MovieChat Forums > Uncle Buck (1989) Discussion > Were the Russell's middle income people ...

Were the Russell's middle income people or upper income people?


I never thought the Russell's were super rich people but they did strike me as middle to upper income people who made very good money, had a nice house, a fairly new family car.

I don't think they were as rich as the Bueller's in Ferris Bueller's Day Off or the McCallister's in Home Alone.

reply

I'm guessing upper middle class. Both parents work long hours, and they probably wouldn't have moved their family to another state unless it was for substantially more money.

They were definitely no where near the McCallister's. Hard to tell with the Buellers.

reply

I thought the McCallister's were very wealthy and the Russell's were upper middle class, I do feel they moved to Chicago for more money, I wonder if it was more expensive to live in Chicago than over in Indianapolis.

reply

I disagree. The McCallisters are still middle class, but in the upper middle class echelon. They weren’t wealthy enough to donate a hospital wing.

reply

Considering the mention of moving for work, I'd say they were transitioning into a new financial standard. The parents worked so much and missed a lot of the kids lives. I assume this was due to the new positions and debt incurred from the move. They seemed to be breaking into a new stage in life. The kids didn't have many friends and the neighbors didn't seem to be involved.

reply

Seems like they did alright.

reply

Well, there's several clues on how well off the Russells are. Tia hints at the beginning that the parents moved the family to Chicago from Indianapolis because of a raise/promotion in whatever they do, Cindy is a major snob who basically looks down on everyone who isn't her and they weren't exactly begging for food/change. I'd say they were middle class.....maybe very slightly upper middle class.

reply

They are definitely rich. They acted rich, had rich values, and they had a giant house outside of Chicago. Both of my parents were teachers, not bad, but we could never come close to owning a house like that anywhere, much less Chicago.

The way you view them, rich or middle class, might have to do with whether or not you grew up rich or middle class.

reply

Nonsense. They were middle class. That's what the middle class could afford in the 1980s. Just because the middle class has been decimated since then doesn't mean it didn't at one time exist and enjoy a relatively nice standard of living.

(I grew up poor, if that helps prevent you from accusing me of being bourgeois, 'trotsky'...)

reply

Hehe, I'm not a communist or a socialist. . I just think trotsky is a funny name. As for the Russells being middle class or rich; they were rich. You think they had a problem paying for a second car, or child care, or maybe they couldn't afford paying the cable bill? Come on, they were not middle class. Not like the middle class I was used to when we were living in a little brick rent-a-house. We couldn't afford a house on the beach, but we could afford a little trailer on mainland side of the waterway. It might have to do with which region of the country you live in. In North Carolina people with houses like the Russell's live in rich sections of Charlotte or Greensboro. Families who live on teacher's salaries, even if both parents are teachers, live and lived nowhere near those neighborhoods.

reply

it was an upper class neighborhood.

reply