Form this picture what do you see? I see a poor, white trash, no good couple, which could care less about a job. Isn’t that what we are supposed to see? This picture shows the stereotypical welfare case, right? By looking at the picture you see a lower class white couple, sitting outside their trailer, and pardon my French but by the looks of it they are fucked up on something. If you look at the image closer notice the woman’s camo pants, in my head when I think of camouflage I think of armed forces, which makes me think of America. So is this woman supposed to be representing all of the United States? My next thought was if this woman is supposed to represent the US, how does the rest of the world view us (US)? Looking at the pants again my head also went with the idea maybe she is just supposed to look white trash with her camo pants and all she is missing is a bright orange snow cap. Another part of the image that stuck out to me was the fishing pole above the bed. At first I thought it was a shotgun which made me think the man is a “true American” by needing to protect is home (trailer), woman, and dogs. “It’s the American way”.
The cultural representation of this image is that people in our society have the mindset that poor people are lazy and slobs. Yes, there are those that have created their own hole that they must dig out due to drugs, alcoholism or just plain stupidity. From this image you can depict what the cultural norm for “poor” is. In reality, the economic downturn that our country has faced has forced many families in to welfare due to their instability. From job loss, market crash, or just bad luck many unfortunate people have had to buck up, and swallow their pride, to get government assistance. One significant example of this is school lunch programs, every year there is a larger portion of student families that need free or reduced lunch/ breakfast and often these are the only meals some students eat all day. The fact is there are numerous people, of all races that you wouldn’t expect to need assistance.
This is defiantly a biased opinion on display here. Despite it being a de-motivational poster motif that is often widespread over the internet, I think it really does a weak portrayal of welfare.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is how this is suppose to depict our poor, which in the image they do not actually seem that bad off. The trailer looks more like a fishing camper for trips. The bed is neat along with the cleanliness of the inside. Also the owning of what looks like to be two purebred dogs (which are not cheap.)
I like how you picked out the camo and how it could easily represent america, especially since our welfare program is the most often thought of. By the use of these colors, it is automatically assumed American.