In "Framing Class, Vicarious Living, and Conspicuous Consumption" author Diana Kendall blames the medial for the unbalanced view of the social classes. Her assertion is that this misrepresentation presented by the media convinced people to forgo simple living in favor of mirroring the lives of the rich and famous.
After having seen so many commercials for horrible shows such as "The Simple Life," I found Kendall's words to be a breath of fresh air, finally someone else has noticed that the media is trying to force this nonsensical crap down our throats. Buying clothes and other products just because a celebrity endorses it is absurd; I remember when I was in middle school many of my fellow students wore the popular fashions, watched the latest shows and I just did not understand why. However now that I am older I understand those things better, all these celebrities are doing is "encouraging unnecessary consumerism."(336)
Ultimately the media is just concerned with money, and what better way to get it than to show people what they want to see. Just looking at the portrayals of the social classes one can see the unbalanced nature of its representation, but all it is is just another way to give the people what they want, which is to look at these people and live vicariously through their experiences in the hopes that it will give their own lives meaning. The decision is left to us the viewer, on how to perceive the media we are shown, should we take it at face value, or look beneath the surface?
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