• Flying Squid
    link
    fedilink
    594 months ago

    I’ve pointed this out before-

    On TV in the 1980s, Tom and Roseanne were out of work constantly, but they owned a house and they never lost it.

    On TV in the 1980s, Al Bundy supported his housewife and two kids on a shoe salesman’s salary.

    You know what the criticism was? It wasn’t that they owned a house. It was “their house is too big for what they make.”

    I don’t remember anyone thinking it was ridiculous that Al Bundy was a homeowner. Because of course he would own a home.

    Even renting and even in the 90s… no one said that it would be impossible to live in Manhattan and work in a cafe like on Friends. The criticism was that the apartment was too big. The idea that it was something you could do was not in question.

    Yes, it’s all TV and it’s all fantasy, but the public reaction to it should show you something.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      184 months ago

      Simpsons did it too. That was part of Frank Grimes’ (Or Grimey, as he liked to be called) criticism of Homer.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        134 months ago

        I should hope that a technician at a nuclear power plant could afford that house. Sure, he was an idiot, but he still did the job.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          24 months ago

          @┬──┬◡ノ(° -°ノ)depending on which episode you see grandpa either won the home in a crooked game show or he sold the farm to help Homer pay for it

    • The Picard ManeuverOP
      link
      fedilink
      154 months ago

      Because of course he would own a home

      This hits hard. It was pretty much accepted that as long as you generally had your life together enough to work a full time job, you could save up and buy a home.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      74 months ago

      Bundy was my first thought too, they were dirt poor with a clunker of a dodge, but they had a big house.