Artists have a tremendous influence on their viewers. They can manipulate points of view, show us things they want us to see and completely blind to things they don’t want us to see. One of the subjects that artists clearly manipulate to convey their message is class distinctions.
The different classes: poor, middle, upper, have extreme baggage associated with them. We, as observers, have many pre-conceived notions, stereotypes when we view people from any class. The poor are struggling to survive, especially in big cities, like New York. We always see the homeless people on the street, sleeping under some disgusting shelter, on some filthy sidewalk where people spit, dropped their cigarettes, and where maybe animals have peed. When we see those poor people struggling even though they’re extremely tired, we can’t help but feel sorry for them and want to help them. But why then don’t we help them even though they’re clearly in our sight?
The middle class is viewed as hard-working people that jobs from garbage men to stock brokers. They have to make a living day in and day out, but also then have to go back to their families. Most of us can relate to them, as we are middle class. The viewers usually like the middle class the most, because they aren’t greedy, deceptive, and have good morals usually, However, is that always the case?
Then, there is the conniving, superficial, greedy assholes, the upper, wealthy class. They are the suppressors of the middle and poor classes. You cannot say that you are a middle class person until you’ve had an experience when you’ve wanted to punch one of their kind in the face. I’ve heard of well-dressed people steal waiters’ tips off of tables. In Stone’s Wall Street, Gekko is seen as a clear upper class man, who has all the money in the world. And because of these stereotypes, we hate him.
While one mission of the artist is to show us these recurring themes, the bigger mission is to show us what happens behind the scenes, away from our eyes. Nothing is straightforward. Scorsese’s Taxi Driver enlightened the viewers to the true natures of some classes. The poor are not just the ones struggling to make it; they are also the ones involved in crime, drugs, and prostitution. Iris has to do something to cover her butt, so she gets involved with prostitution. Maybe even a bigger surprise to us is Travis’ behavior as a middle class man. He does have some good morals, as he wants to change the city, clean it up. Scorsese shows us the middle class is not pure either as Travis becomes a murderer, even though his true intentions are to better the live of people that need help, like Iris.
The plight of an art is dig for muck in the social classes, as the muckrakers did during the Progressive era. They expose the underlying motives and happenings in social classes that we, as the viewers, probably won’t expect. Therefore, a question is raised: are there really any genuine, distinct social classes?
