The Discovery Tale of "Working Girl"

                 

            A common myth exists in the United States that we all live in a classless society. Rather than accept the existence of different social classes, people prefer to believe in a world where everyone is middle class and class boundaries are inexistent. The media especially is guilty of presenting class-based issues in non-class terms. By turning class differences into “moral and intellectual differences” as DeMott describes, the media manages to protect America’s reputation as a classless society. DeMott criticizes the media’s way of obscuring class barriers and misleading the people with this inaccurate concept of easily permeable class boundaries. By denying that class differences exist, he argues, and that we all belong to the same middle class, then we are overlooking the unearned advantages some enjoy and the social wrongs others suffer. The theme of discovery, a common story pattern that popular entertainment uses to present a classless society, can be readily seen in the movie “Working Girl.” The pattern of discovery, as defined by DeMott, involves “characters who think firm class lines exist” and “discover they are mistaken.” The plot of “Working Girl” can be reduced to this definition: a secretary climbs the social ladder and becomes a corporate manager despite the doubts of her friends and coworkers. Thus, through the lens of DeMott’s appearance/reality opposition, Working Girl can be viewed as a tale of discovery.

To begin the movie, the viewer learns that Tess McGill, the protagonist of the story, is a frustrated secretary, full of innovative ideas, who is never given a chance to prove herself. Despite her aspiring dreams to climb the corporate ladder, Tess finds herself limited by class lines and her secretarial position. However, rather than acknowledge the unfair class differences that exist in our society, the movie goes on to prove that Tess can and will overcome her unfair position in life simply by choosing to get to the top. Sticking to the format of a discovery story, the only obstacle in Tess’s way is her own desire to achieve; all other factors, like class differences and social boundaries, are ignored. As DeMott observed, the movie producers of the film advertise an unrealistic novelty rather than a accurate depiction of the real world’s social hierarchy. In the movie, the spunky heroine achieves upward mobility and her dreams come true, yet the plot fails to acknowledge the various impossibilities along the way. For example, Tess pretends to be her boss for a few days while her actual boss is in the hospital. In order to successfully pull off this feat, Tess wears a sophisticated hairstyle and an expensive dress and changes her accent and mannerisms to appear more “upper class.” Through these minor changes, Tess manages to deceive not only the workers of other businesses but also their elite executives. This unlikely transformation does not acknowledge the fact that Tess is characterized by a habitus developed from a working class background; instead, the producers write the script in a way that depicts Tess successfully rising above her lower class background and achieving a higher social position with very little opposition. This unrealistic plot scenario further engrains the idea of a classless America into the minds of the viewer.

                    By climbing the social ladder, Tess not only proves wrong her doubting friends, but also overcomes an evil boss. As defined by DeMott, a story following the discovery format involves a protagonist who defies others’ expectations and proves that upward mobility is possible. Tess, true to a discovery tale’s form, is told by her colleagues that aspiring to reach a higher position than her current secretary job is an impossible dream, but Tess ignores their doubts and disapproval. In fact, Tess proves that contrary to what her colleagues believed, the class boundaries in the office are easily permeable.This portrayal of an easily accessible social system misleads viewers of the film into thinking that the actual America is the same. Despite the portrayal of social hierarchy in the film, in reality, class barriers, as DeMott argues, do in fact exist.

Two Restaurants: Peet's Coffee & Tea versus Dunkin Donuts

       

              The range of consumptions choices offered in Peet’s Coffee & Tea would appeal to the taste culture defined by Gans as “upper middle culture.” Located in Winthrop Square, Peet’s is in a beautiful location. To its left is the fancy Upstairs at the Square restaurant, a well-known expensive dining location, and to its front is a well-maintained park with benches to sit on and enjoy the view. Peet’s itself is inside a New England style house and exudes a very welcoming vibe. I had walked into the store with the intention of only staying for a few minutes, but because I felt so comfortable, I ended up sitting down for more than ten minutes. Smooth jazz was playing quietly in the background and the store was filled with lounging customers: couples sat on couches and giggled, students flipped through textbooks as they sipped their coffees, and everybody seemed relaxed and happy. As I scanned the drink menu, I realized that some cultural capital would be needed to negotiate Peet’s. With over five options for each drink category, (frappe, expresso, tea, coffee, cappuccino), a more than basic knowledge of beverages was required to understand the menu. Even ordering a simple hot chocolate, I discovered that Peet’s offered three different types of hot chocolate.  The complex menu, along with the modern artwork on the walls, both cater to an audience with cultural capital. People of lower classes would not appreciate the ambience, jazz music, and visual display that all play a role in developing Peet’s upper class taste “package.” The financial status of this site’s clientele is obviously upper class as seen by the location’s characteristics and the prices themselves. The prices ranged from three to five dollars, even for a small cup. At Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, prices started at $1.50 and only went up to $2.50. The range of choices offered at Peet’s Coffee & Tea appealed to my tastes. As I sipped my hot chocolate, I wandered the store, appreciating the artwork on the walls, and then relaxed on one of the couches to listen to the soothing jazz music and the murmur of other customers talking. Most of the conversation I overheard was on educational topics, leading me to assume that most costumers of Peet’s are part of the educated elite. I view myself as an educated elite and as a member of the upper middle class, so the taste public that Peet’s offers appealed to me strongly. As Bourdieu said, “taste classifies, and it classifies the user.” My taste for Peet’s was shaped by my upper middle class habitus, and this in turn has placed me in a taste public with those of a similar class background.

Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, caters to a lower class demographic, and because I do not have a working class habitus, I felt very uncomfortable at that consumption site. Although Dunkin Donuts is only a block away from Peet’s, its surroundings are quite different. The store has a parking garage above it and has two busy roads on both sides. There is no peaceful ambiance surrounding Dunkin Donuts and no loitering customers. In fact, the only people present in the store besides the employees themselves were two homeless men, each sitting at their own respective table. At Peet’s, I was inclined to linger in the store but at Dunkin Donuts I felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave as soon as I was given what I ordered, a cookie. When the worker at Peet’s had given me my hot chocolate, it was given without a lid or cup sleeve, as though they had expected me to stay in the store to drink it. At Dunkin Donuts, however, the cashier put my cookie in a plastic bag so I could take it to-go. Although neither place asked me if I wanted my order “for here” or “to-go,” each place made a different assumption. In my opinion, this difference reflects the differing habitus of each place’s clients. The habitus of Dunkin Donuts patrons is that of a lower class background, so it is characterized by a taste for necessity. Because of this, Dunkin Donuts provides products that appeal to an audience that prefers practicality. The menu at Dunkin Donuts is very limited- you can order either tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or juice. Also, the prices are much cheaper. Since the working class prefers substance over form, informal over formal, and sensual over intellectual, Dunkin Donuts has arranged its set-up very differently than Peet’s. The visual display is very simple, no artwork hangs on the walls, and music does not play in the store. To me, this silence and undecorated space left me feeling awkward and unwelcome. I prefer the stylized feel of Peet’s over the practical layout of Dunkin Donuts because I have a dominant class habitus characterized by a taste for freedom. My high cultural capital resources and my distance from economic necessity have enabled me to appreciate the realm of self-expression rather than fixate on functionality and practicality, as one with low cultural capital would. 

Class Differences at Harvard

        At home, most of us went to schools with people from the same socioeconomic class as us. Our friends had similar financial backgrounds and our neighborhoods were all the same demographic. Most likely, none of us had ever truly encountered class differences. Then we come to college and we are thrust into a large mix of students, hailing from all different backgrounds. In class one day, we worked in groups to discuss the situations at Harvard in which we have observed class differences between ourselves and others around us. Within minutes, my group and I had already written quite an extensive list. Despite not being on campus for long, we had all already experienced encounters in which we felt uncomfortable about our social class, whether it be higher or lower than our peers. Two of the main focal points in which class differences were noticed were during move-in week and J-term.
        During move-in week, numerous opportunities arise to discover social class differences. Some students arrive with suitcases in tow, piles of clothes, and expensive furniture to arrange in the common room. Other students might come with only a few necessities and no amenities to share with roommates. Debates might arise over whether to purchase a television or couch for the common room and how the price for the good will be divided. Do all the roommates split the cost? What if one roommate cannot afford the television? If that is the case, is he not allowed to watch the television because he did not help purchase it? Learning to live with a roommate is difficult, especially for students who have never experienced a roommate situation before. Not only is it hard to adapt to living with a stranger, but we must also learn to interact with people of different social classes. We must be aware that some students come from different financial backgrounds than us. For example, one of my friends prefers eating out at restaurants in Cambridge instead of eating for free in the dining hall. For her, it is not a problem to pay the check several times a week at a restaurant. For the friend she invites to join her, however, these outings are a severe drain on her finances, but she is too embarrassed to tell her friend no. Often times, we do not even realize  that the other person might not be able to afford the meal because we assume that everybody comes from a similar background.
        Discussing J-term and summer plans, for example, can also bring up distinct class differences. While students from rich families might choose to backpack Europe, take a summer abroad in Italy, or scuba dive in the Caribbean, the lower income students will need to find a job during those months and put their time to good use. Talking about these plans with our peers can be a shock, especially for those who have never had to find a job to finance their lifestyle. These conversations about how we are going to use our free time are a lens for the class differences here at Harvard. Class intersections like these occur daily at Harvard and we must be aware of them and willing to adapt to the situation in order to interact smoothly with people from different backgrounds.

