Homelessness in popular culture: Difference between revisions

[[Homelessness]] is depicted in various [[popular culture]] works. The issue is frequently described as an invisible problem,<ref>[http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/news/county-news/invisible-problem-faye-whitbeck-staff-writer-11715 "The invisible problem"].</ref> despite its prevalence.<ref>[http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086 "HUMAN RIGHTS: More Than 100 Million Homeless Worldwide"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422025345/http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086 |date=2009-04-22 }}.</ref> Writers and other artists play a role in bringing the issue to public attention. Homelessness is the central theme of many works; in other works homelessness is secondary, added to advance the story or contribute to dramatic effect.

Homelessness is the central subject in most of the works of art listed here.

==Depictions of homelessness==

The homeless are frequently divided as either [[protagonists]] or [[antagonists]]. Characters, like [[Charlie Chaplin|Chaplin's]] [[Little Tramp]], provide light-hearted humor through lovable personalities. Fred Glass writes the social type of Chaplin's character represented was familiar and emotionally appealing. One account given is that Chaplin based his character on a man whom he had met in [[San Francisco]] in 1914.<ref>{{cite book

|first=Fred

|last=Glass

|title=From Mission to Microchip: A History of the California Labor Movement

|publisher=University of California Press

|location=Berkeley

|year=2016

|isbn=9780520288409

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yj0lDQAAQBAJ&q=%22chaplin%27s+character+represented%22&pg=PA194

}}</ref>

==Popular music==

===Songs===

*1915. "Those [[Charlie Chaplin]] feet" by [[Edgar Leslie]] and [[Archie Gottler]].<ref>"Those Charlie Chaplin Feet." Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection. Accessed 10 September 2017. http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/catalog/levy:189.170a</ref>

*1930. "Singing a Vagabond Song" by [[Harry Richman]], [[Val Burton]] and [[Sam Messenheimer]].<ref>"Singing a Vagabond Song." Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection. Accessed 10 September 2017. http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/catalog/levy:191.122</ref>

*1987. "[[Day-In Day-Out]]" by [[David Bowie]].<ref name=StockholmPress>{{cite AV media | date=28 March 1987 | title=The Glass Spider Tour Press Conferences (Stockholm)|type=vinyl}}</ref> The song was written about the treatment of the homeless in the US, and the video, which was shot in Los Angeles,<ref name="tcdbeu">{{cite book | title=The Complete David Bowie New Edition: Expanded and Updated | last=Pegg | first=Nicholas | date=October 2016 | publisher=Titan Books}}</ref> was nominated for a [[1987 MTV Video Music Awards|1987 MTV Video Music award]] in the category of "Best Male Video".<ref name=mtvvma>{{cite web | url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1987/ | title=MTV Video Music Awards 1987 | website=[[MTV]] | date=11 September 1987 | access-date=28 October 2013}}</ref>

*1991. ''Something in the Way'', music by [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], written by [[Kurt Cobain]] when he was young, homeless and sleeping under a bridge at the age of fifteen.<ref>{{cite web

|title=A Walking Tour of... Kurt Cobain's Aberdeen

|publisher=The Aberdeen Museum of History

|url=http://www.aberdeen-museum.org/kurt.htm

|access-date=2008-12-08

|quote=Whether Cobain ever slept under this bridge as he claimed is not certain, however, he did spend time beneath the south approach, as did many of the neighborhood kids.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal

|title = Kurt Cobain's 'Bridge' in Aberdeen, Washington

|url = http://www.vrmag.org/issue18/KURT_COBAIN_S_BRIDGE_IN_ABERDEEN_WASHINGTON.html

|first = Michelle

|last = Bienias

|date = January 2005

|issue = 18

|publisher = VR MAG

|quote = Kurt lived under this bridge for a time when he was 15 and frequented it as a ‘hang out’ of sorts as well. His experiences living under this bridge were the basis for the Nirvana song ‘Something's In the Way’.

