February 4, 2003
EVER VASTER:
`Hillbillies' reality show under fire: They're making `fun of poor, rural people' (The Associated Press, , November 23, 2002)An eastern Kentucky group plans to launch a national newspaper advertising campaign to convince CBS to stop casting for a new reality show based on the The Beverly Hillbillies.Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, said in a phone interview Thursday that his group plans to take out newspaper ads in some of the nation's biggest papers. He said he believes the show will make rural Appalachian families the butt of a bad joke.
"In essence, what they're doing is creating a program to make fun of poor, rural people," Mr. Davis said. [...]
[Producer Wendy Cassileth] said the producers aren't looking for a hillbilly bunch to make the butt of hillbilly jokes.
"To me, it's not about that, not about another TV show, it's about what is the perspective of a country family, like a real family from the heart of this country, what is their perspective on Beverly Hills?"
This just seems like needless cruelty. California is appalling enough in the abstract, but seen from the perspective of a decent American Red State family, how can it not come across as truly despicable? Posted by Orrin Judd at February 4, 2003 12:29 PM
You should hear my mother's stories about the Van Landringhams, the genuine hillbillies that lived on the
other, roadless side of the mountain she grew up on.
Orrin, you are fan of The Godfather, no? The bit about the horse's head in the bed. The Van Landringhams did
that 40 years before Puzo wrote his book.
They had a feud with a studio mogul too?
Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at February 4, 2003 3:06 PMThey retaliated against some real or imagined slight by one of the literate neighbors on the civilized side of Signal Mountain by stealing her horse, up to the neck.
Posted by: Harry at February 4, 2003 8:11 PM