Reality TV Shows

         The number of reality shows increases monthly, so it would seem. Somehow, TV show producers continue to come up with new ideas for reality shows and continue them for multiple seasons. The idea for the show can be a competition (Iron Chef, Project Runway, America's Next Top Model) or it can simply be a cameraman following a group around and videotaping their crazy antics (Real World, Real Housewives). These shows appeal to a certain socioeconomic class more so than to other classes. Lower and middle class persons enjoy the reality aspect, drama, and commonalities of this television genre. Upper class persons tend to prefer more intellectual shows with complicated plots and character development. Because this type of show lacks intellectual stimulus and simply follows a person around, reality shows have been stereotyped as a low-brow show choice and a "guilty pleasure" to watch for those coming from the upper class.

    

          Marx viewed the media as an amplifier for the beliefs of the dominant class. In his opinion, the media reproduced the viewpoint of dominant institutions and presented them as "natural" or "obvious" viewpoints. While this observation is true, most of the media follows the will of the dominant upper class, there are some shows, like reality TV, that cater to the lower classes as well.  Stuart Hall built off of Marx's idea that mass media is a persuasive and irresistible force that defines the way people can think about the world. Through his studies with the Birmingham School, Stuart Hall observed that there is more than one way in which people make sense of media texts. Not all viewers blindly listen to the media being presented. In fact, there is a larger scope for diversity of response. He emphasized that the social situations of readers, viewers, and listeners lead them to adopt different stances when in contact with media.
       Hall divided the possible responses into three categories: dominant readings, negotiated readings, and oppositional readings. While dominant readings are produced by those whose social situation favors the preferred reading, and negotiated readings are produced by those who inflect the preferred reading to take account of their social position, oppositional readings are produced by those whose social position puts them into direct conflict with the preferred reading. This distinction contrasts Marx's belief that all viewers accept the media being presented; in reality, some portion of the audience might reject dominant culture. This proves that media is not entirely effective as a hammer to beat in the dominant perspective. Take those reality shows, for example. A majority of my friends, who come from the upper class, will watch them, not because their social situation aligns with the show, but because they enjoy the direct conflict their social position puts them in with the characters in the show. A characteristic of oppositional readings might be talking or yelling back at the television and this action is evident in my friends' TV watching. We will shout out at and criticize the characters who make stupid decisions and cheer on our favorite person, even knowing that they cannot hear us. We do not watch these shows because we associate with their social position. In fact, it is quite the contrary. We watch these shows to experience the staggering differences between us and them and to enjoy the conflict.

What White People Like

         While perusing the book section of the New York Times online, I stumbled across the book Whiter Shades of Pale and its prequel Stuff White People Like, both by Christian Lander. What caught my attention about the book, beyond its funny title, is the comparison the writer made that Whiter Shades of Pale is the "prickliest guide through the American status system since Paul Fussell's Class."Since Class was part of our class's syllabus, I immediately knew that this book would be a good one to look into further. Mr. Lander satirizes class in his descriptions of the white demographic of society. His observations of educated people's taste preferences is embarrassingly accurate: these self-cultivated people, according to Lander, are drawn to coffee shops, indie bands, fine cheeses, independent book stores, and independent film theaters. Although Lander never uses the term "Bobo" in his description of educated whites, his observations parallel those of David Brooks in his book Bobos in Paradise. The Bohemian Bourgeois, as Brooks has labeled the new upper class of American society, does not like to flaunt its money in a gaudy manner like the New Money did, but instead spends its money in a more well-intentioned manner. According to Brooks' rules, it is acceptable for Bobos to spend large amounts of money on useful or environmentally friendly objects. A large television and sound system would be viewed as an offensive purchase, but an expensive sports vehicle that has enough trunk space for the buyer's sports gear is an acceptable purchase because it serves a purpose.
         Interestingly, although Lander does not reference Brooks, Lander also makes the same point. He observes that educated whites will purchase sea salt, despite its more expensive pricing, because they associate it with France rather than with high sodium intake. They also prefer free-range organic chicken simply because it is healthy and better for the environment. Lander describes this phenomenon of buying cheap things at expensive prices by saying "white people have taken over something that poor people used to like and made it extremely expensive." Other examples Lander provides are flea markets, which is now a chic activity, and berry picking, an activity that educated whites pay to "experience" when in reality it is a low-paying job done only by migrant workers.
         Lander describes this obligation of the white elite to seek out the cheap product at a higher price as "white guilt." The educated whites that both Landers and Brooks observe do not want to flaunt their financial success, so instead they spend their money on cheap things. Their guilt drives them to purchase useful products instead, which further isolates them from lower class persons, who view this purchasing of expensively-priced cheap things as a waste of money.

