--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's risky to show poor Americans. People…" description: "\"It's risky to show poor Americans. People see it as a downer. But I really wanted to make a tightly wound piece of storytelling that also happened to e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14b/debra-granik-4495_american_it-s-risky-to-show-poor-americans-people_1216370.jpg" --- # It's risky to show poor Americans. People see it as a… ![“It's risky to show poor Americans. People see it as a downer. But I really wanted to make a tightly wound piece of storytelling that also happened to explode the myth of American affluence.” quote by Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14b/debra-granik-4495_american_it-s-risky-to-show-poor-americans-people_1216370.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14b/debra-granik-4495_american_it-s-risky-to-show-poor-americans-people_1216370.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14b/debra-granik-4495_american_it-s-risky-to-show-poor-americans-people_1216370.jpg) > “It's risky to show poor Americans. People see it as a downer. But I really wanted to make a tightly wound piece of storytelling that also happened to explode the myth of American affluence.” [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The film challenges stereotypes by exposing hidden socioeconomic realities, confronting myths of wealth. **In simple terms:** Showcasing poverty reveals deeper societal truths. Key Takeaway Use storytelling to expose hidden issues. Themes social critique poverty myth-busting Mood provocative empathetic Type social cinematic When to use this quote - documentary filmmaking - journalistic reporting - social activism Key Concepts economic disparity cultural narrative Questions to Reflect On - How can narratives shift perceptions of affluence? - What responsibilities do creators have when depicting poverty? A Different Perspective Audience may resist uncomfortable truths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affluence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affluence/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/america-is-the-wealthiest-nation-on-earth-but-its-people-are-mainly/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [We offer a better way for dealing with persistent poverty in this country. A way that shows poor Americans the world beyond liberal ware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/we-offer-a-better-way-for-dealing-with-persistent-poverty-in-this/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [“Here is the problem: Poor Americans consume too little healthcare, especially preventive healthcare. Other Americans—often rich Americans—consume too much healthcare, often unwisely, and sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-webb-brawley/here-is-the-problem-poor-americans-consume-too-little-healthcare/) Otis Webb Brawley > [The poor Americans are so busy defending the rights of Hindus in Pakistan, Moslems in India, Jews in Palestine, Koreans in Japan, Italians in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mikes/the-poor-americans-are-so-busy-defending-the-rights-of-hindus-in/) [George Mikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mikes/) > [You know, I think the main purpose of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps is to get poor Americans into clean, pressed, unpatched clothes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-know-i-think-the-main-purpose-of-the-army-navy-and-marine-corps/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves… It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/america-is-the-wealthiest-nation-on-earth-but-its-people-are-mainly-4/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/america-is-the-wealthiest-nation-on-earth-but-its-people-are-mainly-3/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Most officially “poor” Americans today have things that middle-class Americans of an earlier time could only dream about—including color TV, videocassette recorders, microwave ovens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/most-officially-poor-americans-today-have-things-that-middle-class/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. ...'It ain’t no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/america-is-the-wealthiest-nation-on-earth-but-its-people-are-mainly-2/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/america-is-the-wealthiest-nation-on-earth-but-its-people-are-mainly-5/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Americans are the only people in the world known to me whose status anxiety prompts them to advertise their college and university affiliations in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-fussell/americans-are-the-only-people-in-the-world-known-to-me-whose-status/) [Paul Fussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-fussell/) > [Many Americans, and many more people around the world, have been outraged by what they see as President George W. Bush's radical reordering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/many-americans-and-many-more-people-around-the-world-have-been/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Over the summer I thought that I would seek out non-Americans as friends, just for diversity's sake. Now I find that I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-clinton/over-the-summer-i-thought-that-i-would-seek-out-non-americans-as/) [Chelsea Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-clinton/) > [As African-Americans, people of that generation felt pretty much if they were going to see changes in the world, they had to make sacrifices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-bridges/as-african-americans-people-of-that-generation-felt-pretty-much-if/) [Ruby Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-bridges/) > [The elite cannot understand why President Trump is liked by so many Americans, nor why people flock to his rallies. Yet, it's in part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trish-regan/the-elite-cannot-understand-why-president-trump-is-liked-by-so-many/) [Trish Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trish-regan/) ## More by Debra Granik > [I have, obviously, a very complex relationship with the more industrial side of filmmaking and the machinery that can take an actor or an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/i-have-obviously-a-very-complex-relationship-with-the-more-industrial/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [I feel like reality TV has thrown a difficult wrench in the system - on the programming and making side, and on the curating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/i-feel-like-reality-tv-has-thrown-a-difficult-wrench-in-the-system-on/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [I'm someone who's always looking for hope - if there's a ray of hope, a shrapnel, shred, a flake of hope - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/i-m-someone-who-s-always-looking-for-hope-if-there-s-a-ray-of-hope-a/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [In documentary, mostly, people are going to say untoward things; people are going to have gnarly beliefs. People aren't perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/in-documentary-mostly-people-are-going-to-say-untoward-things-people/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [For documentaries, I think streaming plays an amazing role, but it's a problem when the one service you initially relied on to have