# Hollywood's idea of being poor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235 "2012-06-06T03:27:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/101 "2012-06-08T14:45:26Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > _Friends_ near the end most of them had jobs which were in consonance with thqeur apparent wealth and even ealier, Rachel, the Geller Sibs and Chandler come from loaded families. You will be amazed how much that can have an effect even if you do not take a penny from them…and I speak from experience how much bank managers suddenly become more reasonable when they learn who mom and dad are. > > Also Chandler, Monica and Ross at least had high earning jobs almost throughout, especially Chandler. And Phoebe was living in a rent-controlled apartment that used to be her grandmother’s, so yeah \*Friends \*is another bad example that people like to always bring up about people living way above their means in Manhattan that isn’t actually true. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/102 "2012-06-08T15:03:42Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Grimes never really made any sense to me. The Simpsons house is pretty far from a palace, and again, the cost of living in Springfield must be pretty low. Is it really surprising that a low-level manager at a nuclear power plant could afford a small suburban home? > > But then, IIRC, Grimes isn’t surprised by Homer’s salary as by the fact that he can be so incompetent in his job and not get fired. Grimes is not surprised that Homer has a nice house in a town that smells. He’s outraged that he’s had to work so incredibly hard to achieve almost nothing while Homer reaps big rewards for his laziness and ineptitude. The Simpson house is far from palatial, but Grimes lives - you can’t not quote this line - “above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley.” He’s lead an absurdly hard life and understandably he is very bitter about it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/103 "2012-06-08T16:09:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Grimes is not surprised that Homer has a nice house in a town that smells. He’s outraged that he’s had to work so incredibly hard to achieve almost nothing while Homer reaps big rewards for his laziness and ineptitude. The Simpson house is far from palatial, but Grimes lives - you can’t not quote this line - “above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley.” He’s lead an absurdly hard life and understandably he is very bitter about it. But we later find out that’s only because he likes hookers. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/104 "2012-06-08T16:22:05Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > But we later find out that’s only because he likes hookers. Well duh. They’re so much more convenient than free girls. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/105 "2012-06-08T16:23:30Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Both girls graduated from high school and Darlene goes to college. > [@salinqmind](#): > > Only one got knocked up, Darlene, but she was in college and had a plan all worked out. She didn’t drop out and go on welfare as so many ‘poor’ girls are assumed to do. Not quite true both according to my memory and Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > [Roseanne - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseanne_(TV_series)) > Roseanne’s rich, estranged cousin Ronnie (Joan Collins) visits and persuades Darlene to get her GED and apply to art school. Becky left to elope with Mark. At one point Roseanne fills out a form that asks about her kid’s education. She admits the two eldest have not graduated from high school. > [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I don’t want to take the thread on a tangent too much but this paragraph fascinates me. To me, someone living in the UK, this is a perfect description of a working class family. I find it interesting that from an American such a life is still considered part of the middle class spectrum. Given the discussion about these shows is pointing out the disparity between perception of what poverty is and reality itself, and how people never seem to consider themselves working class no matter how poor they are, doesn’t this underscore the point perfectly? > > I’d like to stress I’m in no way challenging **LavenderBlue** ’s description of their own upbringing or definition of their identity, but it just made me think a lot. Lower middle class and working class are probably used interchangeably in America. I married someone who would probably considered from either a middle class or upper middle class background. I am sometimes highly conscious of the difference in our backgrounds. He grew up in a large house in a prosperous suburbs and I did not. His parents have retired comfortably on the proceeds from the sale of that house while my parents have managed retirement but it is a bit of a financial struggle for them. He and I happen to have the same values and a happy marriage but his parents are very different in outlook and education than mine are. