Ramona, Rosanne, and other Working Class Heroes

Where have all the working class heroes in pop culture gone? I remember as a child and teen watching Roseanne. I loved that show. The family lives in a modest home, they worry about money, wear flannel shirts, and they hang out at the Lobo. And Ramona Quimby, remember her? I've been reading my daughters those books by Beverly Cleary, and while I remember the stories from my childhood, it just occurred to me that they are working class, too. Money is always an issue in their household, the father smokes, and the kids sing "ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall." 

Now I'm not suggesting that stereotypical behaviors should be a determinant of which class a person belongs to, but television and stories develop their characters to be consistent with their other identifiers. I grew up with these, in the 80's, and loved them...I could relate to them. 

But look at what's on t.v. these days. Rich people with problems; and not money problems. Even the childrens' programming shows well-dressed children, living in cul-de-sacs, with parents who make enough money to take them on vacation, or have a separate vacation home, their vehicles never break down, and they never mention bankruptcy or working conditions. 

Roseanne worked in a factory and there were several episodes where she confronted her boss about the working conditions. Ramona is conscious of the fact that her father is without work, which means no dinners out for a while. It seems to me that even at the height of the Reagan era, there was a modicum of class consciousness in the media. But something has changed.

Now people watch Desperate Housewives and believe that's how they should live (in a material sense). People watch My Wife and Kids and think that most African Americans are comfortably middle class. The plight of the working class and working poor has been erased from the media and people have forgotten that there are still Roseannes and Ramonas out there who are constantly aware of their poverty or potential for poverty. 

Where is the working class programming now? Where are the books about children who live with the constant fear of not having enough money to pay the bills? Media may be another opiate that Marx didn't foresee. As long as people identify with the upper middle class characters that are on t.v. and in books, these days, they are given an opportunity to pretend their economic position is better than it is.