Appalachia and the Media:

A View of Stereotypes Within the Appalachian Region

 

 

ERH-303WX Section 01

Due Date:

Date Sub:

Research Paper

Help Received: Peer Review response;

 MAJ Iddings; Work Cited

Rebecca C. Serrano

 

Stereotypes of minorities in the United States have forever been a source of entertainment, whether it be news reports, books, or film.  While these stereotypes of minorities such as Hispanics, gays, and Indians has become less acceptable, the ridicule of Appalachians has continued with little indication of subsiding. This is an issue for those who are being stereotyped, causing issues with self-identity and lack of identity, to be anything but what they show in the movies. Media has the power to shape identity with praising what is believed to be socially acceptable and criticizing what is not. With education on the matter and a fight from those who have been targeted, progress to diminish the use of stereotypes in the media can succeed.

The Appalachian region is commonly thought to be the area that consists the Appalachian Mountains, yet that is only one way to identify the region.  Geographically, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission, Appalachia “is a 205,000-square-mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. It includes all of West Virginia and parts of 12 other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia” (The Appalachian Region).   There are different ways to classify Appalachia, geographically as described above, and socially. The people who may live in this identified geographical region may not always identify as an Appalachian.  A study showed that “about one-third of urban dwellers identified with Appalachia and that identity was more prevalent among individuals who were older, of lower socioeconomic status, more likely to be recent migrants, and individuals not currently living in the inner-city” (Cooper, A Geography of Appalachian Identity). Appalachian identity is very important to the region because it is not always agreed upon. Another study found “Appalachian identity may be strongest among mountain people living outside the region who frequently encounter negative Appalachian stereotypes in the communities to which they migrate” (Cooper, A Geography of Appalachian Identity).  The reason for identifying as an Appalachian vary throughout the region, and this is mainly due to the image that Appalachia receives.  Because in the media, Appalachia is addressed as hillbilly and white trash in a broken down home, individuals do not believe they fit that image, therefore do not live in Appalachia.

There has been much research of the Appalachian identity and as a result, many people who once lived in the Appalachian region identify with it in a more positive way rather than those who are currently living in the Appalachian area.  Appalachian identity began around the 1800 when non-Appalachians discovered the the area of the Appalachian region could not be compared to anything else that was known in the United States with its unique people and way of life.  Regional identity, according to the sociologist John Shelton Reed is the “cognitive entity that people use to orient themselves” (Cooper, A Geography of Appalachia). Many people understand Appalachia trough a specific lens, one provide through the media, whether it be newspapers, television, or movies, those images do not match the lives they live and believe they are being falsely identified as Appalachian because they don’t live in those conditions. This is a problem because their area is not accepted nationally and they have become ashamed of their region and deny any connection to the area, and don’t fight back either.

The stereotype of Appalachia has grown since the days of papers and essays, but that is where the issue of properly describing a people began.  Two authors that were vital to the understanding of the Appalachian people were Will Wallace Harney and William Goodell Frost.  Harney’s essay is titled “A Strange and Peculiar People.” That title alone creates a difference between the people of Appalachia and the rest of the nation.  The details that he chooses to point out in the essay such as “we passed eleven deserted homesteads in one day” (Harney). When reading this, it is imagined that it was an entire day of travel which includes many miles and counties, and eleven homesteads deserted through this time is substantial. He uses this to show the poverty and lack of employment in the area. There are a series of words he uses to describe particular aspects to a house which are “pitiful, miserable, sordid, helpless, and rotting.” All of these words are used in a negative judgement towards the description of a single home in the Appalachia region, but these descriptions were assumed to apply to all homes in the region. When he writes dialogue, he writes to represent the dialect. This makes the Appalachian people seem uneducated because they don’t pronounce words the same as the nation, that it is a result of lack of education rather than a distinct accent to the region.

Frost does not do any better of a job portraying the people who live in the Appalachian region.  His essay is titled “Our Contemporary Ancestors in the Southern Mountains.” Knowing that this essay is about to describe the people of the Appalachian region, using the phrase “contemporary ancestors” makes a reader inclined to think that this area is frozen in the time of our ancestors without any modern advancements. He specifically discusses the location of their residence as well as the structure. The common house for the people he describes are log cabins which lack the modern convinces seen elsewhere in the country such as electricity. In addition, when he is speaking of locals, he attaches the word “mountain” such as “mountain woman” (312) or “mountain folk.” (317). With just those few phrases, Frost changes the people of the area, making them not just men, women, and boys, but mountain men, mountain women, and mountain boys (Frost).