an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/for-documentaries-i-think-streaming-plays-an-amazing-role-but-it-s-a/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [In documentary, you are sometimes burdened, or you feel very responsible for dealing with - I want to say - more complicated themes. Fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/in-documentary-you-are-sometimes-burdened-or-you-feel-very/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [#TimesUp is you can't hold it in anymore: Time's up! The doors have to give way. It can't be that every 27-year-old born into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/timesup-is-you-can-t-hold-it-in-anymore-time-s-up-the-doors-have-to/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [My first narrative films developed out of a documentary process - finding someone who was willing to be filmed, watching, listening, taking copious notes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/my-first-narrative-films-developed-out-of-a-documentary-process/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [It's funny: your happiness is contingent on a bigger picture besides just yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/it-s-funny-your-happiness-is-contingent-on-a-bigger-picture-besides/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [You gotta call it out first; it always has to be called out when we need social change, but this is how social change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/you-gotta-call-it-out-first-it-always-has-to-be-called-out-when-we/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [There has to be a continuation of the communal experience of filmgoing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/there-has-to-be-a-continuation-of-the-communal-experience-of-filmgoing/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [I'm always searching to learn more about our large and diverse country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/i-m-always-searching-to-learn-more-about-our-large-and-diverse-country/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [The struggle to have a living wage doesn't come easy. You're ready to work, you want it, you seek it... but it's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/the-struggle-to-have-a-living-wage-doesn-t-come-easy-you-re-ready-to/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [It's been a pleasure to see female comedians be prominent and flourish - like Kate McKinnon's Rudy Giuliani impressions, which are uncanny in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/it-s-been-a-pleasure-to-see-female-comedians-be-prominent-and/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [I swing with a lot of torque from non-fiction to fiction, and I really like that place in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/i-swing-with-a-lot-of-torque-from-non-fiction-to-fiction-and-i-really/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) [Explore all 110 Debra Granik quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) ## More Affluence quotes > [In our own time the whole of Greece has been subject to a low birth rate and a general decrease of the population, owing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polybius/in-our-own-time-the-whole-of-greece-has-been-subject-to-a-low-birth/) [Polybius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polybius/) > [The secret of achieving prosperity lies in so vividly keeping yourself centered in the inner focus of affluence that you literally exude the consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-butterworth/the-secret-of-achieving-prosperity-lies-in-so-vividly-keeping/) [Eric Butterworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-butterworth/) > [Affluence = abundant flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-butterworth/affluence-abundant-flow/) [Eric Butterworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-butterworth/) > [“If I am to choose between integrity and wealth, I will go for integrity because I believe that lack of integrity is the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/if-i-am-to-choose-between-integrity-and-wealth-i-will-go-for/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > ['Playboy' made the good life a reality for me and made it the subject matter of my paintings - not affluence and luxury as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/playboy-made-the-good-life-a-reality-for-me-and-made-it-the-subject/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [Affluence creates poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/affluence-creates-poverty/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The primary cause of disorder and lawlessness today, as throughout history, is the poverty of the many in contrast to the affluence of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-o-kelso/the-primary-cause-of-disorder-and-lawlessness-today-as-throughout/) [Louis O. Kelso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-o-kelso/) > [To generate any appreciable degree of long-term affluence requires scrupulous honesty and the willingness to honor long-term agreements with employers, suppliers, partners, and especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheaffer/to-generate-any-appreciable-degree-of-long-term-affluence-requires/) [Robert Sheaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheaffer/) > [“Imam Hussein Ibn Ali al-Shaheed was once asked: what is affluence? He said : Decreasing your wishes , and being satisfied with what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/imam-hussein-ibn-ali-al-shaheed-was-once-asked-what-is-affluence-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I don't want to be around people who accept me as is, in my unrefined state of becoming. I consistently want people around me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-l-bates/i-don-t-want-to-be-around-people-who-accept-me-as-is-in-my-unrefined/) [Brandi L. Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandi-l-bates/) > [Large department stores, with their luxuriant abundance of canned goods, foods, and clothing, are like the primary landscape and the geometrical locus of affluence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/large-department-stores-with-their-luxuriant-abundance-of-canned/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Owning a home is a keystone of wealth - both financial affluence and emotional security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/owning-a-home-is-a-keystone-of-wealth-both-financial-affluence-and/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [“Don’t let affluence make you impoverished of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-bloom/don-t-let-affluence-make-you-impoverished-of-god/) [Jon Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-bloom/) > [“Drama does not just walk into our lives. Either we create it, invite it, or associate with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-l-bates/drama-does-not-just-walk-into-our-lives-either-we-create-it-invite-it/) [Brandi L. Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandi-l-bates/) > [There is wealth but no wellbeing. What are you going to do with this wealth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/there-is-wealth-but-no-wellbeing-what-are-you-going-to-do-with-this/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) [Browse all 181 Affluence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affluence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's risky to show poor Americans. People see it as a downer. 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