Tropes and Archetypes – The Wealth Barrier

The Unfulfilled Life of the Rich

A common trope we observed in the movies we watched was the rich or higher class characters often being portrayed as leading unhappy lives. We’ve all seen it, the character whose life everybody envies but the character is not satisfied with. Examples would be characters whose social class leaves them unsatisfied. They see through the ‘fakeness’ surrounding them and long for something more genuine. Or they are conveniently blind to the flaws, usually a lack of genuineness, of their world but grow aware of them when exposed to the inherently ‘good’ and genuine lower class character. Other times, we see characters whose high status acts as a boundary towards their freedom and leaves them with no control over their own lives. They are supposed to do what is expected of them rather than what they choose and this lends itself to the unhappiness of the character.

Image result for poor little rich girl quote titanic

In Titanic, we see Rose being expected to marry Cal, who is cruel and controlling (See clip below). She hates the constraint her life puts on her and it even leads to her attempting to commit suicide. In the cases of the movie Titanic, this is a testament to the idea that Rose could leave her privileged life behind to run off with Jack and live happily ever after. Despite the fact that we are constantly assured that he has absolutely no money. In Geek Charming, we see the symbolic emptiness of Dylan’s house to represent the lack of affection and warmth in her life. Similarly, we are led to believe that the friends she is surrounded by are insincere. The loss of popularity she would experience as a result of being with the very unpopular Josh is justified in the our eyes because of the unfulfillment and unhappiness the audience initially observed. She would not miss her old life, boyfriend or friends as it is a social order in which she is unhappy. We see further examples in Pretty Woman and Aladdin, and in fact observe this trope in all of our chosen movies.

Clip: Rose being confronted by her fiance

Why?

This serves to portray the poorer’s lives as relatively happier. Because we are seeing that the characters are unhappy despite their wealth, it leads us to believe that they do not find money to a priority or a prerequisite to happiness and as a result can be happy with someone from a lower background. The trope serves to erase all doubt that we could have that said character would be able to live with the loss of money or status without missing it.

Uneducated Poor Partner With Societal Standards

We often see in movies that have a poor and rich character how the difference in wealth has an impact on the characters. There is an upper-class character, usually the man, and the poorer/ middle-class character, which is usually the woman.

As the audience, we tend to find more of an appeal towards the poorer/middle-class individual because they are aware of their social status. They tend to be more personable, charming, and responsible. Whereas the upper-class male will be aware of his status. He will be cold, hostile, but will always have a soft-side which the female has to reveal.

Where do we see this?

It is common in most novels/movies that society plays a huge part in the fate of characters. There is often judgment brought upon the less wealthy character by those of upper class. There is often an ironic fate of the rich and poor character because they will usually end up together despite what society thinks.

This is seen in the movie Pretty Woman from 1990. Vivian, a charming, playful, responsible LA prostitute. She is smart with her money, but obviously is living paycheck to paycheck. She meets Edward, a billionaire bachelor who pays her not for sex, but her company. As the two get to know each other, they eventually become romanticly involved and Vivian begins to learn to standards of high-class society. However, her transition was not always smooth.

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This scene shows Vivian shopping in the city and being judged due to her clothing on the streets in the stores. The two women in the store use statements like “that is very expensive”, “I don’t think we have anything for you” or, “I think you’re in the wrong place”. They say this because of her appearance while she is shopping which for high-society, is not seen as appropriate.

The Usual Transition

There tends to be a transition of the character from rags to riches. While a character may be a part of lower-class at the beginning of the movie/novel, there is a shift that they undergo. This can be considered a makeover.

In Pretty Woman, Vivian is pampered by Edward and he takes her shopping because she tells him of her experiences from the previous day. He feels obligated to buy her nice clothing before she resumes her shopping for that day. She returns to the store that refused her service the previous day:

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Vivian’s transformation allows her to tell off the woman from the store. She even refuses to buy anything from their store because of their treatment of her the previous day.

The lower-class partner being uneducated with the societal standards of the upper-class is one of the four barriers that we found as a common theme amongst our themes.

Deception of Status: an Aladdin Scene Analysis

Extending the common deception tropes found in other romances, romances between those of differing socioeconomic class often involve a character lying about their status. Due to class difference acting as a barrier between romantic leads, this deception serve as attempt to surmount this barrier.