Although, the stereotype of Appalachian has existed before the 70’s, but when it truly became known to the whole nation was during the 1977-78 United Mine Workers of America Strike.  The people who were depicted in these publications by reporters were wildly inaccurate.  When reporters went to report on the region after the strikes began, they portrayed the coal miners as the bad people. The message the people who did not live in or near the area was that “unruly and greedy coal miners were threatening the nation by interrupting the supply of essential energy resource in order to press unrealistic demands” (Maggard, 73). Along with the depiction of the miners, the depiction of the operators was on the opposite end of the scale as “searching for a way to promote ‘labor stability’ and provide a future steady supply of coal for the country” (Maggard, 73).  The problems with the reporters who reported the strikes was the lack of understanding the situation.  There was the historical aspect of the strike that before this gathering, mine workers had been working for over a decade to establish a union democracy to fight for better working conditions and the overall well-being of the coalfield communities. Because of this, “the industry was systematically trying to undermine the union reform movement and new rank and file activism. In particular, operators were refusing to honor the 1947 coal contract” (Magard, 73). Reporters also failed to understand the economic aspect of the situation with exception to the Wall Street Journal and Business Week (Maggard).  The market conditions were ‘soft’ but it meant that “it was in the operators’ advantage to prolong the strike” (Maggard, 73). This aspect to the reason the strike lasted so long was ignored by other reporters and they went on blaming the miners for the severity of the situation.  The third thing was “reporters focused on personalities, ignoring both structural forces and motives behind actions of key figures on the shaping of the strikes outcome” (Maggard, 73). Not understanding the depths of the situation that surrounded the coal strike resulted in a false portrayal of the Appalachian mine workers, which grew to a national symbol, where if the reporters had known the complete situation, the negative image of the people could have been avoided all together.

Another medium that presented the stereotypes of the Appalachian people include the book Deliverance and the play The Kentucky Cycle which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  The Kentucky Cycle is a play based in, as the name describes, Kentucky. It follows the evolution of three families through several generations.  All of these families are intertwined, one native American, one white, and one black. This play received much criticism on its depiction of the people, which was seen on a large level as a play that won the Pulitzer Prize.  In Deliverance, James Dickey wrote that “change was not gradual; you could have stopped the car and got out at the exact point where suburbia ended and the red-neck South began” (Inscoe).   This book was later made into a movie, and the portrayal of the locals was not necessary to achieve the battle between nature and man. It made me uncomfortable to see that the film portrayed the locals as inbred and disabled, there should have been more variety. The first interaction that was made with the local people involved a boy who played the banjo with one of the city men. Other than playing the banjo, the boy had no form of communication, and the actor was chosen for his looks which resembled that of a disabled child. The same argument appear with these mediums such as not knowing all the information’s, and possibly not trying to. Only wanting to attract a particular crowd of readers who want to see the intense and poor area of the Appalachian region should not be a good enough reason to create falsities on the level it has.

Television shows are the biggest impact on society at the present time, which is also what we use to inform ourselves on life elsewhere. There have been several television series depicting individuals from the Appalachian region such as The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres. Personally, I have watched Green Acres. For a while during my middle school years, I would sit down in the living room, eat my dinner off of the coffee table and enjoy the comedy of TV Land, specifically Green Acres. To this day I can still sing the intro song and remember the joy the show brought me. Although the main character who is depicted as the stupidest of all the characters is from Manhattan NY, many of the other characters were depicted stupid as well. The main character Mr. Douglas, is the only one who seemed to be a normal individual.  Several interactions between Mr. Douglas and local people made it clear that he was the only one who truly understood society as a whole.  I think this was done intentionally to show both the hard work that is put into farming, and then the people who typically do that type of work in that area are dimwitted and simple minded. This was a TV show that was popular with the nation and, the Beverly Hillbillies was in a similar fashion of depicting the individuals from the Appalachian region and they typical stereotypical hillbilly fool. Watching Green Acres growing up gave me the preconceived idea that the people in the area were exactly like the actors on the television. With no other information on the region and I assumed that the show was historically accurate. Not until I was grown, did I realize that having an entire region of people like this was nearly impossible. James Branscome who wrote “Annihilating the Hillbilly: The Appalachians’ struggle with Americas Institutions” wrote that “America is allowed to continue laughing at this minority group because on this, America agrees: hillbilly ain’t beautiful” (Speer).  There was a study conducted on the show “The Beverly Hillbillies,” which exposed that “the producers consulted out-of-print volumes on mountain customs, notions, and superstitions to get the ‘proper’ background for the show” (Speer).  “The Beverly Hillbilies” was one of the top viewed shows during its time and it reach people all over the nation. It spread the stigma of Appalachian people and encouraged the image of the people, even if it were false.

