This week we have been watching the movie Deliverance, one of the most criticized films about Appalachia from our textbooks. For this week’s prompt, I want you to look at how people talk about the movie online. Find a website, social media site, blog, etc. and see how the writer discusses the movie. Do they mention the criticism of the movie from an Appalachian standpoint? Do they discuss the fact that the movie was filmed in Appalachia and that most of the time Appalachians are negative, stereotypical characters? Do they acknowledge that the movie is stereotypical in any way? Why do you think the website does/does not mention these concerns? What seem to be the most memorable parts of the movie for people? Why?

For example, I found the Wikipedia (a website that is constructed by everyday people) site for the movie, and it didn’t mention anything controversial about the depiction of Appalachians at all. This means that no one has added this to the Wikipedia site.

In the reviews that I have found of the movie, none have mentioned the stereotype of the Appalachians. Most mention the journey that the four men go through and the changes they experience. The Appalachian men are mentioned, but there is never a problem of stereotyping that is brought up. They are reviewed the same way they are depicted in the movie; as wild, poor, and almost savage beings. I think that there are not any mention of these concerns because the audiences of the movies truly believe that the depiction is close to true. Many audiences do not know that the Appalachian Region is pretty big and covers a large amount of territory. This thinking, or lack of concern, is an indicator that most audiences feel there is not diversity in the region and the typical hillbilly is truly the people who live there. In other movies, such a military movies, the stereotypes that often occur are easily spotted and discussed because of those in the population who are willing to talk about how certain personalities, actions, etc are incorrect. The Appalachian region does not appear to have these stereotype defenders. Another reason is because those who are discussing the movie are outsiders from the region and the culture and usually stereotypes are created by those same outsiders. The people who do not see a problem with it are most likely part of a group who created it.

KCD

Over the past few weeks, one of the central themes of our readings has been that although Appalachians have been seen as backwards, ignorant, and illiterate, most areas of the region have been quite open to the culture surrounding them and deeply involved with texts, commerce, and culture. In other words, most of the region is in fact not backwards at all. So, what do our chapters say about whose interests are/were being served when Appalachia is depicted this way? Why was/is it important for the media to portray the region in such as way?

I feel that the interests being served with the Appalachian stereotype are not those in the region, but those outside the region. It is human nature to want to label and have a set reason for a way of life or certain thinking. By labeling the people of Appalachia as the “hillbilly” or the poor, lazy, impoverished people, it becomes easier for those who do not understand the region or the lifestyle to accept it. Because it is different from their own, they see it as lesser or something that needs to be fixed. The truth is that most of the region is not different from those surrounding it. Appalachia is home to big cities, such as Pittsburgh, and the suburbs that surround it. It is a wealth of natural resources and the industries that surround those. The stereotype has been so impressed into the minds of those around that it is what they accept, and they do not want to do anything to change that. It is easier to accept a stereotype than it is to change one.