so, you want to cosplay poverty

[@Yharazayd]

adding a pinned comment for clarification: someone pointed out that the beginning of this video could be seen as being dismissive of anyone who identifies with films like *the virgin suicides* and *girl, interrupted* and how that dismissal could also be interpreted as a dismissal of their own mental health. so, i want to be clear: that part of the video is not intended to dismiss anyone's mental health or suggest that anyone is pretending to be depressed. as someone who grew up using tunblr and identifying with those movies, those gifsets and the so-called "sad girl aesthetic," my issue is with the romanticization of depression and s*icidal ideation. as a teenager, i loved those movies not only because i identified with them but because they made me feel like my depression made me beautiful and interesting, which, frankly, is a terrible, terrible way of thinking. those images made me not want to get help because i thought my depression, my sadness, is what made me me and what made me worthy. and that is a huge problem. i apologize if i wasn't clear enough about that. tl;dr: it's not bad that people identify with these films. but romanticizing their tragedies does more harm to our mental health than good.

[@Problematicphilosophie]

I started watching succession last night and accidentally stayed up until 4 am binge watching season 1. Just wanted to thank you for always putting out videos that suggest some of the best written films and shows I’ve ever watched.❤️ also that scene where Greg is trying to figure out which plaid slippers to bring had me rotfl 🤣

[@ms.sherry]

this genre always bugged me n i could never click w it as a genuine sad white girl myself🗿they feel inauthentic? n i actually think u hit the nail on the head better than i’ve seen other creators try to

[@dkg_gdk]

I think your video is very clear, some people are just too obsessed with themselves

[@DJVARAO]

You always activate those damn ninjas cutting onions around me... I fully agree with your critique of Lola. It seems like a movie about poor people made by a rich and gorgeous girl. At least Sophia Coppola is far more aware of her class and upbringing. Even though they faced bankruptcy at one point in her father's career, I doubt they ever experienced poverty. But Italians are not foreigners to the struggle of class. Thanks for your work. You've earned a new subscriber. Just stop cutting too many onions for us allergics.

[@JohnDorian-j7x]

They're just mad you called them out, lololol

[@afterdinnercreations936]

The actual stuff that comes with poverty is too unmarketable for the advertisers.

[@emisformaker]

Agreed. They want to skip over the everyday tragedies in favour of every single worst thing that could happen to a single person. Like having spent the last of your cash on gas to get to the laundromat only to find you're short enough change to actually start the load you already put detergent in. Having enough milk for everyone to have cereal in the morning every weekday, but not enough for a glass with dinner or for an extra bowl of cereal as a snack. Little stuff that happens every day, with no end in sight, is at least as tragic as events that are more 'obviously' tragic, but is significantly less saleable.

[@Belihoney]

@@emisformakerexactly, these are the things that wear you down and get you into potentially dangerous situations to see a way out

[@Januaryof28]

historic movies do this too and dont have depth the tragedy of the past

[@l.s.d.5863]

Similarly for depression. No one wants to make a movie about a chubby girl with greasy hair, overgrown toenails, and bad posture. It would be like seeing a woman in a zombie apocalypse movie who doesn't have clean shaven legs at all times. Unthinkable. lol

[@mikkosaarinen3225]

I'm going to disagree, true stories always sell. That's the reason they don't get told. Because there's a lot of power in whose stories get told. Stories create empathy and empathy towards the wrong people is very inconvenient for capitalism and other systems of oppression.

[@aidafuentesv]

I think what makes Parasite PARASITE is the fact that Bong Joon-ho is a sociologist before a film director, in all his films you can see what his real profession is

[@mckno8798]

A thousand times this

[@miaya.micronis]

Idk the man was a sociologist 😮 that makes sense now thinking about parasite

[@kkell5012]

korean horror in general has always had a *ton* of substance

[@primoattilio5207]

Poors are not so skilled.

[@savvyroca]

The movie mother comes to mind…social stigma, isolation, and honest levels of poverty.

[@krisjustbegun9740]

She really is posing in every shot. Her mouth is always pouty and slightly open and her makeup and hair always looks like it was professionally done.

[@spOOkytimes]

It's so hard to watch, especially when she cries. People make ugly faces when they cry. They get all red and puffy. If they have makeup on, it runs. Most people don't cry with a stone face 100% of the time. This is just one long modeling shoot.

[@xXx___xXx]

yeah that actress made the movie so much worse. It was so boring to look at her, cause her face is frozen all the time like she's afraid to show any emotion.

[@Pinokiopie]

yeah that is NOT how i cry

[@Pinokiopie]

@@spOOkytimes no, actually in modeling they try harder than that

[@natas3301]

In fact many people in poverty dont want to be seen as in one

[@aestheticalrose4553]

As someone who grew up with massive depression and anxiety problems and was also sexually traumatized at the ripe age of 13, I think my obsession with this tumblr aesthetic of the "sad white girl" was about me wanting to feel like I was beautiful and deep and aesthetic because of my sadness at a time when I felt my absolute worst and ugliest.

[@badgalirri]

same girly same... I would've loved this movie at that age like 15-20. Stunning visuals. Reminds me of Swedish 2000s movies. I would say it was very easy to fall into depression growing up in Sweden though because it's very quiet, dark, and cold.

[@khairunnisahanny3822]

oh i totally relate to this. as an 11 year old with internet access and was unsupervised, i went to tumblr in the mid 2010s and pretend that i am these white, thin, beautiful, and american (or european) girls despite not being any of those because they portray their suffering differently than what i experienced. it actually made me feel worse somehow, and i usually end up crying and lamenting that i am not them and i cannot be like them.

[@DxddysKitten34]

THANK YOU FOR THIS COMMENT By the way #metoo I've been sexualize since I was 14 groomed online and offline by older men and yeah have left me mostly depressed and anxious beyond belief and PTSD 😢 I hate people who romanticize mental health 😔

[@ciaraskeleton]

​@@badgalirrime too. Teenage me would have ate this up, but adult me is kind of revolted.

[@dw9524]

@@badgalirri any movie recs please for the swedish 2000's movies. im a cinephile and am tryna get into more stuff

[@thesixfootsixexperience8781]

I’m late to this but “her drug addiction is photoshoot ready” has to be the best summation of this trend

[@agnessofiacastrocarvalho774]

What trend?

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

Thank you for mentioning how EXPENSIVE poverty is. That's such an important thing the 'never poor' miss

[@Buggaton]

The Sam Vines Boot Theory of socio-economic politics. From a comedy fantasy writer (Terry Pratchett) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

[@Uhohlisa]

@@Buggaton I was about to mention the same thing.

[@AccordingToWillow]

it’s so frustrating trying to explain this to people because they literally do not understand what you mean and universally think you must be the one who is confused/misinformed

[@margaretforsey7763]

YES! I remember when I was living below the poverty line, and didn’t have health insurance, and would have to pay for my medications and it would be so expensive. And I remember several times buying something and the cashier would say it’s cheaper if you buy the bigger package, or we have a deal if you buy three packages of TP or whatever, they are cheaper, but I didn’t have the money to get the deal.

[@caitlinroseblaney226]

Late fees bc you don’t have the money to pay now, etc.

[@legendaryfrog4880]

Peltz is a billionaire. She got into acting because her dad bought her way into the industry. For Lola, she basically just watched an older Kesha music video and thought "wow, being poor is hot".

[@understandingthegore659]

😭😭

[@ennuiblue4295]

It's funny because she had a (smaller) part in Bates Motel. I went to Wikipedia to see if she was connected. I didn't anticipate she was *THAT* connected 🤣 they tell regular people to tale the small parts, yeah right, even the -ladder- roles are reserved to make it seem like they 'worked their way up'

[@Pinokiopie]

@@ennuiblue4295 also you can see how different her face looks there, and no it is not aging

[@juju-yr7zg]

This is the funniest shit I've read

[@sbostic08]

​@@ennuiblue4295Classic case of Nepotism

[@jordanetherington1922]

"Even her drug addiction is photoshoot ready" is a chef's kiss line. Perfect.

[@recovery_rider]

Shameless US has the same vibe, I always got the feelin it was written by wealthy affluent people who've never truly experienced poverty

[@shack12319]

​@@recovery_riderstop watching Hollywood and come see the real america u will be shocked

[@bottomofastairwell]

Right? Like I can personal promise addiction is NOT pretty. There's nothing aesthetic about it. The fact that ANYONE can claw their way out of addiction is a miracle, and yes, THAT should be celebrated. But I'm so offer these casual depictions of addiction like it's some afterthought, some cute sexy quirk, and not the absolute life ruining nightmare it actually is

[@nice1cool]

I just came out of addiction and either people who never dealt with addiction or in the beginning phases where they still think they have the control and it’s helping them be better or more “relaxed and fun” or more “focused” and haven’t realized the demon they’re actually facing

[@loringpark]

Yes!

[@rachel3760]

You’re so right about the acting. She’s gorgeous, but all I see in every scene is her looking gorgeous. I don’t see sadness or happiness or anger or anxiety or euphoria or withdrawal. I see a beautiful woman posing for a camera you can tell she’s aware of.

[@Hannah_R400]

A GOOD representation of the working class is the *Netflix show: The Maid*, she looks disheveled, she has highs, lows more lows, and then another low, she falls, she gets up, she isn't always perfectly made up, her hair isn't always done, she doesn't have pretty form-flattering clothes... when I watched it for the first time it felt like I was really watching someone's life story, its something I've heard before I've seeeen before in others lives.

[@libragirl4471]

Yes yes that movie gets it right

[@laraparry-t3f]

yes! defo agree with this, and even Margaret Qualley is a nepo baby but the story is so well written!

[@Hannah_R400]

@@laraparry-t3f true but most actors are nepo baby anyway so we can't be picky LOL But yeah the maid was a good show and depicts major struggle well! :)

[@agnessofiacastrocarvalho774]

I can't take Margaret Qualley seriously after seen Drive-away dolls

[@fancybyfolly]

​@@laraparry-t3f i guess the thing about margaret qualley is that she doesn't have to know what poverty feels like to play someone living in poverty because she's talented enough to embody that character, much like how bong-joon ho never experienced the same poverty depicted in parasite and still wrote an incredible movie. can't exactly say that about nicola. if margaret qualley tried to write something maid or lola, i think she'd do a terrible job. but she didn't and she likely never will. she knows that's not her lane. again, can't say that about nicola.

[@adamtherock2008]

Nicola Peltz’s father Nelson was in serious competition to purchase Disney at one point. That’s the level of wealth we’re talking about here.

[@kittylover2508]

It's kind of malicious, that they're making coins with a movie about poverty to become even richer.

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

She's sort of like that Sackler director (I don't remember her first name and it doesn't matter because her last name is the only thing that matters).

[@kostajovanovic3711]

Sacklers also have a film director among them?

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

@@kostajovanovic3711 Yep. She used Opiod money to briefly establish herself as a social justice documentary film director/producer. It's amazing what you can do with money.

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

@@kostajovanovic3711 Yes. She used Purdue pharma money to set herself up as a poverty/prison documentary producer and director.

[@dangernoodle9961]

The Florida project is one film that depicts poverty, showing many of the bad parts of it, but still letting some of it be pretty and whimsical because the main character is a child. Movies about people in poverty don't have to be super dark and gritty, but they do need to have depth.

[@daughterofyemoja]

Yes, The Florida Project is a really good movie. I think Netflix's Maid also did a good job at depicting a single mother living in poverty.

[@pocketsizeforyourtravelcon3325]

I loved the Florida project! They used people who actually lived in those hotels too, as extras, which I think adds to the realism. That and the clandestine filming at Magic Kingdom.

[@y2ktora73]

Literally!!! I hate it when I see a movie about a “poor family” and they live in a 2 floor house with a car😭😭😭

[@y2ktora73]

I loved the Florida project

[@botheyesopen]

I loved that about The Florida Project and it baffled me that it got criticized for those elements. I remember some people talking about how it romanticized poverty like what?? I guess because it wasn't a constant stream of misery.

