Most evenings, you will find my wife and I sitting on the couch, binge-watching TV shows we have seen far too many times. One of the favorites we often return to is The Middle. This family-friendly sitcom tells the story of a low– to middle-class family, the Hecks. If you have seen the show, you have witnessed their everyday struggles, which revolve almost entirely around one central goal: survival. With both parents, Frankie and Mike, working consistently just to “get by,” nearly every episode ends with the family accepting that they will never be like the neighborhood favorites—the Donahue's.
As we watched an episode this week, I couldn’t help but view it through a Marxist lens. In one particular episode, Frankie and Mike take on multiple jobs to pay the bills and provide for their family. However, even after all the hard work at the quarry, selling cars, and delivering Little Betty’s Snack Cakes, their efforts never led to meaningful improvement. Instead, the family has to rely on a natural disaster just to get a new dryer.
The dominant ideology portrayed here suggests that no matter how hard the middle class works, stability—not advancement—is the ultimate achievement. Anything beyond that is framed as unrealistic or unattainable. The Hecks have grown accustomed to broken sinks, hand-me-down clothes, and constant financial hardship. This hegemonic mindset reinforces the idea that middle-class families should accept and endure their circumstances rather than question or challenge the system itself.
One particularly interesting aspect of The Middle is that, despite the dominant ideology of the working middle class being present in nearly every episode, the show still allows room for multiple readings—some that reinforce this ideology and others that challenge it. Brick Heck, the youngest member of the family, often represents an oppositional reading. Although Brick is highly intelligent, he is frequently overlooked or labeled as “weird” due to his social differences. His love for reading and acquiring knowledge is treated more as a flaw than a strength. Because Brick’s talents do not translate into economic or social value, the show exposes how systems tend to reward certain forms of intelligence while dismissing others. As Sellnow explains, oppositional readings are “oppositional because they challenge the dominant ideology with regard to taken-for-granted beliefs about empowerment” (Sellnow 120). Brick serves as a powerful counter-hegemonic figure throughout the series.
The Middle has brought entertainment, laughter, and even reassurance into my life. At the same time, viewing the show through a Marxist lens has raised important questions. Through Brick’s character, especially, I find myself wondering what kinds of intelligence and labor our society chooses to reward—and which are ignored. Do we only apply a Marxist lens when analyzing popular culture, or are we willing to use it to question the structures shaping our own everyday lives?
No comments:
Post a Comment