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Social Stratification Betrayed in a Movie
In every society, there is inequality. There are people that have better education, more power, and more money than other (Macionis, 2010). Social stratification ranks people in different categories based on social class. It is much like the feudal system in Europe where you are born into Nobility. The movie Trading Places shows the differences in social class.
Trading Places is a movie about an upper class commodities broker, Louis Winthorpe, and a homeless street hustler, Billy Ray Valentine, whose live cross paths when they are unknowingly become a part of a huge bet. Mortimer and Randolph Duke, the owners of the commodities company where Louis Winthorpe worked, are responsible for putting the elaborate plan together to switch places with the two of them. The bet was that neither one of them would be able to function outside of their normal elements and lifestyles. Louis Winthorpe came from high society and was well educated. He also looked down upon those who were less fortunate than himself. Billy Valentine was an uneducated homeless hustler from the streets. He spent his time trying to get quick money through schemes and crime. He wanted to live like Winthorpe.
Throughout the entire, Winthorpe got to experience how it felt to be poor. He was subjected to drugs, prostitution, jail and a theft. It gave him a chance to see how it felt to be on the lower end. He saw how he treated other people. Valentine on the other hand got to experience the good life. He was taught a business and lived a life that was much grander than his own. In the end, they both learned a lesson about people and life. Although the purpose behind the bet was not about a lesson to be learned, it was a great one to be had.
This movie is a perfect example on how most people only interact with others within the same social

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