a dead-end doctoral project on the planet Boothi XII and a sadistic advisor who refuses to pass her because, quote “I hate you.” (This was odd — why the vitriol? We see her playing a prank on him, but it’s unclear if this caused their issues or was a symptom of them.) Aphra steals her advisor’s secret stash of abersyn symbiotes (insectoid parasites that are known for wiping out empires) and pretends that she found them on Boothi XII, getting revenge and turning her failed project into a success. Now, using this info, Aphra’s father blackmails her into helping him find the lost temple of the Ordu Aspectu, a rogue branch of the Jedi Order who sought eternal life, led by a man named Rur. To find the Aspectu’s ancient citadel, they must retrieve a map from former rebel base Yavin 4, where they tangle with Imperial forces — including one Captain Tolvan, a tall, slender woman with a shock of short white hair and intriguing armor that covers her neck and the edges of her face, suggesting some kind of injury. Tolvan was assigned to Yavin 4 after fucking up security on Eadu (destroyed by rebels in Rogue One — could this be her fuckup?). After a narrow escape, they head to the ruins of the Ordu Aspectu’s citadel. On the way, we find out more about Aphra’s fractured relationship with her father, who abandoned her and her mother for a fool’s errand — the same one he’s strong-armed Aphra into now.

At the citadel, Aphra and her father must fight off Tolvan and her forces, who follow them there, and activate the core computer — which, it turns out, contains a warped copy of Rur’s consciousness that thinks it’s more than a copy, that it’s his true self, and that an “evil ghost” inhabited Rur’s body in its place… that is, until it killed him and everyone else in the citadel. Angry and resentful, the copy lashes out at Aphra (“I cannot punish the dead. I will punish the living”); she, her father, and her crew barely make it out alive, destroying the citadel and stealing Tolvan’s ship in the process. (Aphra spares Tolvan’s life because she thinks she’s cute.) The copy of Rur’s consciousness is trapped in a crystal that Aphra then has quarantined… or so it seems. On the last page, she reveals that the quarantined crystal was a fake — and, holding the real one while smirking into the camera, says “Let’s get rich.”

I’ll admit that I found Aphra’s father a bore, and his wide-eyed fantasies of eternal life tiresome, even after he revealed that he sought it to save his young daughter from a galaxy that was getting more and more dangerous by the day. Their storyline felt too, well, heartfelt for a comic that finds evil so fun (classic Triple-Zero line: “Sprinting is undignified. I’m made for the finer things in life, like holo-chess and peeling skin from flesh”). But maybe that’s why it’s needed. Aphra isn’t evil, exactly; she’s roguish, selfish (like Han when we first meet him), but charmingly so, and she’s not sadistic or cruel. Sometimes, she even makes more sense than the good guys do; when she lifts a lightsaber off a dead Jedi and her father protests, she retorts “What do you think I actually do, Dad? Archaeology is just grave robbing with fancy paperwork.” She’s… not wrong. Aphra writes her own rules in a lawless world — she’s self-sufficient and vulnerable at the same time, always wrapped up in some get-rich-quick scheme, with the Empire and her creditors nipping at her heels (like Han, again)… So the rules she writes are self-serving; she’d probably say that everyone is selfish. She’s just honest about it.

And last but not least: Aphra is the kind of character, like Jack in Mass Effect 2, that SCREAMS “gay” but rarely is gay, and I can’t tell you how much I love that she IS GAY, and crushing on a butch older woman no less! 

I like Kev Walker’s art okay (and I wish I’d integrated this into my writeup instead of tacking it on at the end). A two-page spread of their arrival at the ruined citadel is very cinematic, like an establishing shot you might see in a Star Wars film. There’s some nice use of color by Antonio Fabela, too. The inside of Rur’s citadel is a frosty blue, which makes the red of the Imperials’ lasers pop. The computer core is bathed in a poisonous green. Four full pages of tough, confessional conversation Aphra has with her father are set here; I like how the light gives this emotional scene an eerie twist.    

[pastelroses]

Thanks @watduidu ily but I hate u rn

1.Is a kiss considered cheating?

Yeahhh

2.Have you ever faked orgasm?

Nah

3.If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

My gf asked me this and then called my answer (power to manipulate probability) boring and said she’d want a superpower where she would be able to make someone orgasm with her mind so that if she didn’t like someone she could embarrass them publicly

4.Do you think you are going to be rich in 7-8-9 years?

Nah but I’ll be more rich than I am rn

5.Tell us some funny drunk story.

One time four of us danced to high school musical as two of our other friends basically shagged on the floor it was a fun night

6.Why are you no longer together with your ex?

Uh it just wasn’t right for us I guess

7.If you had to choose one way to die, what would it be?

Lauren Jauregui choking me to death

8.What are your current goals?

Get the grades to go to a good uni for psychology and also not to die in London since me and Robyn are going alone

9.Do you like someone?

I like my gf

10.Who was the last person to disappoint you?

Myself

11.Do you like your body? Sometimes and sometimes I hate it

12.Can you keep a diet?

Nope

13.If the whole world listened to you right now, what would you say?

Be nice to people n stop breaking hearts

14.Do you work?

Not ATM

15.If you could choose only one food to eat to the rest of your life, what would it be?

Tofu katsu curry 💯💯 I’m obsessed

16.Would you get a tattoo?

Yeaaaah I want a few

17.Something you don’t mind spending all your money on?

Poetry books

18.Can you drive?

Sorta

19.When was the last time someone told you you were beautiful?

A couple days ago I think

20.What was the last thing you cried for?

