Last night after a lovely pasta dinner and a glass of wine my girlfriend and I began our search for a movie on Netflix to watch. We settled on two movies - the second being central to my posting today.
In a nostalgic whim I picked a movie titled
Maid to Order
(1987) PG
Rich, arrogant Jessie Montgomery (Ally Sheedy) thinks she's above it all -- until she's arrested and her dad gives her the boot. Homeless, hungry and broke, Jessie meets her fairy godmother, who promises to make things right -- by landing Jessie a job as a maid. In a role reversal, Jessie goes to work for a wealthy, selfish couple, learning firsthand that respect and honor are earned, not bought.
What was startling about this film was that the way in which class differences were portrayed. The 80's it seems were unabashed about highlighting socio-economic status and the difference between the very wealthy and the very poor.
Indeed it says quite a bit about our society that we are lacking modern movies that show the lives of the very rich and the very poor and how they regard each other in life.
In Maid to Order" Ally Sheedy's character goes to apply for a job. The woman doing the job placement exclaims "There are no white maids in LA". So not only was class shown to be but race is an indicitive factor in determining class.
Has that changed in America?
The 80's media were far more willing to show these inequalities.
Such examples include:
Pretty in Pink
(1986) PG-13
When Andie (Molly Ringwald), who lives with her unemployed father (Harry Dean Stanton), and Blane (Andrew McCarthy), who is rich and popular, strike up a romance, Blane meets resistance from his shallow best friend, Steff (James Spader), when he asks Andie to prom. Meanwhile, her best friend, Duckie (Jon Cryer), pines for her. This classic 1980s teen film from the master of the genre, writer-producer John Hughes, co-stars Annie Potts.
Or
The Karate Kid
(1984) PG
Hassled by the school bullies, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) has his share of adolescent woes. Luckily, his apartment building houses a resident martial arts master: Kesuke Miyagi (Pat Morita), who agrees to train Daniel ... and ends up teaching him much more than self-defense. Armed with newfound confidence, skill and wisdom, Daniel ultimately faces off against his tormentors in this hugely popular classic underdog tale.
Or
Overboard
(1987) PG
Heiress Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) hires carpenter Dean Proffitt (Kurt Russell) to build a closet on her yacht -- and refuses to pay him for the project when it's done. But after Joanna accidentally falls overboard and loses her memory, Dean sees an opportunity to get even. Soon, he has Joanna convinced that she's a happy homemaker who caters without complaint to Dean and his four rowdy sons in this kooky comedy from director Garry Marshall.
Or
Pretty Woman
(1990) R
When millionaire wheeler-dealer Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) enters a business contract with Hollywood hooker Vivian Ward (an Oscar-nominated Julia Roberts), he loses his heart in the bargain in this charming romantic comedy. After Edward hires Vivian as his date for a week and gives her a Cinderella makeover, she returns the favor by mellowing the hardnosed tycoon's outlook. Can the poor prostitute and the rich capitalist live happily ever after?
I could go on.
Now these were not Indi films. These were not on the fringe of society in America.
These films were center, considered pop culture or unserious movies. Yet they told
a stark tale about wealth inequality in the US.
We've reached the same wealth inequality levels as was going on in the gilded age of
1870-1900. Where rich railroad tycoons controlled vast amounts of wealth and the company was were you stayed and died.
We've not had any measure of economic recovery for the bottom 80% of the US. When people talk about the recovery it is only the very rich who have managed to regain back some of their wealth.
Yet where are the movies highlighting this class disparage right now? Where is the media saying that the very wealthy are still getting wealthy while the Koch brothers are trying to undermine the very fabric of organized labor.
You can't always spread awareness with dry facts, or blogs, or social networking sites. Sometimes it takes cinematic works to show the public just where they are on the economic ladder and where those very wealthy are.
These movies stand out to me. They speak to me because I used to consider myself middle class. I have an Iphone, I have a tv, I have clothing, food, transportation, and the basic needs for life. This is an illusion.
No one can be middle class on a 550 dollar pay check every two weeks. If I wasn't working two jobs outside of my profession I don't even think I'd be able to make rent if not for working weekends.
I am working poor.
It is painful to come to grips with that considering my creature comforts don't feel working poor.
We've become deluded into thinking that because we have this tiny fraction of the pie that it doesn't get much better.
My dream is to be middle class.
Here's to you Molly Ringwald.