country boys
I saw the first part of Country Boys on PBS last night. It’s a documentary mini-series following two boys growing up in Floyd County, Kentucky, a very poor area of the Appalachians. Chris lives in a trailer in a “holler” and has trouble getting his work done at school, often missing school to take care of his alcoholic father. Cody is in a Christian metal band and has a girlfriend he talks about marrying.
I found it really interesting. It’s easy for people to make fun of people like this, but this is life. This is how a lot of people live their lives. Growing up in probably the biggest city in the Appalachians, I wasn’t far from people who lived in similar situations, but we still made fun of people from West Viriginia. I think in some ways these people are more America than a big city like San Francisco.
The challenge of watching a program like this is not simply not passing judgement, but trying to understand them. Or you could just say they’re a Red Stater, that they should be kept in the mountains or made a separate country called “Jesusland,” laugh your cynical laugh and go on feeling superior. Wait, which group is supposed to be the “open-minded” ones?
You can watch the first episode online and the next two episodes are tonight and tomorrow, I believe.
January 10th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
have you read nickel and dimed?
January 10th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
The majority of people in the red states are voting against their economic interests these days. It’s clear a lot of that has to do with the rights disgusting use of Jesus to advance their agenda. Maybe it’s true we are elitists but we are fighting to improve their lives and aside from that who even cares that some on the left feel superior? Few of us think of the current situation as a laughing matter but a cynical laugh may be the only thing that keeps us from crying.
Nickel and Dimed is a really good book.
January 11th, 2006 at 6:50 am
If you can find it, check out “American Hollow.” Sounds like a very similar premise to Country Boys, but is from 1999 and follows a family in KY. It’s so good it’s painful.