5 ways Hollywood tricked you into hating poor people.

[DetlefK]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-hollywood-tricked-you-into-hating-poor-people/

5. Even homes in an apocalyptic setting aren't as bad as some real-life homes.

4. Even supposedly "broke" people always have spare money to cope with financial catastrophes such as repairs and medical bills.

3. Even people with lousy jobs can afford fantastic apartments.

2. Even supposedly "broke" people always have spare money for spontaneous vacations or travelling to the wedding of their secret love at a far-off location.

1. Now matter how outlandishly irresponsible poor people are, there are never lasting consequences.

[ck4829]

1. Fantasy and logistics, economics, and, well, reality can't seem to coexist

Problem is, it seems our media, politicians, etc. would rather accept the fantasy than the reality.

[Coventina]

2. All those things are true, but they don't make me hate poor people.

As a poor person myself, I just saw it as Hollywood being completely disconnected from reality.

[HappyMe]

3. Okay.

It concerns me more what politicians do for poor people than Hollywood.

[sendero]

4. I watch a lot of movies...

... somehow their tricks did not work on me.

[samsingh]

5. people can always seem to afford hotels and cabs.

[Fumesucker]

6. That's why I loved Roseanne and Grace Under Pressure

A halfway realistic portrayal of the working class.

Along with some wickedly sharp humor.

[Coventina]

8. And I loved "Malcolm in the Middle" for the same reason.

And their storylines dealt with not having enough money to handle emergencies and stuff like that.

[Fumesucker]

9. Yep, another great show

[Coventina]

16. I think it was one of the most overlooked shows of the early century.

The writing was great, as was the acting.

And, even though the plots were often absurd, it still rang very true to life.

[Bluenorthwest]

10. Grace Under Fire it was called. Have you or the OP seen Shameless? They make Roseanne seem

positively middle class. What the OP is saying applies well to much light comedy particularly in TV but not to all of it. 'Mom' has financially strained and emotionally recovering characters who have been without residence during the course of the story arc.
Over the last couple of years, Hunger Games have been major commercial hits and those films make the rich look very evil and show poverty as a weapon used against the people, many of whom are kids who die so their families can eat. Damn that Hollywood. Those films star Jennifer Lawrence, who I first saw in 'Winter's Bone' a film about really poor people who can not in fact afford a cab.
Last year's two big contenders were 12 Years A Slave and Dallas Buyer's Club. Did these films shy away from fact? Did they gloss over and polish up the power dynamics, did they make the rich look good? I saw two films in which poor and marginalized people suffered greatly at the hands of wealthy and powerful others, even unto bondage and death.
'They can always afford a cab' vs a film about a man who can't afford life saving medicines without doing criminal things. Lives in what some might call squalor. The only wealthy character in that film is a shit.

Articles like this one are just daft beans. They have to dismiss huge amounts of cinema and even television, they have to set aside themes and stories and characters and pretend that films exist to show you what other people's apartments look like, and also that audiences are unable to differentiate between a romantic fantasy and a reality based drama or comedy. 'While Harry Potter might be good fun, we all know that in reality, Sorcery Schools are not as large or lavish as Hogwarts, and this is Hollywood's way of making one hate Ron Weasley.'

[Fumesucker]

13. Haven't had a TV in a decade or more

And as I have told you before my memory is not what it used to be.. I think.

I know the shows I see on other people's TVs when I visit and it looks like the OP, everyone has nice stuff and no money worries, even supposedly "struggling" people.

Sure there are counterexamples but that's not the vast majority of programming.

[bigwillq]

20. I loved Roseanne. Such a "real" show.

I like how it took longer than 30 minutes to solve their problems, they wore the same outfits, the main character wasn't a skinny blond. It was REAL.

[GreatGazoo]

7. How do any of those make one "hate poor people" ?

5. The homes in "Idiocracy" are broken and surrounded by mounds of trash. The homes in "Mad Max" are pretty bad.

4. "Dallas Buyers Club" shows a guy who doesn't have the money and what he goes through to get it. Just one example of many where lack of money is key to driving the plot forward.

3. "Sanford & Son" "The Honeymooners" = not fantastic apartments.

1. Many movies end with the death or imprisonment of poor people, sure that qualifies as "lasting consequences." For example(s)

- The Hunger Games
- Scarface
- Midnight Cowboy
- The Pursuit of Happiness
- The Grapes of Wrath

[DetlefK]

12. The title of the article was poorly chosen.

This laziness in movies/series obscures what it really means to be poor.

Of the you movies you listed, I only saw the original Mad Max-movies, Hunger Games and Scarface.

But for example in "Elysium" the streets are littered with trash and petty crime is everywhere, but the homes looked fine. Or in "In Time" the impoverished, oppressed masses live in a society that is not that different from current middle-class, even though they supposedly have no savings.

Or I just saw a RomCom this weekend. One female protagonist gets fired by her asshole-boss (and had an unlucky affair with an asshole-colleague), but she gets vindicated because another company liked her idea and offers her a job. So she does the sensible thing: This unemployed woman goes on vacation because she "wants to see some waterfalls".

How about that time in "Scrubs" when J.D. had no appartment and had to live in a tent? It was barely mentioned even though it would be a major event in one's life.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. 'Precious' 'Winter's Bone' 'Slumdog Millionaire' 'Good Will Hunting' 'Pursuit of Happyness'

'Grapes of Wrath' 'Trading Places' 'Sullivan's Travels' 'Coal Miner's Daughter' 'Elysium'....

[onenote]

14. Bulletin: Hollywood movies aren't documentaries

Another bulletin: water is wet

[braddy]

15. I've watched enough horror films to know that Americans who are poor and rural, that

they will kill any young city folk that try to drive through, visit, or camp in your region, and that some of them are cannibals.

Evidently they depend on tourism for the protein.

[DetlefK]

18. These assumptions can be dangerous.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1465522/

[braddy]

21. That was an excellent movie "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil"

I would love to see more like it.

[ND-Dem]

19. :^)

[tridim]

17. Just watched "Trading Places" again this weekend...

Probably for the hundredth time.

No hating poor people in that flick.