Appalachians have very mixed responses to the stereotypical depiction of their region. Typically, it depends of where the Appalachians are living in the current moment. For those individuals who had migrated out of Appalachia to start new lives found some writing on the region to be authentic accounts of mountain life. (Inscoe). In the book Back Talk From Appalachia, individuals express their opinions on the representation of their people. One essay which stood out to me was by a woman named Anne Shelby. She was introduced to a fourth grade class and when the teacher introduced her, she said “This is Anne Shelby, our visiting author. She lives in the middle of nowhere.” (Billings; Shelby, 153).  She discusses at one time the term ‘Appalachia’ referred to a chain of mountains, but now it represents an image of “a place where dirty children sat listlessly on the porches of old shacks, a place that only existed in black and white” (Billings; Shelby, 154).  She goes on to discuss the comedy behind red neck and the function of the jokes. Commonly the comedians believe they have the right to tell such jokes due to their heritage and relation to the area yet Shelby points out that “the joke functions to put distance between the teller and the subject” (Billings, Shelby 156).  The most important point that Shelby makes is the advancement of other minorities and the term political correctness, and how it is more a concern with human dignity than being politically correct.  As she writes “to stereotype is to dehumanize; to make ridiculous; to ignore history, politics, economics and culture. To deny full human dignity” (Billings; Shelby 158).

Jean Haskell Spear, author of “From Stereotype to Regional Hype: Strategies for Changing Media Portrayals of Appalachia,” created six strategies that she believes will help fight the media depiction of stereotypes. I agree with her steps and they can be effective to the depiction of the Appalachian stereotypes depicted in the media. Her first strategy is to “put pressure on authorities who regulate the media” (Speer).  There is a commission called the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which groups can express their concerns to because this commission is in charge of renewing licenses for broadcasting stations. Pressuring the FCC could help to influence others, such as legislators to apply pressure to the media producers. The second strategy she listed is to “approach local affiliates of networks” (Speer).  This can be achieved by appealing to the need for the company to be sensitive to the needs of the community and threaten them if they don’t do anything to fix the problem.  The third strategy is to target advertisers.  If the advertisers are directly affected by events such as boycotting, the effects my prompt them to make a change to what is being produced.

The fourth strategy is to focus attention on the network, or whichever medium is producing the stereotypical image. Pressure group may take two strategies to achieve this. First, “plan a radical protest, such as gay organizations ‘zapping’ the day-to-day operation of a media organization, or try to work with the organization on a fairly regular basis to maintain the type of coverage they want” (Speer). The fifth is “targeting production companies of broadcast programs” (Speer). For this strategy it is important to realize that it is important to criticize the bad and praise the good. The final strategy is to use media against media.  All of these steps are not directly aimed at the Appalachian people, and can work for any minority or attacked group.  An example of a successful defends to the Appalachian people is a commercial which was produced by Direct TV. It contains mountain people and a man being held in a suit. This portrayed the mountain people badly and in the stereotypical manner of which Appalachians are depicted. This commercial was quickly taken down from television, however versions of it can still be found on YouTube. When individuals fight back against the media, it can have a positive result in removing the circulation of these false images.

Appalachia is a region that is continuously being attacked by the media and there is little indication that it will slow down any time soon, however, there are thing to help expedite the process of extinguishing the Appalachian stereotype. The impact that stereotyping is not quite known in its entirety, but from research we can see that the region is expected to be seen in a particular way, and that people do not want to claim Appalachian heritage because of the reputation that it has. Progress has been made, but it needs to continue if any real change is to come. To follow the six strategies would be the first way to make a civil defense to the media and it portrayals of the Appalachian people.  Once this is started, maybe we can change the preconceived images of the Appalachian people, and the rest of the nation can see the rich and unique culture that flourishes in the region.

Reflective:

 

This assignment allowed me to take a deeper look into the function of the media, and in a specific region. I have always been fascinated with media and film, and this assignment lowed me to focus on one region and see the severity of the issue with false depiction that the media has. This can be related to so many issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, and body image. This may have helped me create a capstone project to look at the relationship between media throughout the years and depression of body issues. This assignment was something that I have been interested for some time and I think that this paper reflect my interest in the subject and my willing to learn more.

Works Cited:

 

“The Appalachian Region.” – Appalachian Regional Commission. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2016.

“The Kentucky Cycle.” Robert Schenkkan. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2016.

429-438. Print.

Billings, Dwight B., Gurney Norman, and Katherine Ledford. Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes. Lexington: U of Kentucky, 2001. Print

BOWLER, BETTY MILLER. “”That Ribbon of Social Neglect”: Appalachia and the Media in 1964.”Appalachian Journal 12.3 (1985): 239-47. Web.

Frost, William G. Our Contemporary Ancestors in the Southern Mountains. Boston: Atlantic Monthly, 1899. Print

Harney, Will W. “A Strange Land and Peculiar People.” Lippincott’s Magazine. October 1873:

INSCOE, JOHN C. “Dear Appalachia: Readers, Identity, And Popular Fiction Since 1878.” Journal Of Southern History 79.1 (2013): 204-206. Humanities International Complete. Web. 8 June 2016.

MAGGARD, SALLY WARD. “Cultural Hegemony: The News Media and Appalachia.” Appalachian Journal 11.1/2 (1983): 67-83. Web.

Speer, Jean Haskell. “From Stereotype to Regional Hype: Strategies for Changing Media Portrayals of Appalachia.” Journal of the Appalachian Studies Association 5 (1993): 12-19. Web.