A Tale as Old as Time
This one is a different post as it will be from my Master’s program learning about popular culture. This will be the second of five posts that I’ll make while studying the effects of pop culture on society.
"Everybody's got an angle," said Bing Crosby's character in White Christmas, the holiday classic movie. That phrase can be true on so many levels. Though the movie goes on to show that not everybody has an angle, that doesn't mean all people are like Bob Wallace. There is always an angle when watching a film or listening to music. The writers or directors are attempting to influence people's perspective of the social class system. Either they want you to think that the class system is not there or that it is very distinct. This neo-Marxist perspective also says that any story throughout history, in essence, has been about class distinction. I'm inclined to agree.
While looking back at various movies, commercials, and stories, they all can have the neo-Marxist perspective applied to them. I even went back to the oldest story discovered, Beowulf. Even that story shows that if we are subservient to the upper class eventually we will be given riches and royalty. A rags-to-riches story is nothing more than a lower-class person overcoming the obstacles of upper society and joining their ranks. There are promises of changing the system now that the main character is there but that is where the story ends. No changes are actually made and people still go through life, hoping to "get ahead" in life.
Other types of stories go into other areas of this perspective. However, it appears to me that any story, no matter how old, will always inspire us to follow what society wants or attempt to fight against societal norms. Either way, we always get a good story to discuss with friends. What stories do you know from your childhood that have influenced you to act a certain way?