Raising Hope and the Flaws of Working Class

To illustrate the flaws of working class representations in television, Raising Hope is a perfect example. This is a show about a dysfunctional family. The story begins when Jimmy has a one night stand with a female serial killer. After she is convicted and sentenced to death, Jimmy becomes the single father to an infant named Hope. Jimmy is the son of Virginia and Burt who are high school drop outs. When Virginia got pregnant with Jimmy, she and Burt decided to get married before finishing high school. They all live in Virginia’s grandmother’s house. Maw Maw, as they call her, has Alzheimer’s and is constantly doing some very irreverent things.

Raising Hope is such a good example for discussing the flaws of working class in television shows because these flaws are very present in the characters' lives. First, they have bad taste. Virginia is obsessed with these little ceramic pigs. She used to have a collection of them. Burt pawned them because of his gambling addiction. When Virginia made some extra money, the first thing she did was to buy these figurines back. Bad taste is also exemplified by Burt’s choices in home accessories. He bought this piece of art made out of two halves of coconut shell. They symbolized a pair of breasts that moved according to the song. Second, Burt, Virginia, and Jimmy lack intelligence. Jimmy seems to be a little less ignorant than his parents. He is the one who shows his parents how to use the internet. Third, the family has a poor work ethic. Virginia is a cleaning lady. She finds out the owners of one of the houses she cleans will be out of town during Thanksgiving. She decides to borrow the house to impress Burt’s parents who are spending the holiday with them. Finally, the family has dysfunctional values. They are always doing deceitful things. Jimmy is in love with Sabrina so Burt and Virginia change the numbers on her cell phone to find out if she is interested in a different guy. If she texts this other guy, the message will actually go to Virginia’s phone.

Perhaps the only flaw that is not very present in Raising Hope is reactionary politics. The characters are not really engaged with social or political discussions. Their main interest is their own personal lives.

After analyzing a show such as Raising Hope, it becomes clear that television continues to portray working class people as flawed. I would say that Raising Hope goes even a little further in these representations. Historically, the male characters were the ones that had all these flaws. In Raising Hope the whole family seems to be very flawed. There are a few moments in which Virginia seems to be a bit more rational. However, in general they are all representing the stereotypes of the working class.