Let 'Em Eat Cake (Arrested Development)

"Let 'Em Eat Cake" is a recurring phrase and running gag within the American television comedy series Arrested Development. It serves as a comedic representation of the Bluth family's obliviousness to the struggles and realities faced by the less privileged, specifically reflecting their detachment from the economic hardships of the common person.

The phrase itself is a paraphrasing of the apocryphal quote attributed to Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France before the French Revolution, who supposedly responded to the news that peasants had no bread with, "Let them eat cake." Whether or not she actually said it is debated, but the quote has become a symbol of aristocratic indifference to the plight of the poor.

In Arrested Development, the phrase, or variations thereof, is usually uttered by Lucille Bluth, the matriarch of the family, or other Bluth family members to highlight their ignorance of and lack of empathy for those less fortunate than themselves. The humor derives from the juxtaposition of their extravagant lifestyle with the financial difficulties faced by the show's other characters and broader society. The phrase underscores the Bluths' self-absorbed and out-of-touch perspective on the world, solidifying their role as comedic antagonists and objects of satire. The joke's effectiveness lies in its ability to quickly communicate the Bluth family's problematic values and skewed worldview to the audience.