[@cassandralyris4918]

This feels like what a rich person THINKS being born poor is like. It would've gone a long way just by showing Lola stealing all that makeup she's using. Having to go to a friend's house to shower because yours is turned off. Having your local gas station demand you take your coat off in the middle of a Midwest winter because you got caught stealing a banana once. Begging for car rides to work only for your once "friend" to demand a sex act first. Arlo would've been taken by CPS long before Lola even became a teenager. She wouldn't know that, she's never dealt with any state's DCFS. There is absolutely NO way CPS wouldn't have become involved long before she became a stripper, let alone an addict. The reality is that it doesn't matter how pretty she is, that's fleeting and people above you in status generally act in their own self interest to keep you down because frankly it makes them feel better. "I might not be rich, but at least I'm not Lola!" Just like I wouldn't know what it's like to have been born as privileged as Nicola Peltz-Beckham, she has absolutely no idea what it meant to be born like me, and that shows.

[@NonnaPossum1312]

For real! I need to do another hate watch to see what brands Lola uses, I can say for certain I have never paid for an ELF product but hoo boy do I wear primarily ELF because it's easy to grab and readily available. And you were bang-on about the CPS thing. I was the kid taken by CPS. It's not fun being the kid in the middle. Arlo really felt like a tragedy p0rn box for Peltz to tick in this movie, which felt gross as both a gender nonconforming person AND a now-adult who used to be the kid stuck in the system for many years. I honestly don't think I've been more annoyed at how out of touch a film is, at least not to this level.

[@dw9524]

So true. Its crazy they didn't even know what CPS is. What about her going to collect food stamps or government assistance. Unable to pay rent ect.

[@psychedelicyeti6053]

What's Walmart? Is that where people go buy wall stuff? 🤔

[@ambervargas4365]

Walmart is a grocery store, so they also sell stuff like clothes and food

[@drugstore999cowgrl]

❤❤❤❤

[@TimeMovie93150]

i can't help but notice that nicola is only ever filmed showing the left side of her face??? i can't unnotice it

[@catscats4427]

Probably her favourite side lol

[@TimeMovie93150]

@@catscats4427 oh for sure but how insecure must you be to shoot an entire movie only showing one side your face????

[@Nari-7022]

@@TimeMovie93150 having seen the movie - this isnt actually true. in this very video it shows both sides pretty equally. not really sure what this comment actually means

[@helo.angeli]

i cannot unsee it omg

[@medeiats1031]

omg i noticed it right away and cannot stop seeing it. like all the shots are built that way even when it doesn't make sense to show this part of her face

[@Stickit2daman]

It’s so interesting to me when I open up to people about my childhood and upbringing. I was raised in Kentucky outside of the Appalachian mountains. My mother didn’t work and is autistic, and my father a raging bipolar with PTSD from an abusive childhood. He always worked hard to provide for us, but his mental illnesses and lack of a college degree/job opportunities lead us to often not having enough food to eat. They were both too stubborn to get onto government healthcare or food stamps, nor go to food banks, so often it was school food or no food. I didn’t grow up with the luxury of snacks. I didn’t understand sugar until I was 10 and started going to friend’s houses. I didn’t understand spices in food until my first restaurant job at 16. We didn’t have much at all. I watched my parents nearly lose everything a few times. My father nearly killing himself, my parents losing cars and once almost losing our house. They were both abusive in their various ways, but neglect was what ran deepest. I survived with broken bones that had to heal on their own, needing to be re-broken and fixed later in my adult years. I had a TBI and never received proper care as a child. My parents slowly, in all of their internal suffering, deeply damaged my brothers and I. Whether it was what I mentioned above or the slow grip of hoarding that took over the entire house, I wasn’t safe as a child. At times I was loved in the only ways I suppose they could love, but I wasn’t safe. I have such hesitation when opening up to people about what I’ve been through. SA, childhood trauma, my TBI, poverty, all of it. I’ve had romantic partners in the past stay silent after I’ll confide something in them, only later to say “I wish I had something like that happen to me. I feel like I have no strength.” I will never understand the disconnect between someone hearing a story of struggle, calling it beautiful or strengthening, and then when shown the negative side of the struggle they once so highly praised (such as PTSD), they see the person as disgusting while still praising the journey. Fucking blows my mind.

[@lavandercharmander2307]

Instead of comforting you,they instead wish it upon themselves???Do they have any brain or common sense??.I hope you are healing properly now and you take care of your health

[@LokiMartin-i6s]

My father was also bipolar with PTSD from being abused as a child. He was also very abusive towards me. Mostly verbal and emotionally, but he also liked to threaten me that he was going to beat me with a phone book because "it won't leave marks", he liked to comment every time.

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

@Stickit2daman -- Wtf... I'm so sorry you had to, after everything you've endured and survived, put up with that kind of bs ignorant response from a partner. Because first of all -- NO. And secondly, how disgustingly self-centered. . If it helps, it's definitely entirely them that is the problem, and not at all you. . And there's no getting anywhere with people like that. I speak from experience; I separated from my abusive ex only to find out my contraceptive failed and ended up choosing to adopt out because I was in no fit state to raise a child and definitely didn't want my ex near the kid. My (neglectful, mostly-abandoned me to my abusive then-stepmother by being a workaholic) father's response to that was to say that he was disappointed that he was being deprived of the chance to be a grandfather. . That he could even think that, let alone say it out loud to his pregnant, traumatized daughter, who was in the midst of making an extremely difficult decision (that would hurt either way it went) for the best interests of an unplanned-for innocent child... and he didn't even notice the appalled look on my face. It never occured to him to look and see. Because ultimately my response didn't matter to him -- only his thoughts and feelings and the expressing of them. . I understood then that his lack of awareness and self-absorption were, while not deliberately malicious, basically uncurable. Other people were barely real to him save for if he found them interesting at any given moment or not, so ofc their feelings couldn't come into play to be considered, because they didn't exist. Cardboard cutouts have no feelings, you know, and that's all most of us are to him. . So, I guess, here's some company in your misery of other peoples' stupidity! And I hope life gets less miserable for you, on all fronts and particularly that one, because you deserve a better-quality person for a partner.

[@monicathurman5245]

I relate to you deeply. I'm realizing that about someone I thought was a real friend. I wanted to believe she got me, so I just kept giving her opportunities to treat me right. She's frequently told me how strong I am, while becoming more judgy, uppity, and self-righteous with every real-life problem I confide in her about. Real suffering is not beautiful to look at or experience in the moment.

[@Stickit2daman]

@@monicathurman5245 I wish you the best on your healing journey, from the bottom of my heart. Understand how others view you is not yours to carry. Find support in others, take care of yourself.

[@slavmetal]

This is petty, but it's hard to watch a film attempting to depict authentic poverty when the lead actress' face has been so surgically perfected. She's literally wearing her wealth on her face.

[@varuni4390]

Exactly! Along with the posing for the camera it just feels very self-indulgent and not authentic. But what can you really expect from someone who even curates their mental health on instagram...

[@soilgrasswaterair]

She looks like most natural Scandinavian females you see at high schools and at universities. Not sure why ”perfect” looking according to you has anything to do with not being allowed to be on screen. With or without the surgeries, you and other still wouldn’t look like her because you don’t share genetics. That’s your main issue, not understanding biology makes us into individuals and what you punish yourself for and try to solve by shaming others, is rooted in your development psychology where your needs weren’t met that should have taught you to move in the world without putting yourself down and praising a certain look that might be attractive to you. Humans don’t come in a fixed mold! We look different and are not suppose to look exsctly the same. Shame the bs norms instead of other women!

[@gumihoreyiz]

​@@soilgrasswaterair she supposed to be poor.malnourishment and stress can affect how your face looks.also rich men marrying beautiful women=pretty children and if they are not pretty they can afford plastic surgery soo we unconsciously associate beauty with richness.why not casting ordinary looking person?

[@paucalderon8326]

@@soilgrasswaterair Slavmetal never said Nicola shouldn't be in any film lol and nobody is shaming her for being beautiful.

[@alchemicalnurturer]

It’s actually ridiculous. These celebs are out to lunch. So tasteless.

[@thelastchannelonyoutube]

“It’s an art house movie about poverty written, directed, and starring the white girl who played a Asian person in Last Airbender because her dad was a producer.” My head is imploding in on itself

[@zhing9970]

Same, knowing that she's white Katara in a movie that I pretend to not exist is giving me whiplash

[@spOOkytimes]

Plus she is insanely conventionally attractive. I understand the world isn't always handed to people just because they are good looking, but it certainly makes some things easier.

[@urnotl0r0s]

WAIT WHAT?

[@kaeg.7800]

it's insane how rich her dad is. it just makes this film more aggravating.

[@seeleunit2000]

If it wasn't true this could serve as a parody for a mad TV skit. Seriously, this woman should stick to something else besides writing

[@jerrodwendland]

I mean... I just look at the footage from Lola, and can't believe it for a second! It's like she's never seen an interior space that hasn't been designed by a professional. My house doesn't look as pristine as some of these rooms.

[@sp.2778]

I could hardly see the interior space because the shots were zoomed in so close to her face lmao

[@spOOkytimes]

She must have a maid on staff lol even when people do have nice decor, it gets dirty. Did she have a lot of time to clean in between jobs?

[@NonnaPossum1312]

I had the same thought. Not a single wall with a crack, or uneven landlord-white paint, or that dingy grey smudging along the edges near doors and windows. Not one cracked, uneven countertop with an edge that doesn't meet the wall evenly. The oven with rust along one edge bubbling under the paint. Pitted and corroded screen window frames. Hell, a torn screen! None of it is there! We don't live in Wes Anderson sets!

[@vb7960]

That bathroom looks like it's getting cleaned everyday and is barely used... it's just weirdly pristine at this point

[@alim.9801]

​@@NonnaPossum1312 the grey smudging is so real!!

[@knivesliner]

the fact that the actress for the "supporting best friend" is also the actress of teddy's "black best friend", ivy, is insane.

[@WeirdSkellyK1]

Her and Brooklyn are perfect for each other 😂 shes as good an actor as he is a chef/photographer

[@ApatheticBananas]

I am 21 year old white girl who struggles with depression, anxiety, addictive traits, and live alone in poverty. My life isn't a vibe. It's not an aesthetic. I use every dollar I have for gas money so I can get to class and work, and depend on food banks for food. You don't see clips in these movies of these pretty poor girls waiting in line at the unemployment office or trying to set up a payment plan for a speeding ticket you can't afford. It just frustrates me watching these movies of girls who are supposed to relate to me and my life experiences, but instead reminds me that I look uglier, my clothes are cheaper, and my home is worse than the portrayal of poverty.

[@NonnaPossum1312]

So fucking sick of seeing characters in movies be months and months behind on rent and still housed. How. Where the fuck did you find a landlord who would give you that kinda grace period to pay up??

[@alim.9801]

I'd love to see a movie with someone eating peanut butter with a spoon for every meal, because that's actually how poverty looks sometimes man

[@coreragestudios3430]

Fr, and I'm not even a female

[@A_G_85]

Just wanna say, your pic is amazing, fellow Poly Styrene fan here!!

[@cjaria444]

​@@NonnaPossum1312 RIGHT like oh no the character is months behind on their rent how hard for them no no there's not being behind on your rent there's eviction and homelessness is what there is

[@crestflames492]

i think the best depiction of poverty I’ve seen was in the Netflix series Maid, but that’s because it’s based on a memoir written by a woman who experienced the things depicted. And it does portray resilience, and the main character attempting to make a better life for herself and her daughter.

[@michellecgb]

I was thinking about Maid for so much of this video

[@tel780]

I immediately thought of maid. It's really stressful without being over the top.

[@khadyadjisall5708]

L’assomoir and Nana also depicts poverty, alcoholism and sex work. The books are amazing, the movie adaptation are also good, but they’re in French so you might neeed subtitles

[@razmataz13drums]

Ironically played by someone that will also never understand poverty. I do think maid, whilst good does suffer from sad pretty white girl. I'm sorry but her story would not be the same if she wasn't beautiful. If she wasnt thin and pretty you wouldn't have the tragically beautiful vibe that is maid. I do like maid , so I know that might sound harsh, but that show would be totally different if she wasn't thin, white and beautiful

[@jessicaodonovan]

@@razmataz13drums this was exactly my thoughts while watching Maid. I really wish more people spoke about how inappropriate the casting of Margaret Qualley was. I don't care if her acting is good, to cast someone who is the model of wealth, privilege and nepotism was in poor taste and undermined the integrity of the story.

[@1pixxiy]

im cryin HOW do u write a script in THREE DAYS LMAOOOOO

[@facthunt2facthunt245]

Sylvester Stallone wrote Rocky in three days.

[@beewest5704]

Sounds like Tyler Perry.

[@NonnaPossum1312]

Peltz is what we call a nepo-baby. She has money and connections. A rushed and empty trash script is an easy sell when you have connections.

