There are many ways to understand concepts that describe class, but I believe the best way in doing this is by comparisons through movies. I believe one of the best movies that distinguishes social characteristics and relates social theories on class is Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. The movie is about an African prince who comes to Brooklyn in search of an American bride who will love him for who he is, rather than for his wealth and royal status. He poses as a poor bus boy in a restaurant in NY. He falls in love with his bosses daughter, but his boss is rich and thinks he is poor so he doesn't want them to become a couple. He wants her to marry some rich man from a wealthy family.

This movie shows how people use SES, or socioeconomic status to make class judgments. Such as when her father believes the prince is poor, uneducated, and has no occupational prestige he thinks he is not good enough for his daughter, as soon he find out he is a wealthy prince he thinks he is the best guy in the world. At first th

Many people also believe certain groups of people are poor like for example single mothers. Race and social class are also said to have close ties. Even though 2/3 of all poor people are white it is said the percentage of poor in minorities is disproportioned, according to Second Edition Sociology, by Linda L. Lindsey and Stephen Beech, 11 percent of whites are poor but 26.5 percent of blacks are poor. The movie also illustrates this, but a little to much. In the movie they show lots of poor people, but about 75 percent are black. They are trying to make a point but I think it is little overboard because it can lead people to make assumptions that all poor people are black, which can lead to stereotyping.

In conclusion there are many ideas to discuss about the poor, too many to even bring up in this paper. Also movies are a great way to explain theories, ideas, and model real life.

Also this movie helps me to explain some theories I believe in for example on one of the reasons people are poor. I believe a big factor is that people in different classes do not tend to interact with each other. If the

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Stephen Beech, Arsenio Hall, , poor people, Coming America, people poor, fast food restaurant, reasons people poor, class believe, single mother trying, mother trying, people believe, fast food, rich poor, single mother, myth poor, explain theories,
Approximate Word count = 750
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)