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In the above clip, we see Aladdin wishing to be a prince, so that he may woo the Princess Jasmine. Like most attempts by romance characters to deceive others, his deception is eventually discovered.

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When Jasmine confronts Aladdin, he doubles down on his lie. However, what is most interesting is what he lies about. The idea of royalty disguising themselves in public does not come from nowhere; Jasmine met Aladdin when she was in the streets of Agrabah in the guise of a commoner. His expectation and thus performance of someone of royal birth is derives from the only royal he has ever met.

From this example, we see that the bearings of nobility and wealth are subjective. What matters most in being accepted by others as being part of a high socioeconomic class is how well one can play the part in imitating someone of that class, in appearance as well as mannerisms. This deception of status is based on fulfilling the expectations of others.

Crossing Borders, and the Importance of the Home

There’s a scene at the end of Pride and Prejudice where Lizzy is asked when she fell in love with Darcy:

“…how long have you loved him?”

“It has been coming on so gradually that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberly.” (280)

Now, of course Miss Lizzy Bennet is not talking about the fabulous decor or grand architecture. The scene where she sees Darcy’s home for the first time is about how reserved and intelligent the yard work was and how that revealed some truth Lizzy didn’t see before. The importance of the home is its unavoidable honesty about the characters that live there.

Nearly two centuries later, and the rich and poor are still falling in love with each other in the home. The Prince & Me has several scene section of Eddy visiting Paige’s farm/home, and a parallel latter in the movie when Paige flies to Denmark and lives in the palace for a while. Aladdin has Princess Jasmine slumming it in Aladdin’s hole in the wall and then Aladdin conning his way into the palace. Starstruck has a far less effective set of scenes where the two practically run through each other’s homes, not bothering to take in much of the sights as they’re chased by reporters.

Suffice to say, it’s a trope. But why? What is the fascination these movies have with the home?

Consider this scene from Geek Charming:

As two high school students, Dylan and Josh spend a majority of the movie at school or filming Josh’s documentary in public spaces such as malls, beaches, etc.. Prompted by their growing friendship, Josh invites her to his house for the first time about midway through the movie. It marks the second time they’ve entered each other’s homes. She enters into this new environment, the first time she has been anywhere that feels as though it belongs to a middle class person, and is immediately greeted by Josh’s mom with a smile who tells her to call her by her first name. It’s not a flashy space, but it’s a warm place with low ceilings and cream colored walls and counters covered in practical items and little knickknacks. And it’s a fun space, in which the main characters don’t hesitate to show that they’re having fun with each other.

There’s two scenes early on which set up the main characters’ houses with parallels that demonstrate the fact that these are both environments that the characters live in day to day. Josh enters his house and as soon as the door closes he’s holding a conversation with his mom and being greeted by his dog who follows him through the rest of the scene. Meanwhile Dylan comes how to an architectural marvel with glass walls, mirrors, empty counters, and furniture that looks more like it was picked by an interior designer than a family. She walks in the front door, pauses, and calls out for the housekeeper who’s left a note saying where she can find dinner. After a fiasco with a mall fountain the two protagonists’ priority is to put their soaked items in the drier. Josh jogs through the small hallways with his dog gleefully following behind, and tosses his shoes in the drier. Dylan walks through a series of wide shots to the drier, finally breaking the silence by talking to herself.

Josh is eventually invited to her house and upon seeing this house Josh is stupefied, and she tells him “Real inviting right?” Dylan doesn’t have an unhappy home life, but she’s often alone. The architecture of her house serves to exemplify this. The tall ceilings and untouched furniture, wide open spaces, they create a sense that Dylan is a visitor in her own house. It is a prop, a manifestation of the popular girl facade she maintains.

What I think is special about this movie is that her house doesn’t stay alien. As the movie goes on and we see more of Dylan’s geeky side, her home becomes more welcoming. She helps Josh film the first real candids for the movie, her dad appears and Josh and him are laughing while watching movies together, she has a casual dinner with her father and his girlfriend.

As the facade of wealth and popularity is broken down, so too is the unwelcoming home.