[@schwärmerei]

Stallone wrote one for Rocky. But it is rather an exception

[@wintermute5974]

Cocaine.

[@BroeyDeschanel]

Ahhh such a great video, we love nuance! To add - going back to the veneers discussion, I have a hard time buying into a movie about abject poverty with a lead actress who has a full face of plastic surgery and filler. It's simply not working. This is also such a funding issue to me - so many talented writers and directors out there are finding it impossible to get their work off the ground and then everyone once in a while an extremely wealthy person with no sense of vision or originality comes along and is able to make something like this - which makes the poverty p*rn that much more ridiculous.

[@alicefindlay4706]

As an ex-stripper that aspect of the story really annoying. I get why Nicola would want to pretend to be a stripper like the aesthetic is genuinely so fire- lol haha also sidenote genZ strippers are really bringing it. But in general I honestly have never seen women so beautiful, graceful, sensual and ethereal as the women i worked with at the club. I mean they practice being sexy every night. but it all just comes with such a huge and painful cost to work there. I often would see girls crying at work. Therese are nightly threats to your safety and some are obvious but also just the subtle ways you lose ones social status- pretty much being an outcast with church people sometimes protesting outside the club as you walk in to work is shit. Nicola could really never understand this and it's just sus she's using it for clout.

[@cecee3480]

She told another dancer to cover for her. As a stripper of over 10 years yeah that doesn’t work. You have to go tell management you need to leave. That could have been a scene itself. They didn’t show once how vile staff is at the clubs. Only got to see one other dancer.

[@alicefindlay4706]

@@cecee3480 hahahaha same at my club. Please we need some stripper-led films bout strippers out here

[@alexandotron]

I am a gen z stripper! And I’d love a stripper movie, BUT made by strippers. Hustlers with Jennifer Lopez is not the most accurate depiction of our jobs. It kind of just becomes about Jennifer Lopez 😂

[@alicefindlay4706]

@@alexandotron we should make one. I'm literally doing my masters in design and film rn

[@Nassifeh]

Jolie's character in Girl Interrupted has poor people hair. That's it, that's the big difference, for me? She looked real. Jolie sold it because she was willing to look like she was a real mess. Lola's hair is just... it's so silky and perfectly messy, even at her worst points. Peltz Beckham just seems unwilling to actually step into the worlds I've lived in, with a real boxed bleach job and a drugstore conditioner and a haircut that looks like she did it herself. Jolie grew up with the same amount of privilege, but she always presented like the kind of person who wasn't too *good* for the audience. Lisa was attractive because she was like the girls I was in love with when I was basically Susanna. She wasn't some other fake cosplay version of that. I don't think Jolie really knew what it was like to be poor, but at least back then I think she cared about understanding it, and... yeah, this is not that.

[@Yharazayd]

yes! that's what i mean when i say even her drug addiction looks aesthetically pleasing. she's unwilling to show the ugliness of anything beyond the cruel circumstances (and even those are visually patable)

[@lbec9487]

Not just her hair, poor people have real teeth, not extra white, million dollar caps. And real skin with acne and scars and under eye shadows. Especially if they’re doing drugs, they’re not taking care of their skin and teeth. Even their house is too well adorned in vintage chic.

[@Nassifeh]

@@Yharazayd Yeah, this, and something about how she seems to mistake it for personal ugliness, like it feels defensive--she doesn't want to be onscreen in close up with bad skin or a bad haircut because that would make her and the character ugly, but it really doesn't, it just makes them real, and if anything real is _more_ attractive.

[@Nassifeh]

@@lbec9487 Yes, I have in fact been poor, I'm aware of this. It's like a synecdoche, a thing standing in for the whole experience. But also like, sure some poor people don't have bad teeth or acne (even though I had both), but I _never_ knew anybody IRL with hair that good, so it's really jarring.

[@carrington2949]

Nicola grew up the daughter of a billionaire. While Jolie’s father had money, did her mom have any as well? I assumed she was one of those kids from a 2 strata socioeconomic background.

[@nbcb96]

It feels like this movie is a way for a rich girl to think “well yeah it's hard to be poor but you need to look at it as a growing opportunity, just stop being sad about being poor and break the cycle mama”

[@d3nza482]

First step about not being poor is realizing you don't want to be poor and deciding to stop being poor. Kinda like deciding not to die of cancer.

[@orphanedhanyou]

​@@d3nza482 there is zero comparison between cancer & poverty beyond you can be born with both. One you can do something about yourself. The other not even the best scientists & the richest pockets can stop.

[@ViraL_FootprinT.ex.e]

Their smug, condescending "bootstraps" & "meritocracy" preaching has definitely reached new lows.

[@cacamas]

​@@d3nza482I get that, but sometimes you just cant get out of being poor, ar least not ethically.

[@omg9261]

​@@d3nza482 your comment is funny, but not in a way you wanted it to be. You clearly know nothing about cancer. Decision not to die IS a decision and it IS freaking crucial. I'm not even gonna write an essay here. Just don't talk about cancer ever since you clearly have no idea what it is.

[@trala8911]

Not to make blanket generalisations (read: blanket generalisation incoming), but poor people just don’t look like that. As a certified ‘poor’ myself, most people with bugger all money don’t have that hair, those lip injections, those teeth, that perfect makeup. Because those things, cost money. Most cheap foundation doesn’t look flawless up-close. Most poor drug addicts can’t afford to be addicted to coke, and if they can, it shows - wounds from picking at their skin (nothing will make you think “that tiny blocked pore sure does need scratching out of my face!” quite like 15 lines of coke), chipped teeth, bags under the eyes from never sleeping. Most homes of those south of the poverty line don’t look that spotless either, though admittedly you’ll have more energy to clean if you’re a coke addict.

[@ddahlia3607]

i think there could be interesting conversations to have about class and beauty. like there’s different beauty standards in poorer communities and beauty aesthetics and really different. and it would be interesting to see her actively choose makeup/beauty treatments despite the overall cost because i know other poor women who do that because it the difference can mean more tips at a service job! or maybe wearing lipstick is the only place of control/beauty available. but this movie doesnt even reckon l with that and just has the main character flawlessly beautiful because… ?

[@defiantender]

@@seroquelchamber poverty maybe doesnt have a face but rich kids these days do have a face. she has an obvious nose job and other procedures. sex workers coming from poverty often have lip filler but not their whole face done. she has the millennial/genz nepo baby face

[@alicefindlay4706]

nothing says poverty like a perfectly chiseled nose job

[@trala8911]

@seroquelchamber I’d say this is also a matter of degrees of poverty, and also degrees of sex work. I’ve never had an income dependent on sex work, though when I was a heroin addict I did have sex for money a couple of times. That said, I’ve never met a full service street sex worker who could afford to go to the gym. All of them were drug addicts and many of them were homeless - it didn’t matter if their income was based on their appearance, they quite simply did not have the money. They either didn’t wear makeup, or they shoplifted it if they did. Degrees of poverty. On the other hand, I’ve never met a stripper who didn’t go to the gym, because even if they’re not exactly wealthy, they’re making a decent enough wage to be able to afford that sort of a luxury as opposed to just working out at home. Degrees of sex work. Realistically there’s a world of difference between making £200 in a night stripping and giving 3 £15 blowjobs on a Friday night in order to afford enough gear not to rattle. As someone from a poor family in a poor town, very poor people absolutely look different in adulthood. Are there outliers? Sure. But people living in abject poverty who are buying the cheapest supermarket or £1 shop soap and shampoo, who can’t afford conditioner, for dudes they’re using cheap single or double blade razors to shave and using them well past when they’re blunt, they’re cutting their own hair, wearing cheap or secondhand clothing, can’t afford to be wearing sunscreen consistently and working very long hours so they’re tired, poor nutrition can also show in the skin… yes, there is often a visible difference between someone living well below the poverty line and someone living even just a lower class lifestyle, never mind a middle or upper class lifestyle. There is a big difference in lifestyle - even if it’s not such a massive difference in income - between lower class and underclass.

[@cecee3480]

Drug use doesn’t have a face. I will say it’s unrealistic how easy it was for her to wake up that early everyday. Even with cocaine. The way she didn’t wake up miserable once was shocking. I’ve been a stripper for over 10 years.

[@kaylaj4417]

the point about precious not being in the tumbler gifs is soooo strong. loved that you mentioned it

[@NoOneReallySpecial]

Which is crazy, cause every time I think of suffering/poverty, Precious is one of the first movies my brain goes to and I am one of those white; depressed sad (not Tumblr or even social media) girls who is struggling in life but I am disabled so maybe that's the difference?

[@alextheo9766]

It really shows that a rich person made this movie. The drug of choice for a working class girl is coke.... COKE

[@PeachysMom]

IKR I’ve been a dirt poor addict and coke was out of reach for me We do recover!

[@Ree0019]

Wasn’t it a downer? Powder comes in all forms, love.

[@elainez]

Haven't seen the movie but if it was coke, I find it even more unbelievable that she looks so perfect in every frame. Coke's an extremely toxic drug that can have detrimental physical effects, such as extreme weight loss, nasal issues, and decline of oral and nasal hygiene, and so much more.

[@genocider9782]

never been into drugs, but is coke some kinda rich people drug or what? what do working class people end up using?

[@catgrace-e2j]

​@@genocider9782they use crack

[@sobertillnoon]

"nothing is more beautiful than a woman in tears"???? What the actual fu…? That's some psycho shit.

[@malicia2935]

A lot of men actually get off on tears...

[@electricfishfan]

Classic men confusing emotional intimacy for sexuality again and setting up entire industries about it

[@ssua3035]

thats why ive never vibed with french new wave... just yikes

[@priojong]

@@malicia2935 i am not kidding you i saw a tiktok of someone saying that messy makeup caused by crying turns him on. though, he claimed it was a joke so many others agreed w it. very absurd and disgusting, and girls who like this aesthetic feed into this fetish

[@spOOkytimes]

If someone says this unironically, RUN

[@anacecilia1387]

07:02 "aesthetically pleasing sadness" is such a disturbing concept, it just reminds me that this society can talk about mental health awareness as much as it wants, but it will only work if we can look at people having not-pretty, not-sanitized emotional reactions without getting grossed out of thinking less of them for it.

[@dancer1038]

yes exactly. I'm bipolar and the moment my mania isn't 'fun' people call me crazy and leave. The moment my depression isn't just being sad they get disgusted and leave. Everyone is okay with mental illness until the symptoms aren't just 'being sad'.

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

@dancer1038 -- Same with trauma responses. . Sure, you were abused and assaulted and betrayed, and you're angry and bitter and distrustful and prone to lashing out defensively and having panic attacks. But it's not like you can't be visibly grateful for some patronizing 'kind words' and a semi-useful handout or two, right? Abuse is no excuse for rudeness! . Why do you have to be traumatized in such an inconvenient, sullen, resentful, unattractively scowling way? Instead of being a self-denigrating, low self-esteem having woobie so that your condescendingly 'helpful' patron can feel properly appreciated for the magnanimous saviour that they are as they humble-brag about their pet charity-case to their friends? . */s* . As a very small example of how much some people resent you depriving them of their saviour-moment : when I broke my ankle and was out running (so to speak) errands, surprisingly often, men and women would rush to get doors open for me or help move things or something (while explaining, entirely unasked, about their experience being hindered by some similar injury). I'm a small female, so I suppose they pegged me as a distressed damsel and an easy way to get their do-good'er points for the day. . If I said I didn't need assistance, even politely, some (again, both men and women) would get angry and insistent about helping me. Often then try to offer further assistance until I was sufficiently verbally and visibly 'grateful' at them as I declined any more help, and they could go off feeling saintly about themselves. . And that's just how they reacted to my ruining their brief hero-fantasy; nevermind how people treated me when I was in the middle of some of my worse trauma reactions and wasn't kissing their feet for their patronizing non-help or unnecessary (usually anxiety-worsening) interference.

