Throughout this blog's look into how the media generally represents the poor, several conclusions have been drawn: most of the time, those living in poverty are erased from mainstream media, but when they're not, they are represented in a very negative light, that stereotypes them as lazy, argumentative and raunchy beings that are anything but multifaceted.
Given that the lower class holds a large portion of users of social medias and consumers of traditional media such as television, I began to ask myself, how come people in this social group seem to not think much of being reflected negatively in the media they watch, why do they continue to view and support media creators that erase them from most of the product out there?
One possible explanation is that lower classes such as the poor and the working class idealize and romanticize those who are socially or economically superior. "To some degree this seems to reflect a universal sociological law. Feminists have long since pointed out that those on the bottom of any unequal social arrangement tend to think about, and therefore care about, those on the top more than those on top think about, or care about, them. Women everywhere tend to think and know more about men's lives than men do about women, just as black people know more about white people's, employees about employers', and the poor about the rich." When connecting this to media representation, it helps understand where and why those who are of lower income seem to have fascinations for celebrities (film, television, music), tabloids, and why overall the poor do not mind being bombarded with media that celebrates glamour and materialism. People living in poverty are interested in and care about the lives of those "above" them, and so media content producers can profit off of constant representation of upper middle/high classes and celebrities, much more than what they would make frequently depicting/properly representing the poor in the media.
"Working-class people may be, as we're ceaselessly reminded, less meticulous about matters of law and propriety than the "betters", but they're also much less self-obsessed. They care more about their friends, families and communities. In aggregate, at least, they're just fundamentally nicer."
If this is the case and those in the lower class are made to be kinder and passive, then it is safe to think that is a part of the reason of why the poor allow themselves to be misrepresented/excluded from the media. As a collective whole, they are okay with stories covering and revolving around people with high incomes and high social status and are much more interested in them than vice versa.
For this reason, it is even more important to create media that shows the lower class for what they are, real human beings just like celebrities/those of higher class. Including them in media's representation of the world and focusing on more than their stereotypical negative attributes, media could be a tool in improving how the poor view themselves and increasing their political efficacy. Sadly, those living in poverty have been raised to believe that their dreams, talents and visions are not as valid as those with more economic stability, but nothing could be further from the truth. The stories and lives of the poor are not only a staggering and common reality, but they are often genuinely heartwarming. Poor people truly are "the spiritual reserve of the world", and their voices need to be heard.
SOURCES: Graeber, D. (2014, March 26). Caring too much. That's the curse of the working classes. The Guardian Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/26/caring-curse-working-class-austerity-solidarity-scourge
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