The Class Divide

GROUP



Middle Working Class vs. Lower Class




SUMMARY



I watched an episode of Breaking Bad on Netflix (the show is usually aired on AMC). The episode title was "Better Call Saul" from season 2, episode 8. Walt and Jesse run a meth lab in Albuquerque and Jesse is in charge of selling the product. One of Jesse's "foot soldiers" for the sales, Badger, gets arrested after being fooled by an undercover cop posing as a meth buyer. Soon, Walt and Jesse find out that the DEA has gotten involved in Badger's case and are forced to seek legal attention to assist Badger. They find sleazy defense lawyer Saul Goodman who they manage to work out a shady deal with. While seeking Saul's assistance, they witness many examples of Saul's typical clientele.



ANALYSIS



During this episode, the audience is exposed to various types of people who are well below the poverty line, particularly when Walt and Jesse go to Saul for legal assistance. The episode functions mostly around Walt and Jesse, two characters who by themselves already differ in terms of class. Walt's family is the spitting image of how Hollywood portrays middle working class America:Walt is a teacher, his pregnant wife is a stay at home mom, and they have the Protestant work ethic which drives their meager, but happy (sometimes) success. On the other hand, Jesse is a spitting image of lower non-working class in media representations:he's an otherwise unemployed drug dealer in his 20's living from meth paycheck to paycheck. In the article "Consuming Trash" by Laura Portwood-Stacer, Jesse fits four of the predominantly mentioned "white trash" characteristics: transients, neglected children, drug users, and perpetrators.



As an audience member, the partnership between a man in the middle working class and a man from the lower class who is portrayed on the show as "white trash" is very different. Together, the duo somehow works together enough to gather millions of drug dollars. In this episode, the difference in class rankings become helpful to Walt and Jesse; they're able to secure the help of Saul Goodman, defense lawyer for Badger. When going to acquire his services, Walt is the first one to walk into Saul's office. When Walt walks in the door, the audience is treated to mass chaos in the form of a defense attorney's waiting room. Kids screaming, injured lower class members, and various forms of the typical aesthetic of "white trash" fill the room. This places Walt in a very strange position, as he obviously does not fit the class stereotype of "white trash" being portrayed everywhere else in the waiting room. The cinematography during this scene was also very powerful, using audio mixers and camera angles to place the audience directly in Walt's point of view. This decision by producers alone shows that the middle class is seen to have power over the lower class. The producers could have done this shot from one of the lower class waiting room attendee's point of view, but Walt's point of view (the middle working class view) was envisioned as more powerful towards the audience. I think this decision also shows that television actively works to please the middle class audience by frequently taking the lens elsewhere: the lower class or the upper class. This paints a picture where middle class problems are ignored so that predominantly middle class America doesn't get upset over some television episode.



Another part of the episode that stood out was the Saul Goodman defense attorney commercial. These commercials are the epitome of "white trash". I did not find the exact commercial used in the episode on YouTube, but here is an example of the testimonies of Saul's customers:



The first testimony is actually from Badger, Jesse's seller who gets arrested in the episode. As a commercial within a television program, the satirical outcome while addressing issues of class is quite clear. All of the people portrayed in this commercial would have been considered "white trash", and the producers of Breaking Bad decided to go for absolute comedy in making these "Better call Saul!" commercial segments. While they were quite hilarious, analyzing the undertones of the video isn't quite as sunny. Yet, audiences watching this episode are able to see how the "happy" customers in the Saul commercials look nothing like the desolate, downtrodden, and depressed customers in the waiting room at Saul's actual law office later in the episode. I think this was an interesting move for the producers to make. They definitely hit you with two different bricks here. As an American audience, we mostly focused on the Saul commercials and not the actual implications of the situation. This ignorance is apparent through the internet boom of "Better call Saul" memes and tweets.



CONCLUSION



This episode satirically overemphasizes the quality of life gap between the middle working class and the lower non-working class; it exposes real problems, but the satire during the episode overshadows the mentality that we should get out and do something about these problems. The in-lecture video "Class Dismissed" provided understanding on how large the divide is between middle class and upper class and how frequently this gap is misconstrued or ignored; the gap between lower and middle class is even more desperate for help and attention. Television programs expose the problems and advocate for class consciousness, but fail to do motivate audiences to get out and do something about it. Laughter is a preferred coping mechanism.
Full Post