How People of Different Social Classes Value Their Personal Items Differently
By: Mitchell Pokrywa
Each and every person has different values for different things, and it is evident when comparing people of different social classes just how different that margin of value is. Someone who is super rich values things differently than someone with not as much money would value certain possessions that they have.
When watching The Queen of Versailles this became evident to me with the interviews they had with the family, as well as the interviews they had with the nanny. During the interviews with the family you can tell how distraught they really feel about being under pressure of losing their dream home and having to cut back on the things they have. However, it was obvious to me and I think anyone else watching that even with the cutbacks they had to do they were still able to live more than comfortably and they had no real reason to feel so distraught about the situation they were in. The only reason they felt distraught was because they didn’t want their social standing to come into question and were greedy in the fact that they wanted to keep living they way they were before (The Queen of Versailles).
However, when they interviewed the nanny about how she moved some of her things into the kid’s playhouse, she explained how her family never had owned a home and having this space was special to her because it was her idea or symbolism of her own home, and she was brought to tears when explaining that story (The Queen of Versailles). The point I am trying to make is that despite the problems the family was going through, they still had more then everything they could have ever needed, but they were acting like they were in crisis. The nanny was more appreciative of the small things she had and what those things meant to her. The difference between their value of each other’s belongings was evident in the way each person discussed what things mattered to them.
This is my punching bag and to me it is more than just a punching bag. It is my release. After I have a long day or a bad day, this is where I escape. To me it means I can put everything else aside and focus my energy and clear my mind. I value this item a lot and it helps me get through a lot of things.
This is my television, and it is also very valued by me. I use it all the time and without one I would feel like I was missing out on a lot of things. I feel like this is a necessary item to have and is very useful to obtain knowledge and information.
This is my dog and he is very important to me. I value my dog as a member of my family and treat him as such. He is a loyal companion and he means a lot to me. I would never do anything to harm or hurt him. He serves as an important part of our family.
This post was completed as part of an assignment interpreting the “material culture” of home, and how objects, keepsakes, and ephemera from our domestic lives contribute to our social identities. For additional information on the assignment, please visit:https://americanstudiesmediacultureprogram.wordpress.com/the-concept-of-home-spring-2014-the-archeology-of-home/
American Studies Media Culture Program (ASMCP) 