Pogues vs Kooks: The Ongoing Social Class War
Outer Banks became the most-watched show on Netflix for three consecutive weeks due to its mysterious and adventurous plot that quickly captured the hearts of all kinds of people. The pilot episode premiered on April 15, 2020 and is centered around 4 teenagers from the lower class side of the island that are on a mission to find the town’s most valuable treasure, the sunken Royal Merchant, carrying $400 worth of gold. Calling themselves Pogues, these teens from the working class have to face different struggles in their lives, including the ongoing rivalry with the privileged rich kids called Kooks on the opposite side of the island. The tension reflects the prejudice and wealth gaps that exist in America. Throughout the show, viewers may get the impression that different social classes are continuously conflicting due to their stereotypical differences of lifestyles and identities.
To begin, the Kooks are characterized by preppy dressing, golf playing, and country club living. They are also portrayed as snobby and ignorant because of the way they always seem to put themselves first. For example, the wealthy Cameron family is only concerned with their internet going down after the hurricane instead of helping people who lost their homes and even their loved ones to the disaster. Rose Cameron sounds extremely spoiled when she says, “it’s like living in Nicaragua,” referring to the power outage. On top of this, they always seem to be off the hook when the Pogues get punished for doing the same thing. After a fight breaks out on the beach between John B, a Pogue, and Topper, a Kook, John B and his friends get in trouble with the cops when it was Topper who initially started it and attempted to drown John B. This all represents how privileged and inconsiderate rich people are in society.
On the other hand, the Pogues are known for being reckless and dangerous. From broken families, to stealing to make a living, they represent common cultural norms when it comes to lower class citizens in the media. During the episode, the four teens do foolish things for the thrill of it such as standing on the bow of a moving boat drinking a beer, sneaking into a motel room, and diving deep in the marsh with no oxygen tank. These dangerous acts send the message that lower class people are usually up to no good. This is also shown when a man that was commonly known to be broke suddenly obtains an expensive boat. The teens immediately assume he was smuggling because there are typically very limited ways out of poverty.
Overall, this show contains many reinforcements of norms and stereotypes within the different social classes that typically lead viewers to only see them in these set ways in the real world. Although the series is entertaining, it’s important to be aware of the prevalent theme of the wealth gap and how these representations of different characters contribute to the categorization of these groups in our country.