MovieChat Forums > American Dreams (2002) Discussion > Lower Middle Class?

Lower Middle Class?

posted 11 years ago by sartan01
9 replies | jump to latest

I was looking up old articles where writers reviewed "American Dreams," and maybe a bit lame, but I was shocked when two writers described the Pryors as lower middle class and working class.

I mean, Jack owned his own business selling TVs, wouldn't they be pretty comfortable and moreso than working class?

I like watching "Roseanne," and they seem more working class to me than the Pryors. Roseanne went from job to job and Dan was a part time contractor. They also struggled paying the bills. I don't remember money being a big issue with the Pryor family.

Were there many elements to show they were more working class than middle class? They seemed pretty "medium" middle class to me.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,396843,00.html

http://www.amazingwill.net/oceandrivemagmarch03.php

[–] GraceFromSoCal 11 years ago

I would never have thought of describing them as 'lower middle class.' The house they lived in was definitely not that of a lower middle class family.

I guess you could call them 'working class' if you're comparing regular folks to the ultra-rich! In that sense, most of us ARE working class.

--

http://www.CaliforniaDreamsPhotography.com

[–] sartan01 11 years ago

Yeah, the Pryors house was fairly nice. I guess in some ways maybe the writers of those articles thought they were for little reasons. (Repeated outfits, they wanted JJ on scholarship, etc.)

The mini-series/TV movie "The '60s" seemed to have more of a working class/lower middle class family. The dad was a barber, they lived in a smaller house, the mom dressed more old-fashioned than Helen, etc.

I always thought they were middle-middle class.

I do remember one episode where JJ overhears Beth's dad being a snob about JJ and his dad saying Jack was just some "poor boy from Philly" and scoffing about how he sells TVs.

[–] pioneergrrrl 11 years ago

Neither of the Pryors had a college education--they only had a high school degree.

In that era, you could still carve out a pretty good life without a college degree. College was an 'extra' for certain people.

[–] nitestar95 9 years ago

On the contrary; my dad was a janitor, and we lived in a decent house. It all depended upon the rest of the situation. Most of my friends had houses, too, and they were nice inside, but nothing was expensive. Our car was always more than five years old, and back then, that was old because a 10 year old car was junk. The Pryors were solid middle class. Back then, 'working class' was the same, not 'lower' middle class, as there was a very strong industrial sector of employment that gave most people a decent living. Most people today spend way too much money on little luxuries and convenience items that families did not spend in the 60's, which is why more people could afford houses.

[–] pioneergrrrl 8 years ago

Reagan hyped everybody on low taxes in 1980--and now we are mad if we pay taxes for infrastructure.

Back then, people understood, yes you need taxes for roads, for schools..etc providing adequate infrastructure was a way to win against 'the reds' in the cold war. We would show that Capitalist USA had sparlking and strong resources for everybody.

Well, we forgot that along the way. Now we're becoming those third world dictatorships.

[–] norway-jm 7 years ago

They weren't well off by any means. Jack owned a small appliance store, where he had to pay employees, and for half the series he was the only earner in the family--a family of 6. Four kids in private school, and couldn't send one to college without a scholarship. The house was OK, but remember it had only 3 bedrooms for a family of 6 until they moved Meg to the attic.

So yeah, lower middle class. The Walkers were working class.

[–] sarah-103 7 years ago

I agree with you about lower middle class. However, there is something important to keep in mind when you note that they have children in private school. A parochial school in the early to mid 1960s would have cost a fraction of what it is today. Tuition rates for parochial schools practically skyrocketed during the early through mid 1970s.

"Forget reality, give me a picture"-Remington Steele

[–] Popcorngal (4346) 5 years ago

Remember when Roxanne and Beth went to NY. I recall these two rich girls had a fit when Beth danced with one of their boyfriends, and was very nasty to her.

[–] pioneergrrrl (2389) 3 years ago

also remember that the pryors had only one phone in the hallway---and only one tv in the family room even though Mr pryor owned a TV and appliance store

Before Helen revealed she did not want more kids, he was concerned that the kids they had were growing so fast. Money was tight.

Today people expect to have phones and tvs in their very own bedrooms. We also expect to have an answering machine, cell phones--which again they did not have. And credit cards were 'ridiculous' to Jack Pryor-- he thought you only buy only what you have money for.