Ten Films to Understand Southerners Better

[ericadawn16]

This is my list of ten movies to understand southerners better. I skipped the usual films that everyone's seen or they don't feel authentic enough to me. I also tried to use films that apply both to their locations and people all over the south, but small populations, like the Greeks in Tarpon Springs, didn't end up being represented. However, I tried to have each state represented at least once.

All She Can

The Color Purple

Fried Green Tomatoes

Hustle and Flow

The Paperboy

Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus

Step Up Revolution

To Kill a Mockingbird

Winter's Bone

The Yearling

Comments

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Now I really want to see Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus and Winter's Bone.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

One nitpick: Winter's Bone is set in the Ozarks, and I'm pretty sure a lot of Southerners don't consider Missouri part of the South. Also, the Ozark and Bootheel accents I've heard don't sound as straight-up Southern as the accents in the trailer. They have their own little twang that's somehow mostly Southern-ish but still somehow Midwestern. Do you mean the movie's hillybilly-ness is very Southern?

Sorry, it's just that my home state has almost no movies to call its own. Winter's Bone looks awesome, though---I'll have to put it in the Netflix cue.

[psyko-kittie.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Missouri isn't considered part of the South. The general thought is that if the state didn't seceded from the Union then it's not Southern.

Do you mean the movie's hillybilly-ness is very Southern? And I hope she doesn't mean that. Otherwise, I'm offended. Because not everyone, who is Southern, is automatically a hillybilly.

Where's Steel Magnolias?

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, Jennifer Lawrence is from Kentucky and that's her accent so that is incorrect to the area. However, the broader themes of plight of the poor, the making of crystal meth and the very secretive nature derived from decades of the government taking advantage and they're getting screwed over from it...that's universal across the south. Plus, the themes of gender, guns, military, etc.

It's also very reminiscent of those I've met from Appalachia so to me, the feel is very southern and Missouri is a toss-up, I suppose although Missouri was recognized by the confederacy during the Civil War.

It was filmed in Missouri.

I wish everyone would see it because everyone tends to call Jennifer Lawrence "the Hunger Games girl" and this is where I saw her first years ago.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

The Confederacy did recognize them in the Civil War.

Where I live and others have talked about it being the same way where they're from, like Appalachia, you get these little communities where everyone is poor and they will take care of their own even if it means lying and ignoring local law enforcement. There are murders and they will never get solved because no one is going to say anything.

I'm not sure what you mean by hillbillyness but there were a lot of males and females who looked forward to hunting season growing up. They'd go after school on weekends and sometimes...skip school entirely. Luckily, most didn't need to hunt in order to eat like in the film, but it was a supplemental food source.

This is why I picked ten films; no one film is going to be representative of every southerner. All ten films as a whole represent most of the south. Crystal meth and drugs are also a growing problem and I liked the contrast with Hustle & Flow and All She Can which also address drug use.

I felt like Steel Magnolias is south but that's not the focus. The focus ends up being on all the tragedy and you could place it in just about any town except for their accents. I also wanted films that people were less likely to have seen.

[psyko-kittie.livejournal.com]

The Confederacy did recognize them in the Civil War.

Not in my Alabama history book, they didn't.

but there were a lot of males and females who looked forward to hunting season growing up.

That's not being a hillbilly... that's a redneck, which is different. Or just being Southern. Southerners hunt... it's in our blood. I'd consider the family on Honey Boo Boo to be hillbillies.

My father's people came from the foothills of the Appalachia and were generally called "hill folks."

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wouldn't tell people to watch a movie about Honey Boo Boo as though she represented the south at all.

Also, the eleven stars on the confederate flag include Missouri. This is a link from the Missouri Civil War Museum in St. Louis.
http://mcwm.org/history_flags.html

[psyko-kittie.livejournal.com]

Also, the eleven stars on the confederate flag include Missouri.

There's 13 stars on the CSA flag! And even though Missouri and Kentucky are represented on the flag; they aren't considered to be Southern as far as true Southerners are concerned. Their representatives were still seated in Congress... and they were treated like redhead step children following the war.

[psyko-kittie.livejournal.com]

Actually the best thing to watch to understand Southerners, is a show called "You Don't Know Dixie." It answers a lot of questions about why Southerners do what they do. :)

[i-llbedammned.livejournal.com]

Surprised Step-up Revolution was on the list.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

I should definitely check out some of these movies.

[twhitesakura.livejournal.com]

I've only seen one of these films. Thanks for the rec list. "Fried Green Tomatoes" seems just up my alley. =)