# Death Of The Working-Class Leading Man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744 "2019-04-18T22:22:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/1 "2019-04-18T22:22:05Z")
I’m reading Steve McQueen’s biography, and the author mentioned how most of the heroes were working-class… Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Cagney, John Wayne, Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen himself and others… I can’t think of any in my lifetime (almost 40 years)… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/2 "2019-04-18T22:24:39Z")
I don’t know about movies, but there are plenty of working-class main characters on TV nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/3 "2019-04-18T22:24:57Z")
Little confused, the characters portrayed were working class or the actors themselves were working class? If its characters, Bruce Willis as John McClane, or Riggs amd Murtaugh of Lethal Weapon fame, just to point out a few ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/4 "2019-04-18T22:32:14Z")
A Working Class Hero is something to be. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/5 "2019-04-18T22:32:23Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > Little confused, the characters portrayed were working class or the actors themselves were working class? > > If its characters, Bruce Willis as John McClane, or Riggs amd Murtaugh of Lethal Weapon fame, just to point out a few I’m sorry I wasn’t clear… I mean on-screen, not their upbringing. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/6 "2019-04-18T22:39:13Z")
I’m assuming that the OP means that the characters the heroes played were working class. That’s about half nonsense. Actors played all sorts of roles. True, some actors did become associated with working class roles and some with upper class roles. Cary Grant wasn’t believable as working class, even though he came from a tough background; Humphrey Bogart, the child of a doctor and an artist, was. Make-believe works in strange ways. The other consideration is that America was basically a working class nation until after World War II. Additionally, the talkies appeared during the Depression when the working man was being beaten down, making the class a good subject for drama. It would have been hard to avoid playing some of those roles. Even so, Hollywood made a zillion movies about the glittering upper classes in the 30s, often featuring actors who came out of poverty. The trend postwar was toward more middle class characters. Rich playboys disappeared; bad boys took their place. Brando wasn’t working class in real life; he liked slumming and pretending what he wasn’t. But the movies moved away from that world as the country prospered and different types of stories connected with audiences. I’d have to have a lot more context for what the cited author actually said to know what he really intended. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/7 "2019-04-18T22:39:26Z")
So just took the time to look through my limited video library and came up with Tom Hanks in The Green Mile, he seems to play a lot of “working class” roles, Bruce Willis again in Unbreakable and Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe in The Stand. Thats just what I could find on the shelf in my living room. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/8 "2019-04-18T23:17:44Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > So just took the time to look through my limited video library and came up with Tom Hanks in The Green Mile, he seems to play a lot of “working class” roles, Bruce Willis again in Unbreakable and Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe in The Stand. Thats just what I could find on the shelf in my living room. Yes, but these aren’t real Working Class heroes: _"…these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… "_ 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/9 "2019-04-18T23:26:31Z")
To pick two famous examples: I doubt Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart in _Casablanca_) was lower socioeconomically than John McClane (Bruce Willis in _Die Hard_) if you account for increases in education and living standards between 1942 and 1988. And there were plenty of upper crust leading men back then. Cary Grant hardly ever portrayed anyone below middle-class. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/10 "2019-04-18T23:36:27Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > To pick two famous examples: I doubt Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart in _Casablanca_) was lower socioeconomically than John McClane (Bruce Willis in _Die Hard_) if you account for increases in education and living standards between 1942 and 1988. > > And there were plenty of upper crust leading men back then. Cary Grant hardly ever portrayed anyone below middle-class. Yeah, but I’ve never heard a guy call Cary Grant his hero… Women loved him, and people probably thought of him as charming, but a hero? Na. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/11 "2019-04-18T23:43:54Z")
The bar for male attractiveness has risen quite a bit, so unless a man’s had surgery or phenomenally good genes, he doesn’t stand much of a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/12 "2019-04-18T23:52:20Z")
Here’s the [IMDB list of the 100 top stars of 2018.](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls045252306/) Of the male stars, I would count Josh Brolin, Tom Hardy, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Pratt, and Sam Rockwell as all frequently playing “working class” types. (I don’t count Burt Reynolds because his working class roles were a long time ago.) The thing is, now so many of the roles are in comic book or fantasy movies you can’t really call the character “working class.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/13 "2019-04-18T23:54:53Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > The bar for male attractiveness has risen quite a bit, so unless a man’s had surgery or phenomenally good genes, he doesn’t stand much of a chance. Don’t know what that has to do with the topic at hand, but Jeremy Renner looks like a working class schlub whatever the role. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/14 "2019-04-18T23:58:19Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > To pick two famous examples: I doubt Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart in _Casablanca_) was lower socioeconomically than John McClane (Bruce Willis in _Die Hard_) if you account for increases in education and living standards between 1942 and 1988. Rick Blaine is almost the equivalent of Stan Kroenke, an American who owns a club overseas. Sure, Kroenke’s club is called _Arsenal_ and not _Stan’s_ but still… ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/15 "2019-04-19T00:02:38Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > Yeah, but I’ve never heard a guy call Cary Grant his hero… Women loved him, and people probably thought of him as charming, but a hero? Na. Roger Thornhill is one of my heroes. He uses his adman drinking skills to keep from being killed by spies: they pour a quart of bourbon into him, and put him in the driver’s seat of a stolen car on a winding road over the sea. Only hard drinkers could survive that. Later, he mixes it up with two Chicago cops. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/16 "2019-04-19T00:07:14Z")
And zorks Eva Marie-Saint. _That_ makes him one of _my_ heroes. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/17 "2019-04-19T00:16:37Z")
Really, “working class” means something different (although including the past meaning) than it did some decades ago. You wanna see a movie with real, modern-day “working class” protagonists? Watch _Office Space_. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/18 "2019-04-19T00:35:11Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Really, “working class” means something different (although including the past meaning) than it did some decades ago. > > You wanna see a movie with real, modern-day “working class” protagonists? Watch _Office Space_. Yeah, a “white collar” office job used to be prestigious in the 1930s. Today you’re just another working stiff, and a factory worker often makes more. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/19 "2019-04-19T00:46:22Z")
Working-class is also a polite way of saying POOR. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744/20 "2019-04-19T01:42:54Z")
You also need to take into account that many more films are made about people of color and that they are often working class. If those movie’s stars aren’t familiar to you or you don’t consider those actors stars, that might also say something about the change in our society over the past half century. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-of-the-working-class-leading-man/832744.md?page=2)