race & murder

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 04:38 PM 4/22/99 -0400, kelley wrote:
>the convoluted dynamics of class conflict though are surely a part of
this, much more a part of this than some reductive explanation like
"racism"  (see the stories on the social status structure of the school.
this, my friend says, is *very* typical of that school and very reflective
of the class politics of denver where the middle class and middle class
jobs are evaporating and have been for quite some time.)

It is worth mentioning in that context the indie film _Welcome to the
Dollhouse_ whose plot takes place in a suburban New Jersey middle school.
The school (all white) is a mirror image of the adul society - and
stratification beased on popularity and celebrity status runs cross gender
lines (in other words, girls are as vicious as boys).  The female
protagonist is given hell by her classmates (both male and female) and
parents, simply because she is labeled "ugly."  But she is no much better
when she finds someone whose status is even lower than hers.

Wojtek
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