Abstract

Veronica Mars offers something typically lacking in mainstream television. It confronts race, whereas similar shows have actively avoided the topic. The constant friction between classes and racial groups provides both the compelling drama and a narrative that the author, an African American, is familiar with. Veronica's description of Neptune's economic class structure introduces us to the binary or dual nature of its society. The traditional three economic classes—upper, middle, and lower—have been replaced by the “haves” and “have‐nots.” Binary opposition is a common way of creating social categories or labels. All too often, however, one of the opposites is assigned a higher value and is regarded as the default, dominant, or privileged category, superior to its opposite. Neptune's racial binary is similar to that of the United States in general, but there the site of the conflict is typically white versus Hispanic rather than white versus black.