Monster-in-Law: A Ruling Class Looking Down

“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force,” this quote is taken out of The German Ideology, by Karl Marx. By this quote Marx argues that in the class struggle between the aristocrats at the top of the social ladder and those at the bottom trying to reach for some form of that top ladder there is an imbalance of ideas as to what is correct for the whole, as the lower class is subject to be fed the ideas of the ruling class. Because of the fact that the ruling class does have the means of production, it is automatically assumed that they have all the original ideas and know what is best for everyone around them. Therefore, continuing to separate the line of class division by preventing any of the lower classes to speak opinion, thought, or any sort of ideas ultimately keeping them the lower class. This type of division has been seen for centuries, from Shakespeare to slavery and even in today’s world (as the ruling class’ view of the lower class is sprinkled into everything we pay close attention to); class division is no stranger to everyday life.

This point of view for example can be seen very clearly on film (as everyone watches movies intently, therefore listening to their ultimate message). The film I choose to focus on is Monster-in-Law, starring Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda. A film in which a mother (a successful media journalist, Viola), meets her potential daughter-in-law (a temp, Charlotte). And automatically tries to get her out of the picture as Viola sees Charlotte as being not good enough for her doctor son (Kevin), ultimately meaning not good enough for her family. And at first sight Charlie (short for Charlotte) sees this ideal in Viola’s surroundings and quickly conforms to this ideal thought. And now we see in this film, and through the art of humor, first impression, and the lower class conformity of the ruling class’ dominance. That the Marxist ideal of the ruling class being better than the lower class is not only still alive in the thoughts of the upper class but also with the conformity found on film, is still alive in the thoughts of the lower class as well.

In Monster-in-Law we meet Viola who has just been fired from her talk show. She immediately goes home for comfort (after leaving rehab due to a nervous breakdown), but soon her comfort is turned into unwanted stress as she meets her potential daughter-in-law, Charlie, who is of the lower class compared to her doctor boyfriend. Viola’s first impression of Charlie is that of a gold digger, someone who was able (through some sort of “persuasion”) to land herself a successful man of the upper crust (obviously not proper in the world of the ruling class). This first impression begins to define the lower class in a sense as it now proves how the lower class depend on the upper ruling class for survival because as Marx states himself, “The individuals composing the ruling class possess among other things consciousness, and therefore think.” (Marx, p. 656) Meaning that the ruling class has what it takes to survive and prosper in the real world and that the lower class does not, therefore they work and wait for some ideal to fall down from the sky for them, while they just dream of the aristocratic life. This idea of the thinkers was actually highlighted in a 2010 article found in TIME Magazine, focusing on the top ten college dropouts, entitled (appropriately), Top 10 College Dropouts, by Joseph Lin. One of the men that dropped out of school was Steve Jobs who dropped out of Reed College but would soon, “go on to eventually found Apple, NeXT Computer and Pixar, becoming an instrumental force in shaping the landscape of modern culture.” And become one of the richest men in the country. Proving that in order for one to make in life, one has to be a thinker and make a way for himself, not relying on anyone but themselves to move themselves up. This first impression of Charlie goes as far as leading Viola to believe that Charlie has become pregnant with Kevin’s child and in this laying the reason for their engagement. Here we see the first sign of a struggle (although only in the mind); of someone trying so hard to attain something that is not hers (and according to Viola, never will be). And in this meeting of two classes we also see a new view, an unstable view of two classes, proving that, “Moreover, all class-divided societies project into culture the instabilities on which they are built,” as according Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan in the article Introduction: Starting with Zero.

