“Winter’s Bone”: Is It “Poverty Porn”?
Rex Okpodu has pointed out to me that “Winter’s Bone,” with its Oscar-buzzed performance by Jennifer Lawrence (pictured), along with “Frozen River,” which featured Melissa Leo in an Oscar-nommed perf, are being classed as “poverty porn.” It refers to movies that, in the words of one blogger, showcase “too many beautifully shot scenes of rusted out cars and falling down shacks to fully trust cinematic depictions of poor folks any longer.” Of course, there’s something smug and condescending about the phrase: as if only rich folks deserve to have their lives expressed in beautifully shot scenes! As if people without money cannot experience beauty in their daily lives just as much — if not more so — than rich assholes.
