fronting him about his malicious practices to get ahead. Not only is she in the background, but the contrast of her slumped over stature while busying herself with work juxtaposed to Frank's upright stature is striking. She is framed behind Frank's desk slightly behind him, thereby invading his authoritarian space. Therefore, she is then sent scurrying away, slightly bowing out of the room further confirming her inferior position. In the scene where Sally informs Laurel of the staff meeting in progress, Sally is framed in a seated position as Laurel stands signifying her inferiority to Laurel. Thus, the assistant is cinematically positioned and framed in a subservient manner despite the fact that they are both women and Sally presumably holds an advantage in her whiteness. Void of race and gender disadvantages, class is clearly a definitive structure maintaining Sally's lower position. Finally, Sally or any of the other assistants within the corporate structure were not present at the Thanksgiving ball – only top-level executives and those of that class. The message – the upper class does not mingle with the lower class unless it is a necessity.
             Just as class plays a major part in distinguishing the roles in The Associate, race plays out more subtly. It is obvious that Laurel appears to be the only minority in the business, yet her racial identity is not directly addressed. It is only mentioned when Sally asserts that Affirmative Action has not helped her out implying that Laurel had certain advantages not afforded to her. The common misconception here is that, albeit Laurel has worked hard to get into the position that she is in, her racial identity provided the extra step in getting there. This statement says a lot about the perception of African-Americans. Presumably, blacks were unable to achieve success without the aid of government or without losing ones identity to the dominant culture as ...