[@averenelux6412]

In all honesty you can see the way people that made this movie see poverty in the way that Lola looked. In the world of the movie, the director wants me to find her beautiful and pity her, because "In another lifetime she could be a model or an actress! Look how beautiful she is!" Such a shame that such pretty girl is poor and looks so rugged!" Her makeup is picture perfect, she's clean and pretty and shiny. But as a person that spent winters in a house without heating because my family couldn't afford it I know how expensive being "pretty" and "clean" is. If she's saving up and struggling why would she buy makeup, bleach her hair. My family sometimes wouldn't buy shampoo to save money and would shower two times a week because warm water was a luxury. I bought my first lipstick at seventeen after I got some money for my birthday and I when I got to the cash register and heard the price I wanted to put it back. It was the least expensive lipstick in the store. This could have been a point in the movie, as you said, that her looks were the only thing she could control so she had an obsession with looking good and spent her money on it even though she shouldn't. It would be really relatable to me at least. But Nicola Peltz-Beckham probably don't know how much the makeup cost the same way that Logan's kids didn't know how much a gallon of milk costs. And she could wear makeup, but not the kind she did. Looking at her face we could see: lipstick, eyeshadow (more than one color), highliter, foudation, eyeliner, blush, mascara and eyebrow pencil. Ohh and her brows are done and hair hair looks like it was cut in a salon. That alone would cost a fortune, not to mention doing it everyday would make her run out of product quickly. But for Nicola all of that is probably pocket money, if she even knows how much it cost. Lola is supposed to be poor but at the same time look like a godess so the viewer thinks she doesn't deserve her life in a poverty because of her beauty. That was all of her character. Other poor characters are "ugly" in a sense and because they're not as good and pretty as Lola, they deserve to live in poverty. Because only bad people deserve it in the mind of the makers. Lola is beautiful so she doesn't. We need to pity her. She beautiful, she's depresed and she's a poor drug addict. A perfect set of traits for a pretty, depressed, girl movie. And all of that because who's going to care about suffering and struggles of poor people who aren't actually rich models with face full of makeup?

[@annabeinglazy5580]

Tbf i havent Watched the movie but i know how important respectability and "looking Clean" was to my Gran. So a poor character buying Makeup and bleaching her Hair doesnt surprise me. What does surprise is that it doesnt seem to adress the fact that If she is spending Money on that... That Money has to come from somewhere. In my grans Case that Money would come from skipping meals. Shed make Sure her Kids got ice cream but she would be "Just Not hungry". Or Take a cold shower instead of turning on the Boiler. Hell, you could even show a Letter that a Bill hasnt been paid, or going into your meager savings, which could later bite you in the backside. You could make it visible, how hard it is to maintain the fancy Looks and Show what it says about her character. What shes willing to sacrifice in Order to keep looking "respectable", whatever that Looks Like for her. But that would Show Nuance, and the movie doesnt Look too Interested in that 😅

[@LadyGreensleeves33]

To be fair, if she's working as a stripper - having your makeup/nails/hair done is usually a requirement of the job, sad as it is to say. I've had friends that have done it off and on and, depending where you do it, they can get pretty strict with it. So that doesn't shock me. But the staying power/quality of it wouldn't be nearly as good as what's clearly going on there without a high budget.

[@ggeemmiinnii]

Being and looking clean doesn't have to be expensive, even if you're homeless. If you get to know cashiers at gas stations, they may let you wash up in the bathroom when it's not busy. They let me. Sober date 05 Mar 2017, btw

[@skooshy621]

@@ggeemmiinnii Seven years sober . . . that is a huge achievement. You know what it is REALLY like to be homeless. I wish the makers of films about poverty would seek you out for true insight rather than fly with their daft ideas of what poverty is like. Oh wait . . . they're selling the IDEA of poverty that they know will sell to a core audience . . . pretty, sad white girl films for a pretty, sad white girl audience. It's about as authentic as Mr Trump's blond locks. A massive well done for your tremendous efforts and success, and I wish you all the best.

[@anastasiya8314]

Dollar tree exists and has good makeup I wear it to this day and it looks just as good as the expensive brands.

[@noraeable]

That personal anecdote about the differing view of the power being shut off really resonated me. When I was a kid, my favorite night of the week was hotdog and mac and cheese night. It was my favorite dinner because I got hotdogs and Kraft mac and cheese. A few years ago, I was talking to my mom about it, and she confided in me that those nights were her worst because she couldn't afford to give me and my brother a dinner that was, at least in her mind, better. She relied on hotdogs and mac and cheese to feed us on a budget while I simply enjoyed it in its simplicity.

[@sappyzap]

it's not so common anymore but in my country (Argentina) a film genre was born in the 90s amongst a huge economic crisis, and it took the job of depicting real poverty and marginalized people on their daily life activities, sometimes even living on the street. It's called cine costumbrista (something like "customist cinema") and many socially charged movies and series came from it, where you can easily relate to some characters or situations, or even find them funny, to be brought back to reality with how miserable they are. Some have a happy ending, others don't. I'm a poor woman myself right now and still in the same country so I've been rewatching old movies from that time period and some new movies from elsewhere and realized exactly what your video is about, everything is made to look so.... pretty, perfect and polished. Makes me wonder where are the women with unkempt hair, nails and clothes? why do they worry more about makeup than having something to eat? (men too, but you mostly see women affected by this need for perfection on film and irl). I could never see myself in a movie like this one because it's just so unrealistic, and doesn't really work as fiction. I'm not saying only poor people should portray us, but damn at least do proper research lmao idk talk to poor people. While I'm latina and not korean, I could resonate more with Parasite because of the way the characters and their surroundings are depicted. I can see that and say yes, he knows what he's talking about. As for cinema/series in my country I absolutely recommend it if you're/someone who reads this is interested :) some actors were even actual poor people who got hired for the role and that makes it much more familiar and real, there's nothing forced about it and that's what, to me, makes for good cinema. Sorry for the long text I got really invested with the video

[@milagroscabrera5304]

me temo que devorarste

[@lolagreen644]

another day, another coronación de gloria🇦🇷🇦🇷

[@salvatiziana854]

es re loco ver a alguien hablar de nuestras crisis y movimientos cinematrograficos, anyways, you ate and informed.

[@Ironattheend]

As someone who has spent years (in my free time from my "real" jobs) trying to perfect my screenwriting, deep-diving into the artform, soaking up every scrap of a lesson from every corner I could, the most devastating part of this is to hear some rich kid spent 3 days on a screenplay, immediately got it made, and is now making money off of that endeavor. I hate that I love movies so god damn much lol

[@rahbeeuh]

Please don't let that stop you. I know it's a slap in the face but take time to feel how you feel, process and eventually continue onward.

[@ssua3035]

and got THE quincy jones to produce it... still nepo babies will tell us they "earned" everything through hard work

[@jmz2144]

Do you have a completed screenplay?

[@SamSherr-Nelson-n9e]

If it makes it better, I'd wager that screenwriting has a little less nepotism than acting. While acting is equal in skill required and has the same skill cieling, you CAN get anyone who looks the part acting classes and they can not have an amazing performance and it's profit-wise fine, but because it's so fundamentally hard to make a shitty script sell-able, there's probably a much higher barrier to entry into screenwriter skill-wise. Normally you wouldn't like the barrier to entry, but that means I'd wager that while knowing people is equally important, the gap between you and Zack Efron's son is much smaller than if you were to take up acting, and you might even have an advantage. IDK what percentage of screenwriters started out just normal, can't be too low

[@Ironattheend]

@@jmz2144 I've completed one full-length movie screenplay and I have a couple others that are shorter and like, far too artsy and weird to be profitable in any way, not really intending to have any of them made (I'm still not solidly happy with the full-length piece and I think it's ultimately a fundamental issue so I've abandoned it for now).

[@Omni0404]

It's funny that they said they wrote the script in 3 days, because I just read an article about the Beavis and Butt-head skit on SNL and they had been planning that thing for 5 years. It really puts it into perspective.

[@MossTunic]

no way 😭 i think it really shows her naivete to admit she only spent 3 days on a whole script. it's not impossible to make something great in 3 days but with her also saying she has no direct experience with poverty, it's just disrespectful to not spend a lot more time & resources on deep diving into the life she's trying to portray.

[@thal08emd97]

how can anyone spend 3 days to write a movie script, that's insane lmao

[@lookitskatiex]

@@thal08emd97Mental illness. I’ve written drafts of novels in a week (cohesive ones) when my meds needed to be adjusted.

[@CooSharn]

@@thal08emd97she probably wrote the word “poor” on a napkin in three days and sent it to a scriptwriter. I wouldn’t read too much into the 3 day comment. Even if she did write it in 3 days it would be first draft consisting of just the plot outline/

[@alim.9801]

That not only speaks to how little effort they put into this script, but also how much people undestimate the time and care it takes to produce comedy

[@pyroprince90]

Didn’t know who this even was, looked up her dad and he’s like clearly one of the actual super evil billionaires because he has had his hands in food systems. Real ugly stuff to get rich off of and kinda indirectly makes this even worse tbh

[@syd1982]

Wtf i didnt kno that ew

[@jennacided6502]

wow he's literally one of the people directly responsible for making trash food nice and cheap for the poors and keeping food deserts alive and well! that makes this whole thing a special kind of fucked up 🤢

[@pyroprince90]

@@jennacided6502 literally couldn’t be a worse person to make a movie like that then the daughter of that man. Also makes the succession clip she used way more poignant

[@opheliaoftheripples9472]

THIS.

[@amorelockster1023]

Ugh disgusting

[@DragonflyB-tn7pq]

My daughter’s fave Xmas was my brokest. Financially AND Emotionally but I knew she needed magical. In creating a magical Xmas for her, it was also magical for me. I was so worried but she loved EVERYTHING and thus I was able to start to heal. I’m positive my financial situation would’ve improved regardless. However, I’m grateful for that hiccup

[@Aaa-dv3oi]

Sis was about to pull out the Lana Del rey coke necklace in this film and call it a day 💀

[@krose9489]

“how expensive it is to be poor” nearly made me cry

[@iamtoxic4663]

😂 this line

[@paolaarnez5840]

Sadly even if I'm poor I won't be winning Oscars for my struggle. My mom is great and we are both responsible people, so no messy, no white, only girl.

[@myaursus247]

when my dad was out of a job and my parents had to take me and my sister to the foodbank, I knew shit wasn't good, but I wasn't scared. there were other kids at the foodbank and we would climb trees with them and run around and play tag while our families were in line. I was poor at one point, but my parents did their best to make sure we were happy- and we were. financial struggle is terrible and stressful, but it's not as if poor people spend every second crying and bleeding and ODing. good things still happened from time to time, damn Lola, what do you think this is?

[@transgenderbasketballplayer]

Also she completely ripped off the film "Zola" from a few years ago. That movie went WAY unfer the radar even tho its one of the most unique and innovative films of the internet age. She jacked the name, the look, certain shot framing, colors, and audio design.

[@BassicallyKiyash]

This needs to be higher up

[@michellemartinez7962]

The white Katara from a live action move that doesn’t exist 😩😩😩

[@alotmorenuancedthanthat]

dev patel wasn't in it, you must be mistaken

[@whatthehellisthis]

jasper from twilight was never in another attempted franchise

[@dorkchops]

luve action? mustve been a fan film

[@thedeliveryboy1123]

live action movie? i think you mean the show!! it's not the best, but at least it's not a movie with bad CGI and questionable casting choices...

[@tblue303]

The only good thing about the film was princess Yue

[@aeolia80]

Speaking of Parasite, I was living in Korea when it came out. I didn't see it in Korea becausemy level of Korean was basic and no cinemas near me were showing it with English, so I had to wait until it came out on streaming. Anyways, I remember when it came out there were tons and tons of ads all around Korea for the furniture used in the film in the rich family's house, these were pieces of furniture that I would NEVER be able to afford, even now, where I'm somewhat financially comfortable. And the ads just felt in such poor taste given the theme of the film, and I couldn't believe the producers and studio signed off on this.

[@beewest5704]

It's like the gameshow based on Sauid Game. They did not get the point at all!

[@LynnHermione]

The rich family were innocent, so. There is NEVER A SINGLE SCENE OR LINE that says or implies the rich people got their money by anything other than work. They love their family, they are kind to each other, and the accidental rudeness towards the poor family is ACCIDENTAL. They did not deserve to be targeted, the poor family are the villains.

[@georgiana1147]

​@@LynnHermione no they werent, the Parks and the Kim s had a symbiotic relathionship, they were both parasites in some way or another

[@georgiana1147]

​@@LynnHermione the Parks also romanticised poor people, in the scene where they got frisky on the couch the woman was roleplaying poor women, with the implication that poor women are drug addicts ( which is true most of the time). Also the fact that they kept the panties they found in the car, thinking that they belonged to a poor woman, just to spice up their s3x life solidifies my theory.