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/106 "2012-06-08T18:49:29Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > That wasn’t until late in the series and it marked the point at which she had made it big, so to speak. > > I believe that Candace Bushnell was a working journalist and writer (I’m thinking freelance) and spent much more of her time working on many more assignments than Carrie Bradshaw ever does. I imagine that this is not featured for storytelling purposes. They want the show to be about being single and fabulous, not about the drudgery required to “make it”. Showing a harried overworked Carrie who has to spend all her time at the keyboard just isn’t as interesting to watch. And referring to her other jobs without showing them would be confusing to the viewer. I think of this as how we don’t see tv characters go to the bathroom regularly, or eating alone. It happens, it’s just not the focus of the hour a week we spend on their lives. Glee did a decent job portraying poverty when they showed the blonde kid living with his entire family in a hotel room after his parents lost their jobs. Lily’s incredibly cramped single apartment in HIMYM was awesome. The bed takes up like 80% of the floor space when it’s down, and there’s a toilet in the living room. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/107 "2012-06-08T19:01:18Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Lower middle class and working class are probably used interchangeably in America. I married someone who would probably considered from either a middle class or upper middle class background. I am sometimes highly conscious of the difference in our backgrounds. He grew up in a large house in a prosperous suburbs and I did not. His parents have retired comfortably on the proceeds from the sale of that house while my parents have managed retirement but it is a bit of a financial struggle for them. He and I happen to have the same values and a happy marriage but his parents are very different in outlook and education than mine are. _nod_ I’d say “working class” = “blue collar” = “lower middle class” here. “Poor” to me would mean struggling to feed and clothe the family, to keep the rent paid, to keep the lights on, to find work, relying on public assistance, and such. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/108 "2012-06-08T19:23:47Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > …One of my favorite episodes is when Roseanne takes Darlene’s class on a trip to the supermarket. She puts the fancy meat back and takes out the meatloaf. Every penny is counted… Roseanne: That’s brand name. We buy generic, only second best for my family. Darlene: No, I eat the brand name cereal. Roseanne: No, actually it’s the brand name box, I’ve just been buying the generic cereal and refilling the box since 1985. Darlene: You mean I’ve been eating generic Frankenberries? Roseanne: I’m sorry you had to find out this way. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/109 "2012-06-08T19:36:03Z")
That made me LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/110 "2012-06-08T19:38:27Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Roseanne: That’s brand name. We buy generic, only second best for my family. > Darlene: No, I eat the brand name cereal. > Roseanne: No, actually it’s the brand name box, I’ve just been buying the generic cereal and refilling the box since 1985. > Darlene: You mean I’ve been eating generic Frankenberries? > Roseanne: I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I remember that episode! My mother didn’t even try to hide it. But now I can just put the generic cereal into the cereal keeper. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/111 "2012-06-08T19:58:19Z")
My mom usually got away with that, but we busted her on trying to put reconstituted powdered milk in the empty plastic milk jug. I think the negotiated settlement involved half powdered milk/half “real” milk. We also knew when she was trying to pass off budget Oreos. (Other generic cookies were fine, but accept no Oreo substitutes.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/112 "2012-06-08T20:07:53Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > And referring to her other jobs without showing them would be confusing to the viewer. I disagree entirely. It would have been very easy for her to occasionally mention a deadline on a freelance assignment or complaining that the freelance market is experiencing a dry spell. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/113 "2012-06-08T20:17:58Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > And Phoebe was living in a rent-controlled apartment that used to be her grandmother’s, so yeah \*Friends \*is another bad example that people like to always bring up about people living way above their means in Manhattan that isn’t actually true. That ws Monica’s apartment, and she had to have a roommate to afford the rent. How Chandler and Joey made their rent, particularly in the beginning of the seasons when Joey was a starving actor and Chandler was just starting out, is a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/114 "2012-06-08T20:37:58Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Roseanne: That’s brand name. We buy generic, only second best for my family. > Darlene: No, I eat the brand name cereal. > Roseanne: No, actually it’s the brand name box, I’ve just been buying the generic cereal and refilling the box since 1985. > Darlene: You mean I’ve been eating generic Frankenberries? > Roseanne: I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I loved this exchange. When I buy generic, I often say that line (“nothing but second…”) in my head. I chuckle every time. