Social heirarchy
Social heirarchyIn developing television shows today, the media has been able to create a world where tragic problems of society can be dealt with in a minor 30 minutes. In reality, our problems may seem very serious, but they can be taken away very easily by television. The cause of this is mass media's influence on how these serious problems are resolved in "TV Land." It is warping society's idea on how problems can be resolved, or even given the idea that these problems of society are not needed to be worried about because of the way that they are treated as minor problems.
The television show Popular takes place at Kennedy High School in Los Angeles, California. The plot centers around two cliques of teens, the "in" crowd and the "out" crowd, led by Brooke McQueen and Sam McPherson, respectively. Although the show consists of conflicts regarding members of each clique, the main plot involves the never-ending disputes and rival between Brooke and Sam. Sam does not feel as though it is fair that equality between the two cliques is present and so she takes it upon herself to see that the "in" crowd pays for the way that they treat anyone that is not of their status. Sam struggles to gain equality with those of the more popular crowd within the school. By showing both types of crowds, it expands the viewing audience because everyone can relate to either on of the two crowds.
Walking down the hallway of Kennedy High School, one can easily spot out who the members of each of the two crowds are just by their appearance. Anyone who is blonde, beautiful, and looks as though she can be a model for the cover of a magazine can easily be a candidate for the popular crowd. What verifies the status of being apart of the "in" crowd is being a member of the cheerleading squad and by virtually dressing the same as Brooke McQueen. Every girl in the popular crowd strives to be the equivalent of Brooke. She seems to have mastered the art of being popular, beautiful and smart so easily, that she gives her peers a reason to believe that being able to accomplish all of these characteristics is of an easy task. For this reason, she is the perfect representation of the "in" crowd. Although she seems to be a sweet and kind person, Brooke's attitude towards Sam and her friends show just the opposite. Brooke hates the fact that Sam tries whatever it takes to lower the pedestal that Brooke and her cohorts believe they stand upon. This is why Brooke seems to show a rival attitude towards Sam. Unlike Brooke's rare occurrences of being seen acting arrogant, her friends are seen reminding others that only those of the popular crowd may rest upon the pedestal of which they stand, by ridiculing anyone that is not of the same social status of their own. They...
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