Television Fiction, Income Reality

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Popular culture has managed to seep into the curriculum at many universities. Using the lens of television, movies, billboards, and the other media methods that sell us dreams and nightmares and distort our realities, some professors are able to lead students through study and discussion about values, politics, economics, and social issues in our culture.

The syllabus for one of these "popular culture" classes moved me to consider the ways we view income through a popular lens. There is a great gulf between the popular portrayal of income, work, and occupational status and the reality. To be sure, prime-time television is hardly a barometer of the socio-economic status of American workers. Still, it is illustrative to review prime-time programs from a propaganda perspective.

In pursuit of drama, or even humor, what …