The Privilege of Elite
The initial reason for the Netflix show Elite translating well to the U.S. is due to the mix between traditional telenovelas and features aspects from well-known and successful shows from the U.S. like Gossip Girl and How to Get Away with Murder. Despite this show being entertaining and binge-worthy, there are deeper social messages that critiques the effect of social class on youth and becomes easily translated towards another capitalist society.
This show is emerging in a time where the upcoming generation of youth are pointing out differences and what is and isn’t okay for people to do. One particular problem is the idea of privilege and how it plays a role in the treatment and perception of people. Privilege can come from a lot of things, but mainly is directly tied with wealth and social class. Those that come from better backgrounds are able to have more opportunities, material things, and “better” lives than those who come from less fortunate backgrounds.
This idea of privilege is called the social elevator, which essentially is the “economic and social mechanisms that allow the new generations to be better off than their parents and grandparents” (Vega 2019). In Spain, this social mobility is much slower than it should be, taking more and more generations for a low-income family to reach a high or even average income bracket. This increase in income inequality and inability to improve quality of life is discouraging and becoming a difficult situation for people in the poorer levels of society. People are stuck in their positions, both at the top and bottom of the social ladder, trapped in the situation they were born into.
Not much differently, in the United States, the issue of privilege persists against those in a position of power. Since more and more of the population is finding themselves on lower rungs of society, they keep those above them in check, reminding them of the privileges they face for their wealth and success. Rebeka is a character who is not afraid to call out the rich kids and their families on the different treatment. Being one of the few to actually make it past being stuck at the bottom, though through unlawful means, she is still resentful against those who were born into their status. After she starts to bring her mom’s drug deals to the students, one of the rich girls, Carla, gets severely ill from her dependency, leading to suspicion towards Rebeka. She is expelled, despite quitting selling after finding out about Carla, and cannot hold back, saying “Let f***ing everyone know that I’m getting kicked out! But if your moms fund a scholarship, you don’t get expelled, even if you’re a f***ing murderer!”(Season 3, episode 4). She is referring to Polo, one of the rich kids, who (almost) everyone knows accidentally killed another rich girl, Marina, in the first season, but was never found guilty nor expelled for his actions. She simply is bringing to light a fact that there is preferential treatment towards those that contribute greatly to the school, no matter how awful their actions may be.
This theme of being able to get away with being bad because of their wealth is common throughout the show. In Season 3, Polo is killed by another wealthy student, Lu, again by accident. However, this time the rich and poor students band together with Lu, helping her cover up the incident since justice was served. All the students there take turns holding the broken bottle (the murder weapon) and telling the detectives different stories of who was with Polo at the time of his death. Now why would the poor kids take the side of a rich girl who has constantly tormented them for being from “the other side of the tracks”? Well, after going through so much pain with the murder of Marina by Polo, they just want to move on. But is this truly realistic? Many find that enemies will always remain enemies, no matter the circumstance. The poor will continue to be poor while the rich only get richer. But there is also the saying that an enemy of my enemy is my friend. So, simply due to their
How was Polo able to withstand three whole seasons without being caught? Well, unfortunately, someone else had to take the fall. This meant finding someone to blame as quickly as possible to settle the minds of the citizens, lest a murderer run rampant around the city. Samu, one of the scholarship students, was involved in a love triangle with his brother, Nano, and Marina, the rich girl who was murdered. As such, they used this struggle between them, and the debt that the family owed as reason enough for Nano to murder Marina, despite the love he held for her. He was quickly blamed since enough evidence aligned, although they were missing the certainty of having the weapon (which was thrown into the lake by Polo’s group of rich friends, who found him after the act). With that, Nano was thrown into prison, being known for involving himself in “shady” business simply for trying to help his family get out of their debt and have a better life. The prejudice against their family simply for being poor, and having to resort to questionable acts to get by. His history should not determine his innocence in this situation, which is unrelated to past situations he has found himself in.
Similar to the way Nano, Marino, and Samu found themselves in an impossible situation, wanting something that they cannot have, another person who suffers this is Cayetana. When she joins the school, she appears to be a social media influencer. In reality, however, she is poor, and on scholarship for the school. After graduation, she is seen working at the school as a janitor since she has to continue to pay for her life expenses. Although she was good at hiding her lack of wealth at first, she is unable to keep up the act for long. The second she is discovered, she is cast away from the group of elites. The fall from grace comes quickly as there is no one to defend her. Research has actually shown that higher-class people, when there is a large gap between social standings, are more concerned with “losing their privileged position in society” (Mansteid 2018). This is simply part of human nature and the changes in their behavior that come with the way they have grown and lived. It also confirms many of the stereotypes that are attached to the wealthy and their positions against the underprivileged.
In all societies, there are constant gaps between the rich and the poor that will always exist. The ladder and the sufferings of each individual on different levels; however, does change depending on the state of their countries. For those in Spain it is much more difficult than those in the United States. Elite’s portrayal of these gaps is something that is able to cross borders and relate to many people of all income levels.