This leads to Viola plotting now how to rid herself of this nuisance that has come into her life (making her life even more unstable), which forces her to point out the fact that Charlie does not fit into this world. This now brings us into the humor and conformity of the film. First, Viola runs a background check on Charlie that proves to be clean of any sketchy past she may have had. Next, she throws a party in which she invites all of the people Kevin grew up with (which just happens to be some of the world’s most prominent people). This accomplishes the first task in Viola’s plan to make Charlie feel out of place, not knowing the first impression Charlie had of Viola. Charlie’s first impression of Viola was that of a women who had done so much more than she could ever imagine. Here is the first sign we see Charlie’s conformity to the ideal that Viola is better than her and has a right to be simply because she knows these people and therefore she is worldlier, has better knowledge on world issues (smarter than her), and is more up to speed with everything around her. This can be heard in Charlie’s reactions to the photos she sees when entering Viola’s house, “Shut up! Is that the Dalai Lama? That can’t be real!” This surprise now seeps into the American audiences and we accept Charlie’s point of view as our point of view (because after all, Viola met Oprah!). Now this conformity on film becomes reality, since now, not Charlie but Jennifer Lopez conforms to Viola’s ideal and we follow her and suddenly her conformity is our conformity and now we feel comfort in our lower stature, this similar view was argued by Rivkin and Ryan. “One function of literature (or film) is to offer those on the losing end images that assure them that their situation of relative deprivation is the natural result of fair play and fair rules, not of a systematic dispossession that is a structural feature of the society.” (Rivkin & Ryan, p. 645) Meaning that because Jennifer Lopez is not right away trying to fight this image of herself as someone unworthy of loving Kevin, but really giving in, she almost gives us permission to do so as well (i.e. give into the impressions people may have of us). Similarly as did Shakespeare in his plays for the royal court, as stated in this same article of how he created character that promoted the royals as the supreme people and made the lower class characters appear as if they deserved to be there, making, “Their speech and patterns of thought suggest less refined natures than those possessed by their “betters,” who usually happen to be aristocrats.” (Rivkin & Ryan, p. 645) And again since it is Shakespeare who says this to the people of his time, they are more willing to accept this, thus solidifying the class divisions.

Now, having failed in making Charlie feel out of place in Viola’s life, as Charlie claims her love for Kevin is stronger than anything that can be thrown at her. The film takes a turn in its discourse from conformity to slap-stick comedy. And again, here we see the lower class character made out to seem like the fool, like in the Shakespeare plays. But here the character takes a different turn as now she will stand up for herself, but even still we see that this character is subject to some harassing behavior (as Viola pretends to not be able to sleep in order to get Charlie in her bed, only to attack her while Viola “sleeps”). And here is where we truly the battle begins as Charlie at first puts up with this harassment because of the fact that she is Kevin’s mother, but soon we see her finally take her stand. This kind of harassment is discussed in the article Actor's Status and Conformity to Norms: A Study of Students' Evaluations of Instructors by, Richard T. Santee and T. L. VanDerPol. The article states how the “roles” in which we all play in life have always played in the backgrounds of our lives, and it is only when you subject yourself to not playing along in your “role” that you open yourself to the harassment of others, “The concepts of norm and role have played a significant part in the behavioral sciences by serving as background assumptions and sometimes explanations of human behavior. Labeling and evaluation are said to result from conformity to and deviation from group standards (Becker, 1963; Cohen, 1966), with scapegoating or harassment of those who do not play the role assigned by the group (Coch and French, 1948).” This harassment is again definitely seen in this film as Viola at one point even poisons Charlie by putting nuts into the gravy in which Charlie is about to consume with her mashed potatoes, knowing very well that she would have an allergic reaction to the nuts (as she does). And in this humor we see Charlie stand up for herself as she returns the harassment and gives the “ill” Viola sleeping pills instead of the vitamins she was taking. Viola finally sleeps (which allows Charlie to finally do the same). We must also though ask why this humor is allowed (and why are we making fun of ourselves) because by laughing her in her situation, we laugh at everyone in that situation. This topic was covered in an article found at ABCnews. com, the article was entitled “Is ‘Hillbilly’ Humor Offensive, and the article basically stated that this type of humor is not offensive in fact, “It's funnier if you have somebody who can relate to it who's making the joke,” stated Chris Duerr in the article. And this type of example is definitely seen here as Jennifer Lopez does find herself relatable to a wide audience. And with this we see the tables finally turn (as the lower class finally grows a backbone) and the lower finally takes all they can take and the real struggle begins. And then we find Ruby (Viola’s assistant) the next morning applauding Charlie in her ability to begin somewhat to win this struggle. As Ruby tells her, “I underestimated you, you don’t need a gun.” And in this we see other lower classes rooting on other lower classes because as Marx states in The German Ideology, “It’s victory, therefore, benefits also many individuals of the other classes which are not winning a dominant position,” (Marx p. 657).

