Current Forum: Session 5: Ideology and Class	Read 7 times 	
Date: 12-Feb-2001 22:58:20	
Author: SANTORA, GEORGE J. <gjs8362@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>	
Subject: Beginnings and Intersections 	
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       There is so much worthy of discussion in this film that to try to cover it all would be difficult. In order to limit the discussion, analysis of the opening sequence and how it prepares the viewer for the narrative followed by interpretation of the intersections of class, race and gender should cover the main theme of the film.
       Just as the opening sequence of Citizen Kane sets the stage for the mystery that follows, so to the beginning of Trading Places uses images that force the viewer to make certain connections or assumptions. The first shot is of a T-shirt vendor selling “I love Philadelphia” or some such, shirts. This establishes location and a metropolitan setting. The series of images that follow are of particular interest for their contrasting nature. Landis paints a portrait of America that is quite different than we have been lead to believe. By juxtaposing images of the working class, and the lower class to those of the extremely wealthy, followed by icons of American freedom and equality, Landis depicts a society of haves and have-nots that defies our belief in equality and the egalitarian nature of our society. 
       This is done with a series of shots that are linked together by abrupt cuts, which serve to further emphasize the dichotomous nature of the images. We see a butcher at work and other working class people on their way to work. Then we see a wealthy man getting his newspaper off the steps of his brownstone. This is followed by a cut to a homeless man sleeping in a pile of newspapers in order to stay warm. Then to drive the point home Landis cuts to a statue of George Washington one of our founding fathers who set out to create a society in which “All men are created equal”. This is followed by a shot of inner city kids at play, a shot of the unemployment office, a homeless man on the street in front of a building with Greek columns another symbol of democracy. 
       Landis then gives the viewer many shots of American or democratic icons, Rodin’s Thinker, and many I did not recognize, even the Rocky icon of the underdog and class mobility, he ends with Julius Caesar. Caesar is there perhaps to say that America is not democratic but a sort of economic dictatorship. This sequence ends with Winthorp’s butler bringing him breakfast in bed after we have scene that most people are already hard at work. When Coleman is heading up the stairs the camera pans right and zooms in on a figure in Greek style that resembles the statue of liberty. This again serves to remind us of our democratic notions that all men are equal and came to America to make a better life. This notion seems hard to swallow after we have just been bombarded by images that only serve to clarify how vast the separation of the wealthy from the common man really is. 
       Interestingly enough, assuming a middleclass audience, there are no middleclass characters to identify with. Instead, Landis shows us all that it is better to be middle class than 
either rich or of course poor. He achieves this by making the upper-class people extremely easy to dislike. The scene where Luis Winthorp is describing his experience with a mugger to his 
girlfriend Penelope is a good example of how this dislike is achieved through the intersection of class and gender that seem to confirm middleclass values or beliefs. We just witnessed Luis 
behavior when he believes that Billy ray is mugging him, he falls to the ground and begs for mercy. Yet when he is telling the story to Penelope he describes himself as brave and says it 
was all, “instinct, kill or be killed”. Penelope says that she would have dropped to the ground and cried like a baby. That is precisely what Luis actually did, so we see him as feminine and 
soft. The upper class male does not stand up for himself; he is a weak coward who lies about his experience latter. This type of thing does not happen to a middleclass male hero, such as Rocky or any heroes that might be played by Bruce Willis. In the end Winthorp is a better man for his experience, one might even say closer to what a middle class audience might expect, and Coleman along with the homeless Billy Ray and Ophelia the hooker have achieved the American dream.