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081006213344/http://www.vrmag.org/issue18/KURT_COBAIN_S_BRIDGE_IN_ABERDEEN_WASHINGTON.html

|archive-date = 2008-10-06

}}</ref>

===Popular music albums===

*2007. ''Give US Your Poor''. It has 17 recordings to help end homelessness with artists such as [[Jon Bon Jovi]], [[Natalie Merchant]], [[Pete Seeger]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], [[Sonya Kitchell]], [[Bonnie Raitt]], and actors [[Danny Glover]] and [[Tim Robbins]].<ref>Mills, Fred, [http://www.harpmagazine.com/news/detail.cfm?article=11464 "Give Them Your Money: Give US Your Poor Benefit Disc Features Springsteen, Seeger, Raitt, Bon Jovi, Others"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112025909/http://harpmagazine.com/news/detail.cfm?article=11464 |date=2008-01-12 }}, [[Harp (magazine)|HARP]] magazine, July 22, 2007</ref>

==Film==

===Documentaries===

*1978. ''The Agony of Jimmy Quinlan'' is a National Film Board documentary about homeless alcoholics in Montreal (video online in full).

*1984. ''[[Streetwise (1984 film)|Streetwise]]''—follows homeless Seattle youth.

*1993. {{IMDb title|id=0107232|title=It Was a Wonderful Life}}—chronicles the lives of six articulate, educated, "hidden homeless" women as they struggle from day to day. Narrated by [[Jodie Foster]].

*1997. ''[[The Street: A Film with the Homeless]]'' about the [[Canada|Canadian]] homeless in [[Montreal]]. [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=158611 New York Times Review],

*2000. ''[[Dark Days (documentary)|Dark Days]]''—A film following the lives of homeless adults living in the Amtrak tunnels in New York.

*2001. ''[[Children Underground]]''—Following the lives of homeless children in Bucharest, Romania.

*2002. ''[[Bumfights]]''—Documentary series criticized as exploitative, [[mondo films]]

*2003. {{IMDb title|id=0356220|title=À Margem da Imagem}}—about the homeless in [[São Paulo]], [[Brazil]]. Its English title is "On the Fringes of São Paulo: Homeless".

*2004. {{IMDb title|id=0431126|title=Homeless in America}}

*2005. ''[[The Children of Leningradsky]]''—About homeless children in Moscow.

*2005. ''[[Reversal of Fortune (2005 film)|Reversal of Fortune]]''—A homeless person is given $100,000 and is free to do whatever he wishes with the money.

*2006. ''[[Homeless (film)|Homeless]]''—About Homeless people and homelessness in England.

*2007. ''Easy Street''—about the homeless in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]].

*2008. ''The Oasis''—an observational documentary about homeless youths in [[Sydney, Australia]], filmed over two years.

*2008. ''Carts of Darkness'' is a documentary by [[Murray Siple]] about extreme shopping cart racing by homeless men. (Video online in full.)

*2008. {{IMDb title|id=0816703|title=The Ballad of Robert and Harvey: We Are Not Faraway}} - "Centered on the troubled friendship between Robert and Harvey, the film exposes the unique hardships and common humanity of people who live among us but are virtually unknown."<ref>[http://www.vennilafilms.com/post_production Vennila Films Post-Production page on "We are not Faraway]</ref>

==TV and radio==

===Documentaries===

*1977. ''[[Underneath the Arches (documentary)|Underneath the Arches]]'', a ground-breaking documentary produced by Owen Spencer-Thomas on [[BBC Radio London]] in which London's homeless people were enabled to tell their own stories.

*1988. {{IMDb title|id=0247411|title=Home Sweet Homeless}}—a [[CBS Schoolbreak Special]] about a mother and her son who find themselves having to live in their car.

===Entertainment and comedy===

*1951–1971. ''[[The Red Skelton Show]]'' features Freddie the Freeloader, played by [[Red Skelton]].

*1951. An episode entitled "The Quiz Show" of ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' features Lucy (played by [[Lucille Ball]]), who in order to win $1,000 has to trick her husband, Ricky (played by [[Desi Arnaz]]), that she has a long lost previous husband. Harold the Tramp (played by [[John Emery (actor)|John Emery]]) is mistaken by Lucy for the actor hired by the game show producers.

*1961. An episode entitled "Opie's Hobo Friend" of the second season of ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'' deals with Opie's (played by [[Ron Howard]]) friendship with an immoral homeless individual, David Browne (played by [[Buddy Ebsen]]).

