People Like Us - Social Class in America

I chose this PBS documentary as a starting point in my exploration of social class.

People Like Us (1999)

(Available on Kanopy)

This documentary examines class in American society. The content is strikingly relevant to the discussions on social class that are still ongoing even though the film is now twenty years old.

As the thesis of the film asks, "It's the 800-pound gorilla in American life that most Americans don't think about: how do income, family background, education, attitudes, aspirations, and even appearance mark someone as a member of a particular social class?"

Within the first ten minutes of this two-hour film, the audience is faced with the stark reality of the American social class system and the vast disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots."

People on the street and in shopping malls are asked to look at photographs of people and rate the perceived class of the subjects. Later, other respondents are asked which class they identify with and the overwhelming majority choose the middle class. This is really no surprise since most Americans feel that they live a middle-class lifestyle and haven't examined the data about where their place is along the income curve.

Income is what most consider the main determinant of class in America. However, there are many other factors that determine what class you are part of.  As discussed in the film, the amount of white bread that you consume is an indicator of which class you are part of. On average, people who consume more white bread are at the lower end of the class spectrum.

This film examines people at both the top and bottom of American society as well as the working class and the middle class.