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/115 "2012-06-08T21:03:00Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > That ws Monica’s apartment, and she had to have a roommate to afford the rent. How Chandler and Joey made their rent, particularly in the beginning of the seasons when Joey was a starving actor and Chandler was just starting out, is a mystery. Monica lived in her aunt’s [Greenwich Village apartment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Geller). Wiki: > [@](#): > > Monica’s apartment was one of the main focal points of the series. Critics of the show questioned how Monica could ever afford the apartment on a chef’s salary. The writers of Friends explained that she sublet the apartment from her grandmother, who had moved to Florida. In the series finale, Chandler remarks to one of his newborn twins, “Thanks to rent control, it was a friggin’ steal.” Phoebe moved out and lived in her grandmother’s apartment. Still trying to figure out how Rachael the bad barista made half that rent. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/116 "2012-06-08T21:08:59Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > Still trying to figure out how Rachael the bad barista made half that rent. The same way Joey did - by not paying half the rent. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/117 "2012-06-08T21:15:57Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > I realize they are cartoons and not documentaries, but I cannot fathom how the Simpsons and the Griffins (from “Family Guy”) aren’t living under a bridge based on the way they blow through money. > > Even if one assumes each family carries ginormous debt loads, I still don’t see how they can afford all the stuff they buy given they have just one wage-earner. And he doesn’t seem to be pulling down a big salary. How do the Simpsons “blow through money”? They manage to get by with USDA Utility grade beef (seriously, can people “buy” cuts of beef, or even ground beef, graded lower than Select?). Besides, every now and then they make a boatload of cash that mysteriously disappears the following week - for example, Marge must have made a fortune with the Shapes fitness centers, and Bart and Lisa got 50% of the T-shirt revenues (“That’s the sweetest plum!”) from Krusty’s Komeback special. In the early _Family Guy_ episodes, Lois makes money giving piano lessons. Besides, Stewie must have an “outside source of income” if he can afford to build a time machine. Also, both families have won a lottery - Peter did it twice in the same episode. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/118 "2012-06-08T21:30:30Z")
The Simpsons seem to have a very low clothes budget as well. Except for those musical extravaganza sequences where they have costumes and stuff… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/119 "2012-06-08T21:52:06Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The Simpsons seem to have a very low clothes budget as well. “This place is a mansion! I live in a single room over a bowling alley! AND BELOW ANOTHER BOWLING ALLEY! -Frank Grimes” > [@Incubus](#): > > This may or may not be obvious, but I think the problem with Hollywood ‘poor’ is that even if you showed a realistic depiction of poverty, I don’t think most middle or upper class audiences would believe it. That, or they would turn on the protagonist and blame them for their poverty. > > Most people are so disconnected to it (or simply choose not to look), I don’t think the audience could really connect to a realistic depiction of poverty. > > Its the same with how Hollywood treats minorities and fat people. Zack and Miri Make a Porno - They lived in a dilapadated shithole in Pittsburg and could barely afford rent, let alone utilities. IIRC they had to create a hobo fire with a steel drum in their living room. And obviously, they start making porn to make ends meet. 8 Mile - Eminem’s family looked pretty freakin poor. Most audiences wouldn’t “turn on them and blame them for their poverty”. That sounds like left-wing rhetoric. The reason they don’t show people as being utterly destitute is that unless it’s part of a plot device, it’s not relatable to the vast majority of audience members who aren’t poor. And, in fact, it can be a limiting factor in a story as a family that poor is unable to afford to do anything. This may also come as a shock, but plenty of 20-somethings manage to live in Manhattan appartments. And they all aren’t vice presidents at Goldman Sachs. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235/120 "2012-06-08T21:55:44Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Besides, every now and then they make a boatload of cash that mysteriously disappears the following week - for example, Marge must have made a fortune with the Shapes fitness centers, and Bart and Lisa got 50% of the T-shirt revenues (“That’s the sweetest plum!”) from Krusty’s Komeback special. Bart also has a coin worth $10,000,000. Of course, when he gets it, Homer, acknowledging the show’s deliberate lack of continuity when it comes to the family’s finances, tells Bart to keep it somewhere where it will be forgotten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywoods-idea-of-being-poor/624235.md?page=7)