Heroic Escapers and Moral Slackers: Working-Class Characters in Neoliberal Film

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Abstract

The neoliberal period of capitalist development has now stretched for almost four decades and, some would, say, entered a period of turbulence and decline. As a historical phase, neoliberalism contrasts with the “Fordism” that came before. That era, from the mid-1930s to the mid-1970s was marked by mass production, state intervention, expansive social insurance, strong regulation and job protection backed up by collective bargaining. By contrast, the period since has been marked by the inverse of these features: “flexible” production and labor markets, privatization, welfare state retrenchment, deregulation and union decline. But how and to what extent have these class-relevant changes been reflected in mainstream US media, particularly in top-grossing, widely-viewed films? Film and television depictions of class, race and gender divisions have long been seen as a central factor in the cultural construction—and possibly challenges to—such persistent inequalities. This preliminary study systematically examines 24 top-grossing US films released between 1980 and 2010 (an unambiguous neoliberal period). Through careful coding of each film’s primary and secondary characters’ class position and qualitative analysis of their depiction in each film, we identify three main frames of working-class representation in this important media segment: working-class members are either absent and inert as agents in the plotlines of these films, or if present are depicted one of two ways—either as morally or intellectually deficient characters who require training and “correction” of some sort, or as talented and heroic individuals who rise above their class status and are typically rewarded with upward mobility—i.e. escape from the working class—for their efforts.

Authors

• Francine Alogna, SUNY Old Westbury

• Jefferson Charles, SUNY Old Westbury

• Felicia Crivello, CUNY Baruch College