As now the humor not only works as a punishment for trying to go outside your “role” in life, but, now also serves as a test. As now not only does the class also depend on you to win this struggle. But we also get the upper class testing your strength to see if you are in fact worthy to join the upper crust. But to focus for a moment on this lower class not winning a dominant position in life, Ruby, Viola’s assistant is just that, her assistant. She may appear as if she has some power over Viola, working a lot of the time as her voice of conscience (even though many times she does not listen to her). But in the end her social level does not move up, she remains Viola’s assistant. Because of the fact that Ruby stays in the background of the film and does tend to offer a lot of the comedic relief in this film, it could be that she is the perfect example of what ruling classes look for in a person. Ruby stands for someone who does not disobey or necessarily go against the ruling class. Even though, she does appear to have a mind of her own she never truly rebels against the ruling class. She just sits back and waits to see which idea will fall from the sky next.

Unlike Charlie, who goes against everything Viola stands for, and even though she is the producer of everything. Because if you really think about it she was the one who produced everything Kevin had, so in a way you could almost look it as if she brought him up to her social stature as well. And just like he ultimately proved himself to his mother (as he became a doctor), so must Charlie through this class struggle (Humor of film) before Viola will accept her. Because we see this “eternal law” which Marx discusses as the separation of power. And this eternal law can be seen as highlighted in two particular parts in this film, one scene in which both women stand their own grounds and Charlie tells Viola that she knows about everything that she has done and that her game is over, and Viola cackles and responds, “This isn’t over, not even close.” To which Charlie responds, “Bring it on Grandma.” The second scene in which this “eternal law” is highlighted is at the end of the film when the two face off again as the wedding day has arrived, and Charlie tells Viola one more time to fact the fact that she will marry Kevin, and Viola tells her to fact the fact that she will never be good enough for him. This altercation again ensues in slap-stick comedy, this time with literal slapping. By now the audience has slipped into their comfort zone of the inferiority introduced to them by the bourgeois of modern day. But soon see something that is less often achieved by someone of the lower social class. Charlie has won the war against Viola and has been accepted into the family. Thus, now offering a new look at the class structure of the modern and possibly even offering hope that all class structures can be abolished.

Karl Marx argues that ideals of the ruling class are the dominant ideas for all classes, since they are at the top of the social ladder, no one else’s opinion matter but theirs. And this is can definitely be seen in the film Monster-in-Law. As we see the struggle of two different social classes. One is of the ruling class (Viola) whose word is law because it is the producing force. And the other of the lower class which stays divided from the upper class in order to keep order, as can be seen as Viola’s main focus in trying to keep Charlie from marrying her son. The upper class of today tries to do the same with the world as a whole instilling this belief in the film we watch, as they instill the belief that the lower class in lower because that is where they belong, along with the upper class being where they are because that is where they belong. And because we assume that they are better than us, we automatically listen to their ideals. This ideal being instilled in the actors who we love who portray the conforming characters that we soon associate ourselves with. Ultimately proving, that the Marxist ideal of the ruling class being better than the lower class is not only still alive in the thoughts of the upper class but also with the conformity found on film, is still alive in the thoughts of the lower class as well.