[@awts..7954]

it also happened similarly to Sky Castle

[@noelleanderko1292]

I can rly relate to ur anecdote a lot. My mom raised me and my sister by herself while being poor and it’s interesting to look back at childhood memories that were great but also unique to experiences of poor and working class families. I would love to see these depictions more in media cuz it’s quite common and relatable and doesn’t use poverty solely as a tool for tragedy. This what limits ppl like the Lola director. She doesn’t put the effort into actually looking further into the complexities of poverty as an experience. Chile I’m so tired of seeing this lmao

[@dududulia]

yeah! i am from a poor country and my mom tells me about her struggles with money and how she didn't let that get into us while raising us. i have such fond memories and she tells me that she does like that period of time, regardless of of our struggles. it truly has happy childhood, without deep traumas. i remember my shabby clothes and house with fondness, not ressentment. that also reminds me that things got better.

[@devonmunn5728]

Seeing these poorly done stories really serve as a lesson in what NOT to do. I'm an aspiring writer and I always strive for authenticity as much as possible for any story I write especially contemporary stories. I also want to include as many writers from these various backgrounds (in this case poor/working class) and even do alot of research and bringing in consultants to ensure that, as well as even help writers from said backgrounds bring their own stories to life

[@carolrampasso1813]

who tf is poor while also having a perfect maintened bleached hair? i remember being in college and struggling financially, my hair was a MESS. you just can't afford to take care of it, let alone bleached hair. didn't have money for good clothes or make up. i just looked cheap, even though i took care of my looks

[@BenWard29]

I will always think back to this scene, in Abel Ferrara’s movie Bad Lieutenant, when Harvey Keitel’s character is high and drunk and standing in a doorway screaming like a naked banshee. As someone who grew up in the 90’s and has dealt with poverty and heroin addiction for the last 20 years, I remember watching the Virgin Suicides or even Requiem for a Dream and just seeing how quietly beautiful the romantic sadness of a killing yourself quickly was. It was more real than the reality I was born into. But when I look back- the scene in Bad Lieutenant is one of the only ones that feels like something authentic. I know that scream. I hear it every day, inside of me and all of those I’ve hurt, fighting to be heard.

[@eevieee]

Each time I see this trope getting a resurgence I always get reminded of that kn Ursula K LeGuin quote “The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.”

[@christinabeehive7714]

Ursula K is so punk rock.

[@starsinger5935]

It’s almost like it’s done on purpose. Good quote.

[@alim.9801]

Every quote i hear from LeGuin is just a banger dude

[@Nikki_the_G]

I love her so much. Thank you mom for introducing me to her, and sci-fi in general, growing up.

[@esverker7018]

I agree so hard. Dark and negative media is deep, while comedies are shallow. DESPITE THE FACT that writing/performing good comedy takes about 100 times more skill than something bleak and depressing.

[@aleco444]

Sean baker seems empathetic in his attempt with marginalized groups. His film tangerine was honestly so beautiful, and it left something in me. The same something I felt while watching Paris is burning. I find the criticism people have of him as stupid. People don’t care about his message, they are just mad they couldn’t get success off of doing the same thing🙄

[@Yharazayd]

i forgot to include it (dammit!) but i did find an interview with him where he was talking about how limiting it is to work in a studio as opposed to being on location. and he said something that i have never heard another director say. he said something to the effect of filming on a studio set takes out the authenticity and that the people he focuses his films on are no longer in control of the narrative. in a studio, they can't really invite him into their worlds because now they're in his world and the power dynamics of storytelling completely changed. i wish i could find the interview but it was really insightful

[@aleco444]

@@Yharazayd that makes total sense!!!

[@Kevin-rg3yc]

I think the criticism towards Sean should be geared more towards the industry that give black/POC filmmakers a pressure and confusing place whenever they want to do a film similar to Sean’s films there comes a large amount of people tired of black trauma films, while the industry don’t allow black filmmakers to greenlight films in a variety of genres/subject matters, someone like Sean baker don’t get to deal with that pressure, that makes the criticism much more valid but it shouldn’t be more towards Sean and towards industry gatekeepers, unfortunately culture/society has a habit of blaming and attacking the people who benefit from bigger system issues that harms others

[@heydiddlediddlethecatandth5251]

i also hate how voyeuristic/misogynistic these kinds of films are. the women are just aesthetic shells instead of people and they get treated as such by the fanbases of theses films. it's all about their beauty and not at all about their development as characters. like they're just dead-eyed and its eroticized and romanticized like porn is. it's so gross.

[@itsmebecky24]

Yesss

[@natas3301]

SaD gIrL

[@MarinaV15]

To be fair, I don’t think the movie is good or Nicola is right but she seems to be on meds for her mental health. Just the way she carries herself and posts on social media especially in recent years doesn’t come off like someone who is perfectly healthy without therapy/a psychiatrist. Especially seeing how close she is to Selena who is also on psychiatric meds. Still doesn’t excuse making a weird movie like this though for sure. I think we would’ve been more impressed seeing her in a comedy or something.

[@Damesanglante]

Everytime someone uses ''mIsOgYnIsTiC'', what they really mean is : ''I am misandrist''.

[@heydiddlediddlethecatandth5251]

@@Damesanglante I'll bother with a sincere reply once you show me proof of ONE country where men and boys are banned from having an education at ANY point in human history.

[@Isabelita99]

the scenes you showed of this movie are CRAZY. how did she look at the monitor and say "yeah this looks right.". Just her look is terribly directed. Perfect, expensive looking make up, simple but flawless jewelry, instagram model face and lips, the clothes!! That white tank top looks expensive too. Crazy this movie was made.

[@psychedlicsouljam1995]

The actual things that come with schizophrenia, autism, and learning disabilities aren't marketable either. Addiction especially. It's romanticism of Addiction and suicide is also morbid as a survivor ... I wish I felt pretty enough to make an ugly feeling look cute (no I am an artist I enjoy real human emotions"

[@jordanetherington1922]

Your story about the electricity being turned off and your mom making it a magical night reminds me of the time my mom and us kids had to go to a shelter but we just thought it was this fun outing to a hotel because mom wanted to protect us. That's real resilience right there.

[@NoOneReallySpecial]

Like how my mom and dad used layaway for presents and school clothes and stuff and would essentially make it a fun little celebration whenever things got paid off after a year+; letting us try stuff on and we never batted an eye, until we grew up and realized "oh...". Same with only being able to shop at Goodwill or yard sales for school clothes (if we couldn't pay off our layaway) and such. And then we even played little games like pretending to be the Bundy's from "Married with Children" on television when the army moved us into a house without an oven or fridge or A/C whilst living in Arizona. But now we look back on it and realize what happened and how our parents did well to handle it.

[@louise9192]

That’s why I like Maid. The writer of the book turned show experienced poverty on top of domestic violence and having a child. The scenes where money appears on the screen where she has to decide between food, gas, or something to make her daughter happy. Her family is dysfunctional and she just can’t seem to win (until she does). Very realistic portrayal (to me at least and what I’ve experienced).

[@k37732701]

I've never been in poverty, but I could relate to how Maid handled money. How when your supervisor tells you your shift is 3 hours, not 4, you've calculated how much that is per month (after accounting for travel to work) before the sentence is finished. But you smile and nod like this information isn't significant, like you're not disappointed. I had never seen that depicted before.

[@niraea]

also loved how they show how EXPENSIVE being poor is. my god if these bootstrap mf could understand it. "just learn to manage money better" sorry, miss single mom living in the DV shelter is probably far better at accounting than you are. it's just that when you are poor, everything is set up to immediately extract every dollar you manage to save. and lets be real maid would have not turned out to a happy ending if it wasn't for dumb luck helping her get ahead of the game. what if that guy she used to know never bumped in to her at they ferry station, what if he never gave her that car?

[@zeinjamoukha4718]

The fact that she along with her family are staunch defenders of a war that is literally starving people…I can’t even

[@gafferbabe]

Stop being antisemitic. Most Jewish people support Israel in a sense that they believe it should exist as a state and safe haven. That does not equate believing a war should be going on.

[@danielgummer9273]

Yes - End the War - “Give Peace a Chance”

[@ailurii]

I genuinely hate the black woman being reduced to the beautiful white lady’s sidekick who exists just to help her. That is so genuinely tone deaf and the fact she made that casting choice herself really shows what she considers “non-glamorous” (aka normal) POCs to be good for.

[@diamonddeliliah123]

For real it’s just the mammy trope but modernised.

[@davidcox3076]

Reminds me very much of the hamlets that the French nobles used to build on their estates. They often used them to play at being peasants. Marie Antoinette's Hameau de la Reine at Versailles is the most infamous. Poverty cosplay has a very long history.

[@the.masked.one.studio4899]

It is somewhat enraging that our trauma can be a “fun” and lucrative project for someone else 😑. I studied fine arts and noticed this sometime ago… impoverished people making art about their own lives are far less successful then when well funded artists make work about others. I feel it’s related to the way we’ve been conditioned to see poverty as a “moral failing”. We’re taught that poverty is a punishment for “sinful” character or behavior, thus causing us to naturally distrust the victims and accuse them of lying/misleading/emotionally manipulating the audience for financial gain, because poor people are “bad” people. Lovely topic! Thank you for sharing your opinions 💖

[@angelcake318lps]

And that's the Protestant work ethic

[@krashd]

Let's abolish all movies about poverty then. We can't have those pesky actors offending us.

[@orphanedhanyou]

99% of the things people complain about in their daily lives IS IN THEIR CONTROL TO IMPROVE. Society has a massive problem with always seeing what others have & deeming themselves worthy of it. Nothing makes you worthy of a car for example. Doesn't matter if your are rich or poor you can only say the more you work for something the more likely you are to appreciate and care for it. Could be working 80+ hrs a week for a camry or a maserati, doesn't matter. The vast majority of people are addicted to consuming & they view debt as "normal" or inevitable so they automatically start their financial lives out completely screwed. My parents were older and were born to people that came out of the Great Depression. Frugality & only using what you need even when they did have money for more was ingrained. We grew up in a rural area & there was very few "middle class" families in our neck of the woods. I never understood why my patents told me for years we couldn't afford xyz but all our neighbors who were quite obviously 'worse off' than we were basics wise (our home & food quality was objectively 'better') but the kids all always had another toy no matter how small or cheap, their parents somehow saved up for trampolines & above ground pools & play sets. All of it would find its way to the yard or trash or disrepair super quick. Rinse & repeat. And they all still appeared to struggle & be using various government assistance programs etc. I cannot help but see as an adult, knowing now that my single income household as a child was making so much less income than the younger parents of my peers knowing their jobs, that it truly is priorities & delayed gratification vs giving in to the idea "well I'll never be rich so might as well still go into debt & keep treating the family to little things... they won't add up". The mindset my parents instilled in me was priceless & nothing, not even feeling like the poorest kid wearing the same old smelly shoes & being made fun of at school for instance, would want me to go back & have them create debt for the family so my perfectly still wearable shoes would be upgraded for prettier & newer looking shoes just for OTHERS to see and not judge me.

[@Kaelidoz]

bless your mom for making magical moments happen!

[@Yharazayd]

thank you! i'm gonna show her this comment 💗

[@MsSumoon]

This movie is what looks like when Balenciaga keeps selling those “distressed” articles of clothes anything rich people think poor and middle class people wear, I would love a documentary to find out why rich people find poor people fascinating. It's not something new, every generation of artists has it. It's like they do have empathy, but not enough help or even ask why poor people are poor. I truly believe she was truly trying to challenge herself, but just enough for her to not question her privilege as a cis-white rich girl.

[@Ohdakkeinen]

@@emisformaker Marie Antoinette had her own fake village next to Versailles to add ambience and provide a more intimate meeting place for her and her friends. Rustic on the outside, Rococo on the inside. Literally. Luxuriously. Yeah, it was a “real” farm in the sense that there were paid workers to tend for the animals and grow vegetables etc. But it wasn’t a real village. There were no villagers, but there were constructs such as a fake mill, a guard house to secure the queen’s safety, walls surrounding the hamlet to keep outside world away… There doesn’t seem to be contemporary evidence that Marie Antoinette cosplayed as a peasant or milk maid. She wore more simplistic clothes while visiting her hamlet, though. To her contemporaries it look liked she wore undergarments as an outer wear. The dress most closely related to the hamlet, robe de gaulle or chemise à la reine (chemise of the queen), has a quite a history. It also takes the class and money discussion to an another level. Rich people started to copy the dress style and eventually Indian cotton production couldn’t keep up with the demand. Thus, this cheap material (cotton) that had replaced the expensive material (silk) in fashion, had such a high demand that transatlantic slave trade became profitable. : /

[@user-kt3zv1cm5j]

I'd say it's the same reason for conflict in stories, and lots of kinks, and entire genres - scary things are exhilarating when you know they can't hurt you. It's like economic BDSM for rich people. The fantasy of no control, plus, human storytelling has always had reverence for the Fighter, be it in an actual military way, or a hunter way, or, nowadays, a more emotional way, and poverty is such an ever-present issue that it's easy to reach for when feeling about for the Conflict you want to become the hero in.

