Upper-Class White Women Portrayed in the Media

In CBC’s pilot episode of Schitt’s Creek, the government revenue agency comes in and takes all of the Rose’s personal items. The Rose family is stripped of all their assets because their trusty businessman stole all their money and assets except one item, Schitt’s Creek. Mr. Rose purchased this down back in 1991 for his son David as a joke for his son. They are forced to take everything and move into the town’s motel. Through the first episode, we get the impression upper-class white women tend to value self-centeredness and are extremely dramatic.
In the opening scene of the show starts with the head revenue agency officer sitting down with the Rose family to talk about their assets and their financial situation after everything was stolen. He explains that there is very little money left for them Mrs. Rose says, “I’m sure there is a penthouse that we can move into.” We can see that Myra’s high status is hard to take down. As viewers, we can see that Myra’s impression of hardly any money is enough for a penthouse. It shows the high status that she had been living at and the moral character that she has.
Another example of upper-class white women being negatively portrayed in the media is when the revenue officer is explaining their assets. The officer says, “you only have one asset left to their name” Mrs. Rose says, “the kids?”, the officer proceeds to say, “the children are dependent Myra.” As viewers, we get the impression that Myra is undereducated and that her character is a joke. This example helps reinforces the trope that upper-class white women are able to get through society because of their money, not intelligence.
Once the family is moved into the hotel they are greeted by the town’s mayor Roland. After introducing himself viewers get the impression he is lower class and unclean. Mr. Rose is passive-aggressive towards Roland. As the family goes out to brunch Myra hid her diamond earrings inside the tissue box in case of a break-in. As they get back they are greeted with no doors on their motel rooms. Myra starts to freak out frantically pulling the tissues out of the box, “WHERE ARE THEY,” crying hysterically “OH MY GOD, MY DIAMONDS ARE GONE!” This scene reinforces the stereotype that all upper-class women are dramatic and privileged. This continues to narrow our view on how we look at people.
In conclusion, this piece of media reinforces the norms of upper-class white women. It continues to drag us deeper into the cave of cultural norms. We continue to link these characters to our everyday lives narrowing our lenses of who we give a chance. As viewers, we look down on these characters because they are portrayed as the bad guy, the dumb one, or the dramatic type.