I found that New York Times (website known worldwide for information) site for the movie, and it mentioned nothing really of contraversery more of how the movie was not up to par with the book. The movie did not do the book justice at all.

For an Appalachian standpoint I used itsnotmymountiananymore.com which is a website known for critiquing Appalachian reviews. They do discuss the fact that the movie was filmed on a river, which is a very sentimental object to the mountain people. It also brings up the fact that this movie portrayed negatively on the region showing the viewers exactly what they already think of them. The movie just solidified the point and made them want to judge the region even more. It portrayed that the “hillbillies/rednecks” are bad, ignorant, alcoholic people that take advantage of others are and violent towards guests. I think that the website hits it straight on. The movie was basically a slap in the face to the region showing the rape scene, which most people remember. They see that these mountain people are just joking around and being violent with the strangers. I think the most memorable part of the movie is the rape scene. It is a huge slap in the face to Appalachia, it is stating that they do not care for these men and that they just want to use them. People remember the bad more than they remember the good. That is why so many people remember this movie and critique it because overall it is a movie shown in a negative context that people need to speak out against. I would not want to be known for something like that. It reflects poorly on the whole region not just a part of it.