The Middle Class in Hollywood: Anxieties of the American Dream

In American liberal political discourse, the middle classes are routinely portrayed as foundational to democratic order and economic growth. It is argued that they extol virtues such as individual drive, humility and social conformity that are crucial for building strong communities. Thus, ‘crises’ in the middle classes engender a variety of strong responses and are taken note of as though they impact on everyone. This is reinforced by the many middle-class crises represented in mass media, including popular films and television. In what follows, I provide an admittedly anecdotal overview of the expansive history of Hollywood’s representations of middle-class characters, settings and stories, and I also discuss the significance of its century-long love affair with the middle classes. If it is difficult, from a left perspective, to theorize the role of the middle classes, Hollywood film and television can help us in this task. By representing the variety of ways that the middle class suffers dispossession and proletarianization, Hollywood sets the table for an animated discussion about class struggle