I cried last night reading a story about a dog who went to live with a family for the last few weeks of his life and the kids threw him a party

21.Do you keep a journal?

My drawer is filled with themmmm I currently have 3 ongoing ones

22.Is life fun?

This is vague but lmao yea

23.Is farting in front of people irrelevant?

Wtf is this question

24.What’s your dream car?

I don’t really have one??

25.Are grades in school important?

Yeaaah

26.Describe your crush.

She’s beautiful, kind, caring, intelligent, passionate and i love her a lot

27.What was the last book/movie that really impressed you?

The last book was ‘Our Numbered Days’ by Neil Hilborn and the last movie was 'Everything, Everything’ bc my wife is in it (and once the overpowering heterosexual storyline laid back a bit it was actually pretty good)

28.What was your last lie?

I have no idea I don’t remember the last time I lied

29.Dumbest lie you ever told?

Again idk I never really lie

30.Is crying in front of people embarrassing?

Oh god yeah

31.Something you did and you are proud of?

I’m proud of how I managed to get out of the dark place I was in like September/November/December last year

32.What’s your favourite cocktail?

I don’t remember it’s full name but the sunrise one is nice

33.Something you are good at?

Helping ppl

34.Do you like small kids?

Depends how annoying they are

35.How are you feeling right now?

Nervous and excited

36.What would you name your daughter/son?

Honestly I have no idea but I like the name Dylan

37.What do you need to be happy?

My dog

38.Is there some you want to punch in the face right now?

Trump

39.What was the last gift you received?

@ma-ma-chete bought me a cactus mug and a cat purse 💞💞

40.What was the last gift you gave?

I gave my gf a mochi ball lmao

41.What was the last concert you went to?

Not rlly a concert but I saw Neil Hilborn a couple weeks ago

42.Favourite place to shop at?

Idk tbh I like shopping online

43.Who inspires you?

Lauren Jauregui & Sasha Velour

44.How old were you when you first got drunk?

15 I think

45.How old were you when you first got high?

I’ve never been high

46.How old were you when you first had sex?

16

47.When was your first kiss?

It was last year

48.Something you want to do until the end of this year?

Be happy

49.Is there something in the past you wish you hadn’t done?

There are a lot of things

50.Post a selfie.

I will soon

51.Who are you most comfortable around?

My gf and my best friends

52.Name one thing that terrifies you.

Parasites 🤢🤢

53.What kind of books do you read?

Poetry books

54.What would you tell your 12 year old self?

Ur body isn’t too much of anything it’s totally fine

55.What is your favourite flower?

White Rose

56.Any bad habits you have?

Does laziness count

57.What kind of people are you attracted to?

Passionate, intelligent, artistic people

58.What was the last thing you cried for?

A dog

59.Is there something you don’t eat? Some food that truly disgust you?

I don’t eat meat, & raw fish disgusts me

60.Are you in love?

Yes

61.Something you find romantic?

Really long cute messages out of nowhere, calling just bc they miss your voice, random 'i love you’s’

62.How long was your longest relationship?

It’s been 8 months

63.What are 3 things that irritate you about the same sex?

This is generalised lmao

64.What are 3 things that irritate you about the opposite sex?

^^

65.What are you saving money for?

London

66.How would you describe your bad side?

V anxious and uncontrolled and snappy

67.Are you actually a good person? Why?

I think so? I insist on helping people even when I shouldn’t even talk to them

68.What are you living for?

Life

69.Have you ever done anything illegal?

I drink underage

70.Do you like your body?

Haven’t I answered this??

71.Have you ever made someone feel bad about themselves intentionally?

Nope never

72.Ever sent nudes?

Yea boi

73.Have you ever cheated on someone?

Nope that’s disgusting

74.Favourite candy?

Ooh idk

75.Is there a blog you visit every day, or almost every day? Tag it!

Not really

76.Do you play any computer games? What is your favourite game?

I do! And atm it’s The Last Guardian bc it’s just so aesthetically pleasing and calming

77.Favourite TV series?

The Bold Type, Rupaul’s Drag Race

78.Are you religious? Does God exist?

Nope and who knows

79.What was the last book you read? Did it impress you and why?

The Chaos of Longing and it did because k.y.robinson’s writing is beautiful

80.What do you think about vegetarianism/veganism?

It’s healthier both for our bodies and the world

81.How long have you been on Tumblr?

¾ years??

82.Do you like Chineese food?

Yeaaa

83.McDonalds or Subway?

McDonalds

84.Vodka or whiskey?

Vodka

85.Alcohol or drugs?

Alcohol

86.Ever been out of your province/state/country?

Yesss many times

87.Meaning behind your blog name?

I’m like obsessed with roses and idk I like the symbolism of fire

88.What are you scared of?

P sure I’ve answered this too but I’ll say more things; anything being inside me, the ocean, squids, spiders

89.Last time you were insulted?

I don’t remember

90.Most traumatic experience ?

My parents breaking up n all the arguments n shit

91.Perfect date idea?

Going to an abandoned place tbh like it’s just such a nice place to talk

92.Favourite app on your phone?

Music

93.What colour are the walls in your room?

3 are white and one is grey

94.Do you watch Youtube? Who is your favourite youtuber?

Not often but I used to love Yogscast Hannah

95.Share your favourite quote.

'Sunrise will come. All you have to do is wake up.’

96.What is the meaning of life?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

97.Do you like horror movies?

Not really

98.Have you ever made your mum cry? What happened?

Nope I haven’t

99.Do you feel lucky or special in a way?

Sometimes

100.Can you keep a secret?

Yesssss

@watduidu you have to do all 100 now !!