[@starsinger5935]

You know how read a book to escape? Rich people watch poor people for the same reason. They love going to poor countries to ogle destitution it’s like larping but for humanity. It reaffirms them they are special and blessed cuz everyone else is literally worse off.

[@redfootedbear]

i think people inherently want to “dress up” as things that are apart of the human experience but, not experienced in their actual life. how if given the opportunity, someone wants to dress up and clean up to feel “like a princess” it’s the opposite for the wealthy and upper class almost like a costume. also “poor” is looked at in ways as “grimey, rough, filthy” which has an “edge” to it that i think people of upperclass crave when everything is so manicured, it looks like rebellion for them and in a way, they may crave to have the permission to do so.

[@SusanDelgado1177]

You lost me at 'they have empathy' 🤣🤣

[@MaxIronsThird]

Nelson Peltz is one of the richest men in the world and major shareholder of Disney. Nicola Peltz was raised as a billionaire and a Super Model, her early carreer was bought with money, power, influence and favors.

[@jazzyjones6375]

"looks at suffering as if writing a story about suffering automaticily makes it good" That's a gem and a Bar

[@karrihart1]

Roseanne (the TV series) did an amazing job at both showing the struggles of being working class and the Conners actually having fun, joyful moments.

[@howlsmoodycastle9313]

Raising Hope is another good show and I think it goes a bit deeper in it's depiction of people who are really poor yet still find joy in the little things. As someone who's struggling below the poverty line, I get a kick out of watching the Chance's laugh at the idea of health insurance and how they have to work around busted appliances and stuff. All those little details make me feel like someone on the writing team had to have lived like one of us.

[@karrihart1]

@@howlsmoodycastle9313 The seasons of Roseanne when she’s working as a waitress at Rodbell’s clearly had someone on their writing staff who knew how tough waiting tables is.

[@ertfgghhhh]

My favorite show is Good Times (the 70s one)......it does the same

[@Samuel-hd3cp]

Raising hope was a great show, but it's not an honest depiction of poverty ( nor did it try to be). There's no desperation in Raising Hope

[@niraea]

roseanne and malcom in the middle were always my favorite family sitcoms for this very reason. they're actually relatable. neither depict actual poverty like this movie *tried* to, but they are MUCH closer to what the lower classes actually live through - and they manage to be funny and touching on top of it.

[@MB-ic3ou]

I took a screenwriting course at University, and the first thing our professor (an established Australian screenwriter) told us was to WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW!!! to begin with, at least. He told us that, yes, we can write about what we aren't familiar with and go the extra mile to do extensive research, OR we could find interesting, complex stories interwoven in our own lives/experiences. This is quite a strange example, but Chris Lilley is an Australian writer/actor/comedian who wrote and starred in Summer Heights High, a satirical comedy about Australian public high schools. Chris was a high school teacher before he became a writer/actor, and he was heavily inspired by his experience as a teacher. Although some of the characters he portrays are not his own experience, the essence of the show and its messaging are perfectly executed because he clearly knew what he was writing about.

[@perfectallycromulent]

How does that work for genres like science fiction and horror? Only astronauts get to write about space travel? You gotta be ghost to write about them?

[@starsinger5935]

@@perfectallycromulentyou get “know” subject through learning and research. This is different from lived experiences…cuz you gotta live it to know it.

[@morbidsearch]

Eh, in my experience, the beta readers I've worked with have responded more positively to characters and situations that are as far away from my own experiences as possible. One issue with 'writing what you know' is that it's easy to fall in the trap of creating vanity pieces.

[@wintermute5974]

Write what you know is also why we have so many tedious novels about academics having mid-life crises that are read only by literary award councils. Meanwhile I can't see much correlation between actual life experience and success as a commercial author.

[@samaraisnt]

true to an extent. Like, if you’re a man dont write about black girlhood. but you can do this in a way that is not obvious: most great horror films are written by gay men, and ARE about their life: being alienated. but people taking this literally wouldn’t get this…”But I’M not a dream stalking monster janitor!!!” Perhaps that’s why these people should not write. ;)

[@harriyanna]

oh this hit too close to home for me. my family didn't have much money growing up and at one point i only had one pair of shoes and got picked on so much for it. people don't realize how emotionally taxing being poor is. but also how it affects you later on because once i started working and being able to keep my own money i started to buy so many shoes, way more than i needed (and eventually donated a lot of them).

[@redfootedbear]

good for you for donating! i can empathize, i was teased for my clothing as a kiddo and as an adult/being in charge and able to generate my own income- i’ve splurged on unnecessary, expensive clothing in excess to heal the wound of being teased.

[@VTsiFanfic]

People called me cletes because my grandma bought me soccer shoes and that's all I had to wear for an entire school year.

[@redfootedbear]

@@hyperadapted I’m sorry. teenagers / children can be really vicious. Especially back in the day, prank calls we’re definitely a thing :/

[@alim.9801]

Some behaviors really stick with you that you don't even know came from growing up poor. I grew up with food insecurity and didn't realize that I had food hoarding/hiding tendencies until my partner pointed it out to me as an adult and kinda was like "hey what's up with that?" I was in my early 20s by that time and didn't need to do that anymore bc I was in a better spot, but subconsciously felt like if I didn't hide food then others would take it, or I'd run out of food if I didn't stock up. Still trying to adjust my mindset

[@petiteange08]

This is so relatable. I wore a lot of second hand clothes because we couldn't afford to shop. It was terribly embarrassing as a child. Rich people thrifting is just not the same thing - they are not mocked because people know they have the money and it's a choice. They can spend time to find things they like and that look good on them. We did not have the time/money to travel to different thrift stores or to go through trash for the hidden gems. I either bought what I could afford or just wore hand-me-downs. They did not look good on me, did not match, and I was self-conscious all the time.

[@salliejones6002]

As a "sad" white girl who is the tumblr wannabe, thank you for calling me out. I have a video of me crying in b and w on my phone.. this was a good wake up call to grow up.

[@xloveandmayhemx]

I'm crying at the part where you share the power being shut off in your childhood. Being poor doesn't mean you're always sad & depressed, there is happiness, love and joy

[@daylightsleeptight]

Even if she didn’t want to talk to any real poor people for research, she could have at least read a book or something

[@iprobablyforgotsomething]

@sleepyheadsarah -- Right? I can almost hear her thinking, "Eww, I don't wanna talk to the *Poors!* And wdym they don't shower everyday with luxury products and full-face makeup afterwards? You're just ruining my aesthetics! No, I don't have time for research, I'm in the creative zone!"

[@erinkatrina4201]

@@iprobablyforgotsomething i think she underestimated the amount of research she needed to tackle something like this

[@erinkatrina4201]

@@iprobablyforgotsomethingi usually subscribe ignorance to something before anything malicious unless there’s actual evidence 😅 she just seems to be wayyy to relaxed about writing a movie with this subject matter

[@rgs8970]

Me, experiencing poverty currently: I gotta figure out how to get Oscar noms on this thing, it's simply too good!

[@noheterotho179]

"When the lights went out it was horrible experience for my mom but a magical fun night for us where the candles were out for some reason" oh wow. I dont think ive ever heard such a relatable take on growing up struggling financially.. there really is nuance that you just dont get unless you've lived it huh (or done extensive research and interviewed those who have)

[@elenamasen]

the clothes and make up are TOOOO perfect. like that pink babydoll outfit looks like something you could buy off revolve.

[@celinefantasies4429]

As ex stripper and a girl who knew girls who started dancing underage bc they took care of their families it’s really hard for me to watch stripper movies made by people who just don’t get it.

[@oiytd5wugho]

-lip filler -undamaged hair -undamaged nails, always perfectly filed -zero body hair or razor bumps -couple dozen makeup products The movie seems like it'd be significantly better if not for the casting and stylist choices. It's really expensive to look like that. The lips filler is obvious but all the other stuff takes a lot of money and time. You can luck out and have a lot of that stuff be effortless but that doesn't dissolve all necessity for resources to maintain that look, c'mon. Literally just get off the stage and into the director's chair and stay there

[@alim.9801]

For real, I'm still kinda stuck on the makeup. Even cheap makeup is EXPENSIVE, it adds up quickly if you're trying to even get like basic products to do a full face. Plus it goes bad and you have to replace it sometimes? And yeah the razor bumps and cuts from dull razors because those are ALSO expensive and the cheap ones aren't good

[@CharlesChristinaWH]

​@@alim.9801 yup my best friend works at a convenience store Works to take care of her three autistic kids without any help other than a few bucks from people (she refuses to take money from as I also have three kids) Her mother in law won't financially help (her husband passed away five years ago) And her blue dyed hair is washed out mixed with her dirty blonde hair, she is worned out, barley can talk or text (she apologizes always which i tell her she doesn't), she doesn't wear makeup nor can afford it She's 47 and has feet issues, she can't even go out or ponder on anything because of issues with her kids and her mom in law won't financially help but expect her to pay for her cigarettes For me and her to hang out once a few months is a miracle This "movie" is insulting on so many levels

[@teesh871]

And you do have to be careful coming at poverty from someone who thinks they experienced poverty. We technically grew up below the poverty line and my mum and dad did definately struggle...but there was always more levels. For example... Well we are white but also two parents in Australia is very different to...actually any struggling white person in America. There is more security and social programs. And free healthcare. It's not perfect...but even by western standards...I mean America has that added layer of thinking you might go bankrupt if you get sick or just plain be homeless. Plus...like you said...I don't remember being poor as a kid. I didn't think we were rich but mum and dad were so supportive. I remember just riding my bike around, chilling in the park, reading library books..watching rented DVDs. I dunno. Comfortable people suburban stuff. I didn't realise how much they struggled until I got older but I also didn't realise how had things could get for other people. How hard it was on other families who had...1000s of things that were not In their control. I dunno I just want more voices from perspectives that aren't mine. Sad or...happy...or...unsad...even just neutral.

[@kezia8027]

Being an Australian makes it so much more confusing... Like you said, even "lower class" blue collar type jobs have access to free healthcare and public parks and libraries. I was far more aware that our family was poor, as my parents mostly let that out on their kids, while insisting on living outside their means to not appear lower class. The point remains though, that it is in knowing that there is nuance and showing even one aspect of it would make a world of difference when depicting these topics. Rather than taking a polaroid and pretending to understand the inherent risks and challenges, actually researching, investigating, speaking to people who have lived these experiences, and sharing that depth of character and story that can only come from relating to a real life, even if only in reference.

[@TMMMMMMMMMMMT]

Similar for me in the UK, we were financially poor but nobody was addicted to drugs, part of a gang or was violently abusive, which I feel is ALWAYS portrayed in poverty media making the poor synonymous with criminality. It definitely exists but there’s so so many more experiences.

[@Hma-q2g]

Even in America it really depends on where you live or grew up. if you’re poor in a large wealthy more liberal state that has social programs like I was, someone out there will say it’s nothing like being in poverty in a small, poorer, conservative state. I also grew up below the poverty line in California in a safe clean area. Our state has medi cal, which offers free healthcare plans to low income families. Still lived a comfortable life, minus vacations, a car newer than 2005, Christmas and birthday presents, cable tv, and the latest tech and trends. We still went to food banks, clothing and school supply drives, but also got to occasionally eat out at fast food places and diners. Didn’t qualify for food stamps or other assistance besides healthcare. We never owned a home and still rent the same apartment decades later. Money, rent, and bills were always a worry in our home. Growing up next to middle class suburbs and a city of multi million dollar houses, mansions, and yachts, and going to work with my mom to clean one of these wealthy homes in a gated community, I learned at a young age I was not well off in this country. Still, I’m not trying to say my experience is universal to all those poor/low income people living in California. Or that I was worse off than others in america and the world. With our huge population and high cost of living we have many homeless and those on the brink of being homeless. People still struggle with food and clothing. Definitely is bad in some places and worse in others. I’m grateful for my parents for making things work despite making $50k combined.

