Framing Class

I think that we always want what we don’t have, so yes the media has a lot to do with our perception of wealth. Most people don’t have friends as rich as Paris Hilton or even know anyone that rich, so they have no idea what it is like to live that life. The media shows us exactly what it is like. They show us all the things that she buys and the places that she goes with her indispensible budget. The working-class and the middle-class buy things that are out of their means to “keep up with the Jones’.” Trends are constantly changing and unless you’re changing with them you are looked at as poor, un-cool, or both. On television shows the poor are looked at as unintelligent troublemakers, this often transfers into real life whether we want it to or not. We sometimes can’t help but to think that way because we see it and hear it all the time. The media has a huge influence on or lives whether we realize it or not.