The home is an effective tool in getting us into the mind of the character. Homes are a space of familiarity, comfort, and privacy. Characters are most comfortable inside them and thus more easily let their guard down. And as it acts as a common ground, where the audience can see how, despite the differences in style, the rich protagonist is a person, who lives in their house like anyone else; the home can make the audience and the poor protagonist empathize with the rich protagonist in a way they couldn’t in any other scene. Dylan’s personality is a facade, so when she is in the public she acts a certain way to protect herself. When she comes home there are no prying eyes, she can be expressive in a way that the characters and the audience hasn’t seen before. So when Josh finally enters her home he gets to see the facade drop for the first time. Entering the home becomes a key narrative element in understanding the real Dylan and creating the attachment between the characters.

The barrier in these class based romances is about how the outside world and the societal ideas around wealth affect and impede the characters’ relationship, it makes sense that the writers would want to go into the home to help alleviate the burden of the societal barrier.

The Hardworking Poor

There’s a fear in this kind of trope that the poor love interest will come off as a gold digger. Why that fear exists is another topic entirely, but the consequence of this fear is the “Hardworking Poor” archetype. They are characterized by a disgust of wealth and often a charitable nature.

Who are they?

In order to escape scrutiny, the love interest must never be lazy. In fact, they love work and they have a great ambition, working their butt off to achieve their dream no matter how tired they may get. This also helps create conflict between the two characters, as the rich love interest is usually irresponsible, or is perceived to be irresponsible. The hardworking poor scoff at their high and mighty comrade and their entitlement (hmmph!), usually right before tossing the muckiest cleaning implement their way and watching irritated as they fail to do the simplest of tasks. And this should rub off on the wealthy, it’s inspiring how they keep fighting even with the world of bills and working through college weighing down on them.

They should not be understood to be heartless, the hardworking poor will step in when their love interest fails, or when the other richie riches call them entitled, or a failure, or below their position. Though they may not understand their love interest’s struggle (because there doesn’t seem to be one from where they’re standing), they know that 1) if their partner fails, then they fail with them and 2) that they can be the bigger person.

They’re an intellectual. Never naive, they know the ways of the world. They can tell when they’re being seduced, and they are having none of it. Who has time for such inane distractions? Not the hardworking poor. They’re strong and independent with no time for love when there is more important things at stakes.

They’re brutally honest, it’s a virtue they pride themself on even when it goes to their detriment. It’s the only power they hold over their rich companion, and they wield it with wit. They’re quick to put down their love interest’s usual games and tricks and they won’t sugar coat anything. When someone messes up, they won’t be like all the yes men, they’ll yell and kick and scream and you better believe this is the first time their companion has heard this from anyone.

Their big give away is gifts. Whenever gifts are involved, they say “it’s too much, really, I don’t need all this stuff.” They’re uncomfortable with grand displays of wealth, even when they’re benefiting. Fancy cars? Mine runs just fine, thank you. Big houses? They feel lonely and chauvinistic. Hanging out with celebrities? Are they really even your friends? The one thing they don’t seem to be able to resist is a make-over. Even if they protest at first, they’ll give in when they see the size of those jewels or get that haircut their partner’s been begging them to get. Maybe it’s that audiences like a good make-over montage, or that when we see diamond we just have to have that on our bodies, or maybe it’s an essential part of their transition from poor to rich; giving them confidence and showing that anyone can fit in if they have the right clothes. Whatever it is, the make-over is exempt from the no gift policy.

Where are they?

The “hardworking poor” archetype is common in these types of romances. Paige Morgan, in The Prince & Me, is a great example, but also Josh Rosen in Geek Charming, Vivian in Pretty Woman, and Tiana in The Princess and the Frog.

Why do we like them?

You’ll often find this archetype working in tandem with a statement about how poor(er) people are better, or have a more happy and fulfilling life which is often the driving force of a class difference barrier. In a romance the two characters have to fall in love, so the rich protagonist must inevitably feel fed up or disillusioned by wealthy society. Often this is just an inkling until they meet some one who is “real,” i.e. the hard-working, poor, love interest.

They’ve never met someone who can’t be swayed by their cheap tricks, gifts, and grand displays of wealth, but now they’re standing face to face with a challenge to their power. Life had been too easy, and it felt fake. And that’s where the brutal honesty comes in. Not only are they not swayed, but they’re confident enough to say the things no one else is willing to say: the truth. This challenge makes sure that the audience knows that the rich protagonist is in love with them as a person and not just a pretty face. Their honesty sets the poor protagonist apart from the others who fawn over the wealth and glamour.

We like the “hardworking poor” because they’re without hidden motive. They are incorruptible. They can dip into the world of wealth without loosing the virtues of poverty.