Classism and a hint of foolishness

As far as literary criticism goes, I think Parenti is pretty dead on with Treasure Island. As far as the rest, I'm not so sure. He digs a whole that is probably a little too deep: the Woman Under the Influence kind of made me scratch my head. Is he honestly proposing the only reason she doesn't get better is because the husband's not middle class? Maybe he's overlooking the fact that the two characters, BOTH underclass, are made underclass to seem relatable to a wider audience.

If anything, classism goes the opposite way, I'd say. Very few people sympathize with the rich guy--in fact, the only reason we see them is to create a Prince-n'-the-Pauper parallel, or some sort of romantic Cinderella-esque story ("Pretty Woman"). Nowadays, though, the middle class seem to be particularly overlooked as characters in media--we are intrigued in media by the struggling under class, who we deem more noble in a sense than those who succeeded by equal amounts of hard work.

To quote Ben Folds: "Ya'll don't know what it's like being male, middle class, and white."