[@sirrivet9557]

To be fair though I also feel being in that middle line between not being impoverished but also not being middle class at all is pretty under represented. So I do think there needs to be media exploring that unique situation.

[@NoOneReallySpecial]

Free healthcare is a very important aspect. Here in the US, even when my parents finally got out of the Army and dad got into a good company and slowly worked his way up and the US gave us a loan to get a house and stuff, because of the fact that most of us had either mental and/or physical disabilities in our family of 6 and dad had to pay out of pocket for healthcare, the bare minimum was done for us (those of us who needed surgery got it but then aftercare, like when I was told I had arthritis/hEDS was just ignored, so...) but nothing extra was done. Now us kids are grown up and we have rotting teeth, failing health, unchecked mental issues and we barely can afford the basic diagnosised let alone treatments and such...

[@nikkibee187]

We've lost authenticity of the working class experience in modern U.S. literature and films because the working class can't afford all the courses, networking, and exposure opportunities to compete with more affluent trustfund kids who can afford pricey private coastal university programs that get their work seen before those of us who did grow up in poverty. It is sickening what I see getting hyped and for this reason, I mostly ignore the U.S. market because it seems to all just be propaganda for rich people, even when depicting what it's like to be working class and/or poor.

[@autumnasters]

People treat young Black women's tears as if they are our always our own fault as if they're a byproduct of immaturity and our own "irresponsibility".. I also find it interesting that there's this backhanded re-emerging norm where the emotional support black friend is most often plus size and purposefully de-glamorized. This is supposed to be an era of body positivity, meanwhile they're using her body type as just one more way to reinforce her sidelining.

[@elainez]

I agree. I'm Asian, but when I saw the scenes with Lola and her best friend, I was actually shocked that Peltz saw it and was just like "yep, that's good and totally unproblematic". Maybe she wasn't intentionally trying to be racist, but if so, it's scary how unaware Peltz seems to be about the harmful stereotypes that she's feeding into.

[@autumnasters]

@@elainez This is a trope that dates back to early film. Even if she isnt consciously "aware'' of it, she should be further along with "doing the work" as far as anti-racism is concerned. simply being "not racist" does not allow people to do the work. they need to be anti-racist.

[@katherinedonaldson7884]

8:17 sam levinson putting mckay into the first season of euphoria and then erasing him from the whole narrative

[@johanaforever965]

Worse ! There’s a scene when he got SA’ed by a bunch of dudes right in front of his girlfriend, cried for a while and then it was NEVER mentioned again, not even at the finale of season 1 or in the entirely of season 2.

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

Here is an idea: Actually do a film about how poverty works in school and job interviews. I was a high IQ kid tossed into special ed because it was policy to put free lunch program kids into special ed. Profiling was policy; I had to take an IQ to get out of it. Then I was put in a room without food and asked all day about how I supposedly cheated. I was a kid and asked how could I cheat if I had a low IQ? There were two lunch lines at my second high school (where I spent junior and senior year). The lin-e where one could buy items like watermelon, sugar free tea (freshly made), an actual salad bar, etc. When some from the "other line" of basic school lunch had money, they would get accosted for being in the wrong line. The well-to-do all frequented the line with better food. The rest of us (noticeable by our poor clothes) were congregated around the school lunch. Anyone who knows about school lunch knows it is just carbs and fat with very little actual vitamins. Then there is the job interview scenario. You can't get a lot of office site jobs if you lack a driver's license. You don't have to travel as part of the job. You just have to have a license. The job is on a bus route in the city where you live but they ask for your license copy. Well, you do not have a license because you cannot afford a car (price, maintenance, financing, fuel, etc) and you do not know anyone who has a car for a driver's test either. And you have a license then you also must have the car. Then you must have a car as a requirement for the job because of supposed travel involved but it is an office job. But you can't afford a car with the wages being offered, and the people you know in your class cohort also lack a car. You have so many ideas how to get around all these poverty-gymnastics and succeed a little each time. However, you can make skips and prance only. It takes money to make leaps, take jumps, and triple spin in the air. There is a reason why people with no brains succeed. They don't really need brains. Only people with them. And they have people with brains because they have the monetized situation to create a monetizable situation.

[@emisformaker]

OMG, the driver's license thing. And the way I've read job ads that basically say 'we can't trust public transit riders to be on time for work,' as though traffic doesn't happen to cars, too. I'm sorry you went through that with the IQ tests and all. They're pseudoscience based on racism, and don't measure much of anything really, but then to use them to torture children is another level of evil entirely.

[@cindytwo3260]

so much with the car thing. And on top of that, when the public transportation is unreliable, when you blow the last of your grocery money on an uber so you can make it to a job interview on time, and later you realize that all the neighborhoods you can afford to rent are red-lined and the bus lines are actually quite punctual in the bougier parts of town.

[@cleigh3796]

"I was a high IQ kid tossed into special ed because it was policy to put free lunch program kids into special ed." proof or it didn't happen

[@penelopechanthavisith8232]

This !

[@dj_bae]

I had my daughter as a single mom when I was young and in college. When I went to apply for food stamps and cash aid, despite me being able to prove that I graduated high school and was attending one of the top universities in the country, they made me take a basic reading and arithmetic test to gauge my employability. I passed both with nearly 100% and remember my eligibility worker being surprised. It was insulting.

[@punkinholler]

There is a song called Common People about a rich girl who moves to a poor area just to see what it's like. The song is brutally narrated from the perspective of a resident of that poor neighborhood and it is a banger. The song is by a band called Pulp, but there's a cover version by William Shatner, of all people, that I kind of prefer (That whole album is surprisingly good, and I say that as someone who does not like William Shatner). EDIT: For the love of all that is holy! British people, I'm going to tell you a secret. Songs that are popular in the UK are NOT always popular in the US. Common People did not even crack the top 100 in the US. To encounter it in the US, you had to either be specifically looking for it, or catch it on the radio in the middle of the night or on a college station. I maybe heard it once or twice here and I listened to a lot of radio and a lot of music back then. I know you may not have noticed this, but Yhara Zayd is not British. She is, in fact an American, and moreover, appears to be in her 20s or early 30s at the absolute most. For all of you insisting that I'm an idiot for discussing the song like it's a deep cut, that is because it IS a deep cut here. Y'all are insisting that this American woman should absolutely be aware of a song that never got regular radio play in her country, and which peaked in popularity when she was, at most, an infant.

[@mahrinui18]

The narrator of Pulp is also cosplaying poverty, that's the irony of the song. He is also a rich kid but he's pretending to be poor so he can fuck the girl with the poverty fetish

[@yubisakii2823]

I LOVE THIS SONG

[@prodfalling]

PULP MENTIONED!!!!!

[@ssh1487]

What, that obscure song that sold 450k copies and has 210million streams

[@artless3438]

Pulp is really good. Though I have to ask, do you feel like the singer depicts poverty well? He's someone whose similar to the topic of the video (a middle class / upper class person talking about poverty.) Yet for me, the common thread of many of his songs written in perspective of someone in poverty involved them doing awful things and usually never depicted positively. Curious if you agree or disagree etc.

[@lisafrankensteinn]

The best portrayal of poverty in film is by far the movie ‘Precious’, so realistic and raw.

[@tippiebear6532]

Nope, it's Florida Project.

[@niraea]

this isn't much about the video but i have never heard someone else anecdote about losing power and it becoming this amazing memory from childhood. my mom was a single mom and we were poor af, one time we lost power in the middle of winter, and my mom turned it in to something so cozy and fun. sitting by the fireplace getting warm. thick blankets hung over all the windows. every candle lit, flickering shadows over the walls. cuddled together eating graham crackers (we didn't have marshmallows or chocolate). watching house MD and listening to sia together before the laptop ran out of battery. i can't even imagine how horrible, stressed, guilty, and over it my mom felt - because that same moment for me was magical and one of my most fond memories from my childhood. how badass were our moms. i don't know if i've ever seen a movie about poverty that can capture that tangled mess of emotions from many characters vantage points. so true most of the time they show just trauma, grief, and sadness. yeah being in poverty is fu**ing horrible but to truly relate to and understand an audience who actually lived through it, you need to include the joy, magic, love, and fleeting comfort.

[@haret0n]

i am almost sixty and way too old to be your viewer demographic but "existential bed rot!!" that's just such a brilliant phrase. wow! you have completely got my attention.

[@mykeadelic]

another banger video!! i recently saw problemista and it there’s one scene about overdraft fees that really captures the paradox of being poor in america. it’s got a really great surreal style!!

[@Yharazayd]

oh, i really loved problemista! it created such rich visual metaphors of that paradox

[@mykeadelic]

@@Yharazayd 🔥🔥🔥yes!! i totally agree!!!

[@marshmallows5641]

I'm glad you brought up Sean Baker. As soon as I started watching this, I thought of The Florida Project. I love his movies. But, have thought about the points you brought up so many times. And I totally agree. You can create stories that differ from your own. But, fully understanding, and grasping just exactly goes on, and what those experiences, realities, and settings are actually like is so important. They have to be done authentically, sincerely. It's gotta be real and raw over awwww look at this.

[@PapaphobiaPictures]

This movie feels like that really cringe early writing that we all look back on and die from embarrassment. It's just that we all (thankfully) didn't have a billionaire father to help fund it.

[@NonnaPossum1312]

As an impoverished little kid I wrote a short story once about how when I grew up I would get a great job and I would drive a sports car, not like my dad who "chose" a lame job and "chose" to drive a busted pickup truck. Peltz approached this movie the same way I approached adulthood as a small child - completely ignorant to how any of it works.

[@jacindanolavieuxdeaux]

I just love how the character of Lola has perfect teeth and translucent skin. Looking like that costs a small fortune. No one living in poverty is that put together and flawless. Trust me, I actually do know..

[@NoOneReallySpecial]

If I had a nickel for literally every time someone told me "why don't your parents just fix your damn teeth/get you braces?!" like it was cheap (TMJ, jaw deformities, hEDS destroying my teeth... a literal guesstimate of just $20k to rebuild my jaw,etc.) I'd be a millionaire who could then afford to make my teeth look like hers. My parents were already pissed at me needing surgery and them being told I had arthritis and needed to start supplements to treat it (clearly they didn't do the supplements and they recently went bankrupt from both their surgeries and mine) so to think my poor parents would fix my teeth is just funny. And now, as a poor and disabled adult whose teeth have been damaged in workman comp injuries, I still get the same dumb questions thrown at me... people are ridiculous...

[@ians7184]

The way modern people romanticize Depression reminds me of how people used to romanticize Tuberculosis.

[@kunpunko]

people used to romanticize tuberculosis??

[@thenablade858]

@@kunpunko It’s an exaggeration, but Victorian novels used to romanticize victims of Tuberculosis. However, I would say that portraying characters like Beth March as innocent, suffering victims is less terrible than this because they were usually based off real people. Louisa May Alcott’s sister actually did die horribly of Scarlet Fever vs Nicola cosplaying depression.

[@dollyhood6549]

Gummo by Harmony Korine - first movie to authentically depict characters living their lives, ‘devastatingly aloof’ of their placement in generational poverty.

[@Demonocityy]

That movie changed me.. it was like.. a special kind of disturbing and fascinating. I haven’t watched it twice but I’d like to soon cause the first watch needed a year break 😭

[@Funeral_Mannequin]

@@Demonocityy You should check out Trash Humpers (2009). It's another film by Harmony Korrine, the same director of Gummo.

[@dollyhood6549]

@@Funeral_Mannequin btwn KIDS, Gummo & Spring Breakers, I feel like I’ve got the gist of what Harmony has to offer but I’ll give it a watch! Thanks 🙏 he’s an artist for sure

[@NoOneReallySpecial]

The odd indie movies like that and Welcome to the Dollhouse feel way more realistic in terms of poverty and stuff than movies like depicted in this video.