Normal Rockwell & Lower Middle Culture

          In November 18th's lecture, we discussed Herbert J. Gans' concept of taste cultures and taste publics. He explained that choices in consumption are not random and that people who make similar choices for similar reasons will choose an array of cultural objects and practices that share a common aesthetic. He noted that the major source of differentiation between taste cultures and publics is socioeconomic level or class. In his opinion, American society can be divided into five levels: high culture, upper middle culture, lower middle culture, low culture, and quasi-folk culture. One example in which these five taste cultures differ is art. High culture prefers an abstract form of art that lower classes do not have the cultural capital to understand. Often times, high culture art becomes encapsulated in its own self-referencing world. Lower middle culture, on the other hand, emphasizes substance over form and morality and sentimentality are more prominent in their preferred artworks.

       As America's dominant taste public, lower middle culture aesthetic is often found in television, movies, and artwork. A perfect example of lower middle culture art is Norman Rockwell's pieces. Rockwell's subjects tended to be common American interactions and settings instead of abstract interpretations. Because he managed to capture the American life in his paintings, he is embraced as one of America's most well-known painters. As Norman Rockwell himself put it, "the commonplaces of America are to me the richest subjects of art. Boys batting flies on vacant lots; little girls playing jacks on the front steps; old men plodding home at twilight- all these things arouse feeling in me." This quote strongly reflects Gans' own observations on lower middle culture taste preferences that they prefer the real over the abstract.
         Norman Rockwell's paintings manage to capture the everyday curiosities, desires, jealousies, and indulgences of human nature. The Rockwell painting below, titled The Dugout, is a perfect example of Rockwell's ability to capture American life. Fans in the stands can be seen jeering at the athletes while the athletes in the dugout are bored and disheartened and the player about to go onto the field is nervous. Rockwell's "snapshots" of a particular moment evoke emotion in the viewer. The scene might be a simple one that the viewer could experience every day, but Rockwell captures the moment in a way that reveals the various emotions and feelings that occur in that one precise moment. This emphasis on sentimentality and reality is what characterizes Rockwell's paintings as lower middle culture, according to Gans' five levels of taste publics.

Wine Tasting

             A few weekends ago, my father's friend was in Cambridge for a convention and invited me to go to dinner with him. The man, Jacob, has a high-paying job at Goldman-Sachs and comes from a wealthy family. As soon as I met him, I could tell he was used to getting what he wanted. He has the cultural capital to succeed in today's society. His original plan was for us to go see a new exhibit in the Harvard Art museum. Unfortunately, the museum had closed a hour before we arrived. Rather than give up, however, Jacob sweet-talked the museum attendant and convinced her to let us peek into the exhibit anyway. Because of his tactical rhetoric, we were able to view the display despite the fact that the museum was already closed. If Jacob had simply asked the attendant to let us in, we probably would have failed, but because he knew the right way to ask, and how to ask in a flattering way, we succeeded. This "right way" of asking is something Jacob has learned from his high-status family.  Pierre Bourdieu defines cultural capital as the general cultural background, knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are passed from one generation to the next. The cultural capital that Jacob has acquired from his family has given him leverage in both the social and market aspect of life.
              His powerful skills of persuasion are just one aspect of Jacob's cultural capital. After the museum, we dined at Sandrine's, an expensive French restaurant. Immediately, Jacob asked the waiter to bring over a wine list and starting asking questions about the various wines being offered. As Jacob and the waiter discussed the tastes and aromas of one wine over the other, I realized how little I know about wine. I could not even join in the conversation for fear of sounding silly! I did not know what they were talking about at all. From this conversation, I was able to understand how high status cultural signals like attitudes, preferences, formal knowledge, behaviors, goods, and credentials can contribute to social and cultural exclusion. Lamont and Lareau address this issue of social exclusion in their writings and even use wine tastings as an example. They say that the formal knowledge of knowing a good wine from a bad wine can distinguish a lower class person from an upper class one because the lower class lacks the knowledge.

             Wine tasting has been acknowledged as a high status symbol and Jacob took pleasure in talking intelligently about the fine distinctions between the different wines. He used his wine consumption as a way of expressing himself as a knowledgable person and the waiter recognized his high class position. After their wine discussion, the waiter was more willing to wait on us and help us with whatever was needed. I was interested by the interactions between both Jacob and the museum attendant and Jacob and the waiter. In both cases, the lower class worker was more willing to assist us once they recognized Jacob's cultural capital. Whether he was smoothly arguing his case or impressing the waiter with his knowledge, Jacob succeed in getting what he wanted by using what he knew best- the cultural background transmitted from his family to him.