If there is a time and context
that shows dramatically how stark economic inequality can be, the years
immediately following the Wall Street crash of 1929 cannot be beat. Wealthy men
in the financial sector saw their wealth disappear overnight; the sudden move
to the street from comfortable housing doubtless triggered many suicides. The
1936 film, My Man Godfrey,
demonstrates the mental and reputational depravity of even once-wealthy investors
(and stock brokers) relative to the still-rich, who look down with disdain such
men as if they were no longer human beings. The stark change in the economic-determined
normative stance is artificial and yet in terms of getting a job, it was very
real. In the film, Godfrey maintains
good graces in using his low status even in the employment of a rich family as
an opportunity to practice humility. He even saves the family, financially, and
marries one of the daughters. Godfrey, she knows, is her man even in
spite of his lowly station.
The full essay is at "My Man Godfrey."
