Date of Graduation
5-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Political Science
Advisor/Mentor
Schreckhise, William
Committee Member/Reader
Parry, Janine
Committee Member/Second Reader
Adler, Jacob
Abstract
In this thesis, I will examine the portrayal of wealth in film. Further, I argue that the portrayal of wealth in film has the power to shape the public’s perceptions of income inequality, even going so far as to later impact their actions towards both their own and differing economic classes (Kendall 2011; Kenworthy 2007). With a film’s ability to portray wealth, stressing the importance of an individual’s position on the hierarchal economic ladder, the individual is led to view both success and failure as a personal matter, the latter with a scornful gaze. This belief is then naturally cycled through the governing body in place by way of publicly elected officials. Thus, policymakers perpetuate this by framing policy to benefit target populations, the wealthy favored by media framing (Schneider and Ingram 1993). Consequently, little is done for and/or harms other populations that are less favorable to the societal standard shaping income inequality (Schneider and Ingram 1993).
Keywords
Wealth, Poverty, Culture, Spain, United States
Citation
Riggs, C. (2019). The Portrayal of Income Inequality as Represented in American and Spanish Film. Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/plscuht/7