For most people in the US, money is something to worry about. However, that is not how the average person is portrayed in modern sitcoms. Even the "poor" characters still have it pretty good. A good example of this is "The Big Bang Theory."
In TBBT, there are five main characters. Four of them work at a university doing research. They all make very decent money. Then there is the fifth character, Penny. Penny is a girl that packed everything and moved out to LA to be an actress. Her acting career has yet to take off, so in the mean time she is working as a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory. The show does not hide the fact that Penny does not have a lot of money, in fact there are several episodes where her income is involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Liu5PWoNXbw
Here is a clip where Penny buys a pair of shoes. She says that they cost more than her rent and that she can't afford them, but she bought them anyway. So she is clearly the poorest of the characters.
Despite this, she still lives in a really nice apartment in the same building with two of the characters that earn a salary of someone that does research at a university. Granted her apartment is smaller than theirs, but it is still very nice for someone that lives off tips.
Current media has a trend of portraying "poor" characters as not so poor and this is a great example.
I like how you illustrated your point of view by a clip from an episode of the show. If only you could give the audience more insight analysis of the problem and some media definitions also, that would make your post more understandable! Nice job by the way!
ReplyDeleteI never really thought of this when it comes to The Big Bang Theory but its true that logically it doesn't make sense for someone with Penny's income to live in the same apartment as some of the other characters. TV sometimes doesn't always fully make sense when they portray people economically and it kind of presents a false reality to viewers sometimes. Your example of Penny being able to buy expensive shoes that cost more than her rent somewhat demonstrates that because in reality, that most likely wouldn't be the case.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to compare Penny in this show to Max and Caroline in 2 Broke Girls, because in both shows they are waitresses that work for tips, yet Max and Caroline live in a one bedroom apartment together. Thought television is showing more working class and lower income people, they still do not accurately show how these people would live. They are extremely unrealistic. This post brought up some good points, but it would be extremely beneficial if you included some more definitions and terms from the class, because I can tell that it relates to certain terms, but other viewers may not.
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