http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIJENf-s6r4
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=411
Class Dismissed
How TV Frames the Working Class
Narrated by *Ed Asner*
Based on the forthcoming book by Pepi Leistyna, *Class Dismissed* navigates
the steady stream of narrow working class representations from American
television's beginnings to today's sitcoms, reality shows, police dramas,
and daytime talk shows.
Featuring interviews with media analysts and cultural historians, this
documentary examines the patterns inherent in TV's disturbing depictions of
working class people as either clowns or social deviants -- stereotypical
portrayals that reinforce the myth of meritocracy.
*Class Dismissed* breaks important new ground in exploring the ways in
which race, gender, and sexuality intersect with class, offering a more
complex reading of television's often one-dimensional representations. The
video also links television portrayals to negative cultural attitudes and
public policies that directly affect the lives of working class people.
Featuring interviews with Stanley Aronowitz, (City University of New York);
*Nickel and Dimed* author, Barbara Ehrenreich; Herman Gray (University of
California-Santa Cruz); Robin Kelley (Columbia University); Pepi Leistyna
(University of Massachusetts-Boston) and Michael Zweig (State University of
New York-Stony Brook). Also with Arlene Davila, Susan Douglas, Bambi
Haggins, Lisa Henderson, and Andrea Press.