I find it interesting that, while there has been a lot of disagreement on this list about whether Sid's family was deprived or just depraved, there seems to be almost universal consensus that we should be out there policing Disney on this issue. That is, even those who have argued that Sid is middle-class but simply from a bad family do not challenge the assumption that it would be somehow sinful for Disney to have made Sid's family not middle-class. Chris Carlsson, to take an example, discusses how the film might be exploiting the concept, 'embedded in out culture', that lower economic status is associated with lower moral status. But then he goes on to point out Unstrung Heroes, a film which celebrates (through the uncles) unkempt, unmonied diversity and criticices the middle class pretensions and hypocrisies of most of McDowell's relations. C'mon, let's face facts here: in Hollywood, it is this latter theme--the poor are virtuous, the moneyed are suspect--that gets a *lot* more play. (As for the *rich*, forget it, they are beneath contempt--most villians are educated Jeremy Irons types). As a middle-class person believing that this country's (written from USA) strength lies in the ability and, yes, the willingness, of the middle-class to create assimilating opportunities, I am offended by this constant drumbeat against the middle-class. ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]