When the Chairman of British Petroleum said of his company "we care about the small people," he unwittingly provided a lesson in character revelation. He later apologized for having spoken "clumsily" but the damage was done. People are convinced he's a patronizing snob. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward didn't fare much better with his comment that he wanted his life back--which he later said was a "hurtful and thoughtless" comment.
The importance of these comments here is to show how much power they have in creating an impression of the character of the people who utter them. In a novel or screenplay, this is a powerful tool. How you have your characters interact with those around them, particularly those on a lower societal or monetary level, can tip off the reader as to the real personality and values of the character.
I just saw a news item saying that Lindsey Lohan's mother called the police when a Carvel ice cream parlor employee refused to give her a free ice cream cake when she used a "free ice cream for life" card that had been issued to her daughter. She said it just shows how the Lohans get treated worse than everybody else. More character revelation, but now we're in the realm of melodrama. (And whether a tantrum by a middle-aged woman should be news is another issue.)
The more subtle you make these touches (without being so subtle that nobody catches them, of course), the better, because the readers will enjoy the feeling of having put two and two together themselves. For a masterclass in this, watch the party scene early in the classic comedy, "Tootsie." The way the Dustin Hoffman character, Michael Dorsey, interacts with women and children tells you everything about him. These behaviours change gradually as the experience of posing as a woman begins to affect his values.
(For more about creating vivid characters, see my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other online and offline retailers.)
