MovieChat Forums > Urban Cowboy (1980) Discussion > Living in a trailer park because...

Living in a trailer park because...

posted 2 years ago by Oblivioid (1482)
18 replies | jump to latest

...they spend all their damn money at Gilley's!

Bud makes pretty good money at the oil refinery, by his own words somewhere around $18/hour. Sissy also has a job with her parents at what looks like a rag-tag garage of sorts, with towing service (which we see her performing).

Anyway, you have a 2-income household, and Bud goes and buys what is probably a $10,000 single wide trailer (and the best part is you can move it if ya want!). Sissy goes bonkers upon seeing the trailer, like she just won the lottery. I mean, that's fine, they are happy at the moment, but I'm here to tell you people, this is such a familiar pattern of behavior for many many people. And, it's a country-wide phenomenon, not something limited to Texas in any way.

So many people spend almost their entire income at bars, meet a partner there and 'live like pigs' ever afterward, and are eternally miserable as a result, just like this movie depicts. It's even well known at the time this movie was made, that many bars would actually be willing to cash your paycheck for you, so you didn't even have to waste time going to the bank!

But more on the irresponsible way these people spend their income. It's not uncommon where I live to drive by any run down trailer park and see a beautiful pick-up truck that obviously cost twice as much as the home they live in. Maybe sometimes you also see a boat w/trailer, or jet ski's etc...just bizarre to see people willing to live like complete shit so they can have a few toys and plenty of booze.

[–] rex (2828) 2 years ago

so you own a nice house do ya ? you probably live in an apartment

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

It's their money, they can spend it the way they want to.

Some people seem to think that everyone has a moral obligation to buy a nice house in the suburbs or something.

[–] kwestmo (4385) 2 years ago

I think the $18 an hour is Hollywood writers not knowing what those guys really made. That would be about $58 an hour now and $116,000 annually. The median income in 1980 was around 23K. I don't think Bud was making $18/58 an hour , but he was probably above the median.

I also don't think they would buy a trailer. Bud comes from a working class but possibly lower-middle class background and was probably raised in a house. Sissy's family most likely were middle class and owned a home. They owned a business.

So it doesn't make sense they would want a trailer.

Socially, they may be lower class, but that wouldn't kept them from wanting a house.

Once again I think the trailer is Hollywood writers not really knowing these people.

I am about the same age as the characters and came from the rural south, so I know these people.

You were too harsh and judgmental as the others pointed out.

[–] Oblivioid (1482) 2 years ago

Nah, it comes from experience. It may be judgmental, true, but it's from observation. Being poor the way Bud and Sissy were was a choice born of ignorance. Urban Cowboy truthfully portrays a big chunk of the 'poor' white working class, which is a great work ethic, work hard all week and then blow your paycheck at the bar Friday night. It's how families stay generationally poor.

For the record, I make way less money than Bud does and live much better because I don't partake in this kind of irresponsible behavior. When you don't blow all your money on booze and cigarettes, you don't have to live in a dump.

[–] MCguy (1140) 10 months ago

It's like you didn't read the response, but just repeated a version of your first post.

[–] Oblivioid (1482) 10 months ago

Just get me a beer!

[–] MCguy (1140) 10 months ago

Thanks for proving the point.

[–] Oblivioid (1482) 10 months ago

Are you one of these guys that just wants to argue about something? Because I can point you to some members that love to argue.

[–] Boricanator (1440) 2 years ago

The worst part is that they have nothing to show for when they hit retirement age.

[–] strntz (12231) 2 years ago

Having never lived in a trailer park, I did know some people who did. Some just wanted a place to live that was clean and cheap so they didn't have to live month to month, and one guy who worked for me owned a trailer for 10 years and saved his money. He sold it and bought a foreclosed house in the same town I live in for cash and had enough money to renovate it.

Economists will tell you it's not how much you make it's what you do with it.

[–] stickman38 (3346) 10 months ago

Economically speaking, it is the cheapest way to live. But you also have to deal with trashy neighbors occasionally. The upside is there are some really nice trailers out there - like this one here. For the most part, its a portable luxury home that you can get at a very cheap price -

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.c0e2a83acf1bae9656a60ba491e94c30?rik=YjyNlIjQR4bzCQ&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

But yeah, I used to work with people that didn't make a lot of money, I've seen plenty of people blow their entire paycheck in a weekend on drugs and booze.

Urban Cowboy is a pretty good look at the working class in that era.

***EDIT***

[–] JohnnyDoe (1884) 10 months ago

carbon footprint

[–] BKB (9885) 10 months ago

And it was $18.00 an hour plus overtime working overnight and in the 80's at that.. Hell, Bud should've purchased Stock in Gilley's

[–] stickman38 (3346) 10 months ago

>>>Bud should've purchased Stock in Gilley's<<<

Might have been a waste of money since Gilley's burned down in the early 90s.

But yeah, $18 an hour would've been pretty good pay in the 80s. Not great but still decent pay.

[–] BKB (9885) 10 months ago

LOL!! I forgot about Gilley's burning down.. So much for a sequel.. URBAN COWBOY: The RETIREMENT YEARS

[–] stickman38 (3346) 10 months ago

Shame it burned down too, it had become like a landmark.

I guess they could pick another bar and make a sequel but who would play Bud and Sissy?

I would go with Bradly Cooper and maybe Michelle Williams. She was in that movie Brokeback Mountain which has cowboys in it. So, she might be a good fit. She'd have to color her hair. And Cooper might be a little too old for the part.

But I don't think a retirement age sequel would work though. lol

[–] BKB (9885) 10 months ago

Nah, just have Travolta and Debra Winger come back, 50 years later no less with a bald headed Bud riding the Gilley's Mechanical Bull in a rematch with Wes

[–] stickman38 (3346) 10 months ago

I doubt I would watch it if they were that old.