The Dichotomy Of Wealth Depicted In The Comedy Film Get Hard

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The Comedy film, Get Hard, directed by Etan Cohen, was about a wealthy hedge fund investor, James King, who is convicted of fraud and embezzlement and was sent to serve 10 years in San Quentin State Prison. The movie demonstrates the dichotomy between the wealthy and poor population, revealing the poor people’s struggles and the wealthy people’s privileges. At the beginning of the movie, the viewers had the opportunity to see the inside of James King’s privilege life and, Darnell Lewis’ underprivileged lifestyle. James had the choice to either take the plea deal and serve one year in prison or take his case to court. He knew that he was innocent and had hope that in court, the evidence could prove his innocence. However, his plan backfired and James was given 10 years in state prison because the judge wanted to teach Wall street a lesson about stealing money from the people. In class, we learned that the judge would use general deterrence to warn other people about the consequences if they break the law. …show more content…

James assumed Darnell is an ex-felon because he is African American, even though he denies it. The labeling theory states that the powerless groups (Darnell) have “less control over what is labeled criminal” and “have little power to resist the labels.” Since James King has a prestige social status, he automatically labeled Darnell as a criminal, even though it was not true. Despite his surroundings, Darnell lives a different lifestyle as a family man and a small business owner, emphasizing that the stereotypes are untrue and created by the

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