Sociology 101 video - Movie Review Example

Your full October 28, Reflection Paper The film Dismissed talks about how television plays its role in shaping the minds and viewpoints of the viewers, and how what they see influences their judgments and opinions about others in the society- in this case, the working class. The film shows the working class representations from early years of television to today’s sitcoms, plays and talk shows. With the help of interviews with media specialists and historians, this film features the working class as a socially deviant class that includes clowns.

The myth of meritocracy is strengthened with these stereotypes attached to the working class. The negative cultural attitudes, as shown in the television, have a profound impact upon the lives of the working class. The film uses keen political commentary and intense illustrations to prove how the working class is misrepresented through inordinate power of the television that can make the viewer misunderstand the significance of the working class. The funny clips shown with carefully crafted interviews demonstrate how the stereotypes attached to the working class make the greed and white collar crime of the corporate class disappear.

The film talks about the political and economic forces that jeopardize the working class, resulting in the loss of millions of jobs, low salaries, and weakening union memberships at the time when the government is cutting back its funding on health, welfare and education. These political and economic forces are never portrayed in television sitcoms, but become a harsh reality behind the misfortune of the working class. The film makes us ponder upon the fact that the working class is, in fact, the most hardworking class of the society, and is the backbone of all the economic and financial happenings of a state.

If this class is not provided its due credit, it will lose interest in performing at its best. Providing the working class its due respect and place in the society will result in better performance and increased productivity. This can only be done if the television portrays the reality, instead of misrepresenting the working class as clowns or socially deviant class. It is also easy to understand who benefits from this misrepresentation. Obviously, the people who are in the authoritative positions of providing benefits and incentives to the working class will not have to do their job when the society believes that the working class is already having its share.

It is the elite who benefits, and the poor get disadvantaged, just what the conflict theory of sociology at the macro level asserts. Resources are scarce, so the elite can enjoy all of them if they do not have to compete for them against the poor of the working class, and this can only happen when the media portrays the working class negatively. In short, the film is an eye-opener for all of us who want to bring equality and justice within the realms of the society, so that everyone benefits from the resources equally.

Working class, is not doubt the backbone of the society, and must be given their due credit.