The article that I found talked about how Deliverance is a powerful movie even as it passed its 40^th anniversary back in 2012. The author outlined what he thought were critical points in the movie, but made no mention of the criticism of the movie from the Appalachian standpoint. The author outlines that the movie was filmed on “stunning locations in Georgia”, but has much more negative things to say about the Appalachians portrayed in the movie. The author says that Deliverance is the type of movie “in which urban visitors underestimate the darker impulses of country folk.” Not only is the author not acknowledging the fact that a negative stereotype exists, he is perpetuating it. One reason why this article might not address the controversial depiction of Appalachians is that if the author did, he would be making himself a hypocrite. That is because the author himself is playing into the stereotypes by saying things like, “the businessmen (Jon Voight) is about to be sexually assaulted when his friend (Burt Reynolds) arrives and kills the hillbilly on the spot.” From the author’s writing in this article, it seems that the “hillbilly” sexual assault scene is the most memorable part of the movie.

Source of Article used for this post:

http://blog.ctnews.com/meyers/2012/05/25/%E2%80%98deliverance%E2%80%99-turns-40-but-remains-as-unsettling-as-ever/

According to Finlay Donesky, Appalachian writers have been working for several decades to discredit the stereotype that Appalachians are backwards, ignorant, and illiterate. In doing so, they work for the interests of the Appalachian people to discredit false stereotypes. However, this does not work for the media operating outside of Appalachia. The media outside Appalachia sees opportunity in the stereotypes. They see an opportunity to make money and receive good ratings by garnering the curiosity of a wide audience through a sensationalized image of Appalachia. The pop culture plays on the plight of Appalachians in order to make a story that will sell. In doing so, the media perpetuates the idea that Appalachia has a culture of poverty and that they are different than “us”, the outsiders. This has been so ingrained in pop culture because since 1873 in “A Strange Land and Peculiar People”, Appalachia has been stereotyped. So, for any genuine work to challenge this, it has to challenge the historical pop culture on Appalachia all the way to modern day and it is vastly outnumbered. But, showing a genuine image of Appalachia can show an audience just how much Appalachia has contributed to American society as a whole and is indeed not backwards.

Calling The Kentucky Cycle a “drive by shooting” is a criticism of Schenkkan’s portrayal of Kentucky, its history, its land, and most importantly; its people. Having only been to Kentucky before on a vacation, Schenkkan is criticized as not having enough experience to accurately portray Kentucky. He is seen as an outsider who merely uses his vacation worth of experience and fills the gaps in that with other grossly inaccurate depictions of Appalachia. This is significant because Schenkkan claimed that The Kentucky Cycle is historically accurate. Although, he rescinded the historically accurate statement later on, it can cause audience members or readers to actually believe that The Kentucky Cycle is an accurate, fully researched piece of work. This raises the question; if a wide audience believes that Schenkkan fully researched the history of Kentucky, what else are they assuming? They could believe that the Appalachia stereotypes are true and even if they don’t, they may assume that it is okay to stereotype Appalachians. Schenkkan’s “drive by” works against the work done by Appalachia scholars to reverse the idea that the poverty in Appalachia is a cultural phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is difficult for scholars from Appalachia to stand up to a Pulitzer Prize winning work.