[@clown-cult96]

I really resonated with your anecdote. My family grew up in poverty and still aren’t wealthy now, although we’re doing better than we were. What drives me fucking crazy about these kinds of movies is that it’s one disaster after one mistake after one trauma, all blanketed in abject misery that shows no sign of getting better, and the insult to injury is when the out-of-touch creator turns around and responds to the inevitable “can you lighten up a little” criticism with “well I’m being realistic! This is real life! Happy endings don’t happen in these situations! Get over it!” And this attempt to be gritty and realistic only serves to show how out of touch they are even further…because as you said, there is happiness. We create our moments of joy, our moments of comfort, of fun, of love, of humour, of togetherness, of peace and of victory. The insinuation that people in poverty don’t get happy endings and that “that’s real life” as though we don’t have no other choice or facet to our lives but complete despair is very tone deaf and frankly, arrogant as hell. People who are in poverty or have experienced poverty don’t sit around being sad, crying and suffering 24/7 just because insert-rich-ignorant-celebrity here can’t imagine any joy whatsoever outside of the incredible privilege they’re almost always born into. We quite literally don’t have that luxury.

[@STARSAPPHIRE91]

Sigh, while this Nicola Peltz film is a piece of shit and I'm certainly not defending it one bit... I honestly think it's "tone deaf and arrogant" of you to assume that there aren't poor people who experience one tragedy after another, with very little to no joy inbetween. Just say you haven't lived it next time, or that you personally don't relate to stories like those because you haven't lived it. But it's BEYOND naive to legitimately believe that the majority of poor people are consistently able to create a sense of joy and togetherness while dealing with all the dynamics poverty brings. Especially when you consider how so often, a lower socioeconomic status contributes to broken, dysfunctional, or even abusive home lives and a LACK of familial support in the form of "togetherness". Impoverished people are also MUCH more likely to suffer consecutive traumatic experiences, with little to zero resources available to them to get treatment for it. All of which can and will contribute to all kinds of PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders. Dealing with untreated mental illness while having to wade knee deep in poverty is just a recipe for complete chaos, and quite often leads to things like drug abuse, which then only opens the door for more inevitable tragedy to follow, and very little room for "joy". This most certainly is the reality for MANY, I speak from personal experience. I'm not saying that there aren't impoverished people who are able to create happiness while poor, especially if one is lucky enough to come from a tight knit family, free of dysfunction and toxicity. But please understand, that is a PRIVILEGE, and most certainly not everyone's reality while dealing with poverty. There can be any number of factors that contribute to a story about the dynamics of poverty being unrealistic and I don't dispute that there are many that miss the mark due to directors being completely out of touch. You'll get no argument from me, there. But I have a problem with the idea that tragic movies about poverty that feature non-stop trauma with no happy ending are somehow unrealistic simply because they feature non-stop suffering, just because some people who came up poor didn't have the misfortune of experiencing non-stop trauma and suffering due to their impoverished circumstances.

[@nvmoondevotee28yrsago48]

@@STARSAPPHIRE91 How poor were you? I ask w/ genuine curiosity. In my personal experience, u don’t have to be privileged to find joy in everyday life. For example, my parents literally hail from an indigenous-speaking town in Mex that had zero infrastructure or even roads, as late as the 1990s. No potable water, no gas. No brick houses until the early 2000s. Only one telephone the next town over up until 2007-2008 when they slowly started to become more common in homes. I was born in the USA but spent a couple years there & l we would bathe in the rivers and communal hot springs, or use a stock tank hot tub for a bath, we bartered instead of using cash, use old tires as swings, every afternoon the elders would get together to chill or talk about the dreams they had the night before and discuss the meaning while us kids played outside, we lived off the land, we washed our clothes in the river, play pretend with dirt, leaves, and rocks & sure we didn’t have iPhones in 2008 but…we were happy. Easily the best years of my life. So yea, I believe there are exceptions cause we def not privileged lol tbh we are the least privileged group of ppl in the Western Hemisphere

[@STARSAPPHIRE91]

@@nvmoondevotee28yrsago48 There is a marked difference between rural poverty, and urban poverty. Sure, there are some dynamics that intersect, but many differences as far as how the socioeconomic dynamics of each will affect the stability of one's familial unit. Dynamics such as drug abuse, child abuse, rampant mental illness, and over policing of certain demographics leading to mass incarceration are dynamics more typically found in impoverished urban areas and WILL directly affect the functionality and stability of one's home life, ultimately impacting one's ability to create the sense of joy, hope and togetherness the person I responded to believes is universal for everyone living in poverty. Especially amongst minorities in redlined communities in the United States. However, some of those dynamics can even be found amongst some rural communities in the US, as well. There's also nuances between the actual poverty level of a family living in either a rural community, or an urban one. Someone living beneath the poverty line in a rural area, where they might lack infrastructure but still have some access to natural resources, will have a very different experience than someone living beneath the poverty line in an urban area, with no money to access any resources for them and their families, and no access to natural resources to depend on. The latter usually creates a dependance on illegal activities to get by, which will ultimately affect the stability of their familial unit. Poor people in urban communities are also more likely than wealthy or middle class people to have their children taken from them and put in the foster system, with racism being a strong intersecting factor in cases like those, where impoverished minorities are even more likely to be affected by that than impoverished white people might. I'm sure you can imagine the toll dynamics like these would have on the mental state of anyone grappling with them. It would be incredibly difficult to find "joy" in situations like those. And in cases of urban poverty, it's far more likely for one to experience the non stop trauma, with little to no opportunities to create a sense of joy that the person I responded to is under the impression is highly unrealistic. And movies such as those the person I responded to believes are unrealistic, are typically depicting urban poverty, or at the very least the common dynamics of such. This is what made their comment complaining about how certain movies depict non stop trauma and misery in poverty as unrealistic, simply because it didn't match their experience, incredibly ignorant. It would be one thing if they said that they wished more movies depicted the type of poverty they experienced, I'd have no problem with that at all, as I understand that there's no one-size-fits-all experience of poverty in the world, and I'm not going to automatically assume my experience is the same as someone else's. My issue is the assertion that movies that depict non stop trauma with very little joy and no happy ending in impoverished conditions are somehow unrealistic and MUST be a figment of some rich, Hollywood director's imagination simply because they experienced differently. Because unfortunately horribly depressing and tragic movies like those depict a reality for MANY in this world. I'm not going to speculate as to their experience of poverty, beyond noting the fact that because they never had to experience such incessantly traumatic and joyless conditions in poverty, and actually had the opportunity to experience moments of joy, happiness and togetherness is most certainly a privilege, because there are many who don't, and will never experience that in poverty.

[@Boohurghhoo]

​@@nvmoondevotee28yrsago48 they didn't say they were poor/impoverished. Maybe they did say that from experience +, but they didn't outright say it. they were basically saying that having joyous moments (or any type of joy,contentment, happiness) for some poor ppl is a privilege, too. So it's annoying to them that ppl will think showing nothing but misery and trauma along a poverty trope w/o any happy moments, isn't realistic- when it is and can very well be. Yes being poor doesn't take the joy necessarily out of life, maybe it's more stress than happiness ofc but it doesn't mean it's not there. But, atst, hardships do create more hardships and like they said not having a tight-knit family in general and things spiraling more n more out of control into pure dysfunction, no things will not be happy. Mostly miserable, or all misery. So, while yes there's things to be upset abt when this is the only thing that's shown esp when it's the ppl furthering it have never dealt w/ those problems-as much as there are poor people that enjoy good moments and can be happy through the adversity, there's some that are really just down and out, forever stuck at the bottom in multiple ways then one. Does that make enough sense? (genuinely asking)

[@StarlightPrism]

@@nvmoondevotee28yrsago48 A common problem with tragedy porn stories is that they don't seem to recognize that even the most marginalized and suffering groups find ways to grab joy or power.

[@dududulia]

the most important things is empathy and research. u can feel if the writer can empathise with the subject, even if they can't relate with the subject. empathy is not just feeling pity btw

[@cursy_blot]

I struggled a lot with the thought that "im not pretty enough to be sad"... goddamn, this aesthetic perception of mental anguish got me...

[@rowanadam8878]

20:00 exactly this! i remember having so many amazing memories of going out for picnics and long nature walks with my mother and it was only as an adult talking about it with her that she told me that she did that because she couldnt afford to take us to the cinema or to paid clubs but also didnt want us to just sit about the house all day. same when we had pancakes for dinner - for us kids, it was an exciting treat, but for my mother, it was because pancake ingredients were cheap and pancakes were filling. she learnt a lot of these tactics from her own mother, who raised her as a single woman in a very rural area. when my mother was a child she didn't know that the meat from the stew she ate was from poached rabbits which my grandmother sold the pelts of to afford the veg she couldnt grow, but speaking to my grandmother now about those experiences, i am humbled by how resilient and resourceful she was. people in poverty are resilient and resourceful, and we make our own pleasure and joy from that, and i think sometimes richer people cannot see that because maybe they haven't had to make their own pleasure and joy in such a way.

[@kxd4103]

omg never clicked on a video that said it had no views ... love your channel!!

[@otterzrkuhl]

I see the words "cosplay poverty" and usually think about the musical Rent but i somehow hadnt thought of the sad white girl trope before.

[@NonnaPossum1312]

Not me and my fellow poor but hot best friends renting an entire floor of a building downtown

[@lightspaceman5064]

I don’t know. If you’ve never done broke math you don’t need to be writing about poor people. It’s the only way to really get the context. A middle class film student has defiantly done their share of broke math. You know broke math, right? It’s simple. You say “Will buying this make me go broke?” Being broke isn’t about your life being this none stop rollercoaster ride of filmic tragedy. It’s about the complex network of ways people deal with it. That’s what Parasite got right.

[@cindytwo3260]

other broke maths: bills, rent, groceries - pick two

[@NonnaPossum1312]

@@cindytwo3260 Do I fix my wheel bearing so the wheel doesn't fall off and I can drive to work or do I buy groceries AGAIN because my landlord won't fix or replace my fridge and my food spoiled AGAIN because it stopped working all night. Also, is it more expensive financially to fix the car, or more expensive for my morale to not have unspoiled and varied food all week? (after all, I can just eat canned stuff until payday, right?) Anyone who's ever gotten that twinge of shame when buying themselves a snack with their EBT knows that thing people who don't need EBT say. You know, the whole "if I were you, every week I'd buy a whole rotisserie chicken and a loaf of bread, and I'd just eat chicken sandwiches and save as much money as possible", as if wanting to eat more than one thing all the damn time is some kind of ridiculous luxury you should be ashamed for wanting. Anyway sorry for the rant, this movie got me wanting to fight a nepo baby.

[@dog5221]

​@@NonnaPossum1312REAL. I have ARFID, and that whole food internal dialogue coupled with both family and stranger judgement is wild. Also I feel like anyone would lose their mind on less than 50k a year, just grocery shopping alone. Take a car out of the conclusion and they'd be spinning in no time.

[@thequestion4818]

Okay using a middle class film student as an example of someone who knows poverty is a bit of a stretch no one told you to go to film school. I feel like this comment is an attempt to validate your own experience

[@thequestion4818]

Also broke math isn't the absence of money. If you used all your money you're irresponsible with it. Broke math is using your limited resources to ensure although you'll be broke you'll have enough to eat until pay day

[@helenwinter3320]

tbh this reminds me of when i was like 12 and i really wanted something tragic to happen to me because in all the books i read the main character had the most horrible backstory was usually an orphan and i thought my life was boring. but then i witnessed a truly horrible situation, and i realized its not the "thing" itself that's the worst part. it's all the in betweens, where nothing happens, where you're anticipating the next punch, waiting for the other shoe to drop. it's all the time after where you're numb, you want to break down but you cant because every crack feels like enough for everything to come falling down. it's the mundane where you're trying to forget that you have no idea when or how you'll make it out of that situation. it's the constant pressure of all the small things. and these things aren't aesthetic or tragic they're just heavy. one of the worst things to come to terms with for me is that in real life these things dont have a plot, there is no point, there is no thought out pacing that leaves room for charcter development, or has an interesting story line, these thing stretch out far far longer than comfortable, or sometimes hit all at once. there seldom is a conclusion or closure of any kind other than making your peace with it. basically, romanticizing struggle is stupid dumb and contra productive, and attaching a certain aesthetic to it, is so so dangerous to a society and people struggling to be seen and taken serious.

[@bekkoucheabdeldjalelmohame6554]

This reminded of that millionaire who recently wanted to prove that anyone can be a millionaire in one year lol he blocked his bank account and using only his phone ( i guess homeless people can offered phones with internet service lol) found a place he could crush in ( which is something almost no homeless person can do) and eventually he was more than 900000 dollars short to his goal mentioning how that experience took a toll on him physical and mentally lol

[@bottomofastairwell]

Yeah, didn't he quit coz he got sick and couldn't do it?