People Like Us: Social Class in America

Over the course of the past century, we've become a culture both haunted and obsessed by issues of race, ethnicity, and gender; it's a rare day when at least one of these obsessions doesn't turn up as a central theme in public and private discourse. What Americans tend not to talk about much, despite an equally momentous impact on the ways in which we conduct our lives, is social and economic class. In People Like Us, filmmakers Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker tackle this hulking “800-pound gorilla in American life,” demonstrating how class subtly (or not so) informs and influences everything from where we hang our hats and whom we hang with, to what and how we choose to eat. In a wonderfully entertaining and loose-limbed swing across the continent--from the terminally tony world of the Hamptons, to the hard-scrabble playing fields of the Redneck Games (bobbing for frozen pig's feet, anyone?)--the filmmakers slip in enough material in a little over two hours to stuff a particularly goofy sociology text book, including: the relationship of race and class, social mobility and evolving class structure, the black bourgeoisie, high school social stratification, and class and lifestyle choices. If there's a problem here, it's a tendency toward the episodic and overextended: after awhile I kept hoping for a bit more focus, a little less concentration on the outward manifestations of class, and a little deeper discussion of causes and societal implications (given the long running time, some of the specific case studies included could have easily been left on the cutting room floor). Finally, although briefly amusing, I think the filmmakers could have profitably eased off a bit on using class-related hyperbole to make some of their points. Despite these quibbles, this is a delightful and useful introduction to a subject little covered elsewhere in the video “literature.” Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (G. Handman)