*1963. An episode entitled "Beaver's Good Deed" of the sixth season of "[[Leave it to Beaver]]" features Beaver (played by [[Jerry Mathers]]) who befriends and cares for a homeless individual, Jeff (played by [[Frank Ferguson]]), while his parents are away.

*1972. An episode entitled "The Show Must Go On??" of the fourth season of ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' features the mom, Carol ([[Florence Henderson]]), and her daughter, Marcia ([[Maureen McCormick]]), play two homeless individuals, as they sing "[[Together (Wherever We Go)]]."

*1977. "[[The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town]]" features Hallelujah Jones who is a lovable [[tramp]] who befriends Sunny and suggests that he sell his eggs in a town called Town.

*1987. "[[List of Kate %26 Allie episodes#Season 5 (1987%E2%80%9388)|Brother, Can You Spare A Dime]]", of the sitcom, ''[[Kate %26 Allie|Kate & Allie]]'', Allie gets stranded in the north end of [[Manhattan]] and has to make it back to [[Greenwich Village]] with no money. At one point, Allie asks herself where homeless people go to the bathroom. The episode ends with [[Very_special_episode|a special tribute]] to the homeless.

*1991. "[[The Library (Seinfeld)|The Library]]" of the sitcom, ''[[Seinfeld]],'' surrounds itself on George's former teacher, Mr. Heyman, whom he learns became homeless.

*2002. Released in March, ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' episode “[[Can You Spare a Dime?]]” is about [[Squidward Tentacles]]' temporary state of homelessness and living with SpongeBob until he gets his job back at the [[Krusty Krab]].

*2007. "[[Night of the Living Homeless]]" was an episode that appeared on [[Comedy Central]]'s ''[[South Park]]''. It was first broadcast on April 18, 2007.

==Theater==

*1728. ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'', a play by [[John Gay]] .

*1902. ''[[The Lower Depths]]'', a play by [[Maxim Gorky]], inspired by the residents of a [[Nizhny Novgorod]] [[homeless shelter]].

*1985. ''[[Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera]]''—a musical which includes the homeless Mrs. Bag Bag.

==Books==

[[File:HomelessParis 7032101.jpg|thumb|230 px|A homeless man in [[Paris]]]]

===Fiction===

*1853. ''[[Bleak House]]'' by [[Charles Dickens]].

*1905. "[[The Cop and the Anthem]]" (short story) by [[O. Henry]].

*1983. ''[[Ironweed (novel)|Ironweed]]'' by [[William Kennedy (author)|William Kennedy]].

*1993. ''[[Stone Cold (Swindells novel)|Stone Cold]]'' by [[Robert Swindells]].

*1996. ''[[Junk (novel)|Junk]]'' by [[Melvin Burgess]].

*2010. ''Street Logic'' by Steve Sundberg, Bookstand Publishing, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-58909-680-6}}

===Nonfiction===

*1907. ''Tramping with Tramps'' by [[Josiah Flynt]].<ref>{{cite book

|first=Josiah

|last=Flynt

|title=Tramping with Tramps

|publisher=The Century Company

|location=New York City

|year=1907

|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40036/40036-h/40036-h.htm

}}</ref>

*1933. ''[[Down and Out in Paris and London]]'' by [[George Orwell]].

*1998. ''The homeless in Paris: a representative sample survey of users of services for the homeless'', in Dragana Avramov, ed, ''Coping with homelessness : issues to be tackled and best practices in Europe'', Ashgate Publishing, by [[Maryse Marpsat]] and Jean-Marie Firdion.

*2005. ''Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (With Kids) in America'' by Michelle Kennedy.

*2005. ''The Glass Castle: A Memoir'' by [[Jeannette Walls]]. {{ISBN|0-7432-4753-1}}

*2005. ''Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America'' by Mike Yankoski.

==Visual arts==

[[File:OldBeggar1.jpg|thumb|"Old Beggar" by Louis Dewis, 1916]]

*1568. "[[The Beggars]]" by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]].

*17th-Century. [[Woodcarved beggars]] by various Italian woodcarvers.

*1856. [[The Blind Girl]] by [[John Everett Millais]].

*2005. Photographic expose by Michel Mersereau entitled "Between The Cracks".

* ''[[Jesus the Homeless]]''

==References==

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Homelessness}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homelessness In Popular Culture}}