Thesis-Support Microtheme

Thesis:
The media consistently promotes the myth of the classless society.

Summary:
Mass media, and especially television, is used to promote the idea that “the rich are just like us”, they have the same problems, they are all hard working, they face significant personal and professional issues, and the money they have doesn’t really mean much to them. They are friends to all of us, and there are no divisions of wealth or class to separate “us” from “them”.

Supporting Evidence (from Hooks, Bell – Where we stand: class matters):
Daytime and nighttime soap operas depict the lives of the rich as one sad crisis after another. They have numerous personal problems that all the money in the world will not cure.
The rich are also depicted in television shows are extremely hard working, just as any cook, janitor, or blue collar worker.
Most television shows promote the sense that nearly everyone is well-off, or will be very soon. They spend their money freely on material goods, and we can be more like them and feel closer to them if we purchase the same products. We have an equal right to purchase anything we want, just like the rich.
We live in a classless, consumerism-based society. You can demonstrate your individualism by purchasing exactly the same consumer goods as the well-to-do everyone sees on TV.
Celebrity television shows us a way to identify with the rich. If we can identify with them, we can demonstrate that they are like us, and we are like them. We buy the same consumer products; we have the same trials and tribulations; we feel the same pain.
When we hear the rich talk about their lives, we feel a sense of intimacy with them. When I see a picture of a rich celebrity having a “bad hair” day in a magazine, I feel like we are similar.
The rich are eager to cross class boundaries, and are open, kind, and vulnerable.