Text Review Assignment: Outer Banks

The series Outer Banks is a newly popular Netflix Original TV Series. There are two seasons, and each have about 10 episodes in them. The show focuses on John B and his friends. They live in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The Outer Banks residents are divided between the Pogues and the Kooks. The Pogues are on the lower end of the social ladder, most of them are working for the Kooks. They live in the cut. They are not seen as equal people to the Kooks. The Kooks are on the higher end of the social ladder, most of them being very wealthy. They live in Figure Eight. In the introduction of the first episode, the main character introduces the Outer Banks as a place where you either have two jobs, or two houses. The Kooks look down on the Pogues.

John B and his friends are Pogues. John B is a teenager who lives on his own, after his mom left them when he was a kid and his dad was lost at sea on a mission to search for the Royal Merchant treasure. One of the Pogues, Kiara is actually a Kook. Her dad was born a Pogue, but her mom was a Kook. So, she was born into the Kook family. She feels more comfortable with the Pogues as the Kooks are very dividing. Every interaction that the Kooks and the Pogues have always end in the Kooks talking down on the Pogues. They always throw John B’s dad missing in his face. Every disruption the two groups have, the Pogues are the ones who always pay for it. The Kooks never get any proper punishment because of their wealth and status. The Kooks always did whatever they wanted, if the Pogues had a party, the Kooks would should up, but if the Kooks had a party, the Pogues were not allowed to attend.

There is a clear divide within the socioeconomic status in this show. The divide continues throughout both seasons as you see the injustices the Pogues go through, as they suffer through many different punishments due to the Kooks. This can be comparable to the “Othering”. The Kooks are the “one”. They have the status and power, and think they are better than the Pogues. The Pogues are the “other”. They do not have the status and power, and they less fortunate and are not treated fairly. This can spark a conversation with how lower status class people suffer due to their social status. They are seen as troublemakers, and people categorize them and do not want to deal with them. So, a lot of the time, they get the short end of the stick, or are used as scapegoats for the higher status groups.

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