Social class, cultural repertoires, and popular culture: The case of film

This research examines two different conceptions of the relationship betwee n social class and familiarity with popular culture in the United States. S pecifically, it focuses on differences between members of the upper-middle class and members of the lower-middle class in terms of their film viewing practices. The data for this analysis was obtained from a survey of 364 ind ividuals randomly selected from two neighborhoods in a medium-sized city, o ne predominantly upper-middle class and the other predominantly lower-middl e class. Members of the upper-middle class view more "art" films, as well a s more "classic" films and "blockbuster" films, than members of the lower-m iddle class. These differences are largely attributable to the fact that me mbers of the upper-middle class view more films both in theaters and on vid eocassettes than members of the lower-middle class. Moreover, these differe nces are reduced, but not entirely eliminated, by the fact that members of the lower-middle class view more films on television than members of the up per-middle class. Finally, these differences in the film-viewing practices of the members of these two social classes, as identified by their neighbor hood of residence, obtain even controlling for a series of demographic and socioeconomic background variables.