Origin of the Hillbilly
Anthony Harkins, author of "Hillbilly: the Culture of an American Icon," writes,
"We don’t have to look hard to find a hillbilly today. Turn on the television, open a newspaper, watch a movie, listen to political debate, or attend a performance of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play and there he is – drinking, feuding, and fornicating. But how has this character, the one who leading national publications such as the Washington Post have no trouble accepting as sociological fact, gotten here? Where do we begin searching for the “first” hillbilly, the ancestor of respectable Americans’ dangerous and degenerate country cousin” (Intro)?
The answer can be found in the cultural region of Appalachia: the birthplace of what has now become the iconic American image of the hillbilly. Stretching from the southern New York to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, Appalachia is best known for its long-time legends of uneducated, poverish, violent, backwards inhabitants.
Dwight B. Billings, Gurney Norman, and Katherine Ledford, editors of "Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes," write,
“Always part of the mythical South, Appalachia continues to languish backstage in the American drama, still dressed, in the popular mind at least, in the garments of backwardness, violence, poverty, and hopelessness once associated with the South as a whole. No other region of the United States today plays the role of the “other America” quite so persistently as Appalachia” (Intro).
Indeed, in a constantly moving country with numerous technological advances year after year, Appalachia has managed to remain the same throughout the entire twentieth century. How can a part of America, a progressive country that prides itself on improvement, manage to keep a small portion of itself stagnant, hidden like a secret in the back pocket of the Appalachian Mountains?
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Evolving Hillbilly
Perhaps the hillbilly has not gone unchanged throughout the twentieth century as it would seem; perhaps this is simply the perspective the rest of America has in regards to Appalachian culture.
Billings writes,
“While the peoples and cultures in the Appalachian Mountains are decidedly plural, outside the region in the arts, the academy, and popular culture, many representations of them now, as for the past one hundred years, are often monolithic, pejorative, and unquestioned” (Back Talk from Appalachia).
It wasn't until recently that these views were in fact finally questioned. Billings writes,
“…the static and savage image of Appalachia has grown and continues to predominate in media, film and other popular views of the region. Only in the last three decades have Appalachian intellectuals and activists begun to challenge these regional stereotypes and resist their perpetuation” (Back Talk from Appalachia).
Whatever the case, the hillbilly image has evolved and endured in music, movies, television, comic strips, magazines, and so on, throughout the twentieth century, proving its standing power and meaning very different things to different people.
Harkins writes,
"The media hillbilly thrived during the 1930’s in an era of economic and social collapse, but it also reemerged in the 1960’s at a time of widespread questioning of the price of “progress” and the social equity of the “affluent society.” Uniquely positioned as a white “other,” a construction both within and beyond the confines of American “whiteness,” the hillbilly has also been at the heart of struggles over American racial identity and hierarchy. Finally, in the same oppositionally dualistic way, southern mountain folk both denounced it as a vicious slur and embraced it in defense of their value system and in celebration of their cultural heritage."
Whether denounced or celebrated, however, the hillbilly is always an outsider - an other. Whether these hillbillies are portrayed as redneck, white trash families (the more modern view of what it means to be a hillbilly) with tacky Christmas lights, or murders and rapists in the movie Deliverance, they are always seen at the same angle: below. They are always at the bottom of the social scale, contributing little to society and acting as a warning to modernized America of what life could be like.
“Always part of the mythical South, Appalachia continues to languish backstage in the American drama, still dressed, in the popular mind at least, in the garments of backwardness, violence, poverty, and hopelessness once associated with the South as a whole. No other region of the United States today plays the role of the “other America” quite so persistently as Appalachia” (Intro).
Indeed, in a constantly moving country with numerous technological advances year after year, Appalachia has managed to remain the same throughout the entire twentieth century. How can a part of America, a progressive country that prides itself on improvement, manage to keep a small portion of itself stagnant, hidden like a secret in the back pocket of the Appalachian Mountains?
_________________________________________________________________
Evolving Hillbilly
Perhaps the hillbilly has not gone unchanged throughout the twentieth century as it would seem; perhaps this is simply the perspective the rest of America has in regards to Appalachian culture.
Billings writes,
“While the peoples and cultures in the Appalachian Mountains are decidedly plural, outside the region in the arts, the academy, and popular culture, many representations of them now, as for the past one hundred years, are often monolithic, pejorative, and unquestioned” (Back Talk from Appalachia).
It wasn't until recently that these views were in fact finally questioned. Billings writes,
“…the static and savage image of Appalachia has grown and continues to predominate in media, film and other popular views of the region. Only in the last three decades have Appalachian intellectuals and activists begun to challenge these regional stereotypes and resist their perpetuation” (Back Talk from Appalachia).
Whatever the case, the hillbilly image has evolved and endured in music, movies, television, comic strips, magazines, and so on, throughout the twentieth century, proving its standing power and meaning very different things to different people.
Harkins writes,
"The media hillbilly thrived during the 1930’s in an era of economic and social collapse, but it also reemerged in the 1960’s at a time of widespread questioning of the price of “progress” and the social equity of the “affluent society.” Uniquely positioned as a white “other,” a construction both within and beyond the confines of American “whiteness,” the hillbilly has also been at the heart of struggles over American racial identity and hierarchy. Finally, in the same oppositionally dualistic way, southern mountain folk both denounced it as a vicious slur and embraced it in defense of their value system and in celebration of their cultural heritage."
Whether denounced or celebrated, however, the hillbilly is always an outsider - an other. Whether these hillbillies are portrayed as redneck, white trash families (the more modern view of what it means to be a hillbilly) with tacky Christmas lights, or murders and rapists in the movie Deliverance, they are always seen at the same angle: below. They are always at the bottom of the social scale, contributing little to society and acting as a warning to modernized America of what life could be like.
In the case of the hillbilly, these stereotypes can extend far beyond the region of Appalachia. They can extend to any individual who fits the part: filthy, frumpy, poor, unintelligent, or even violent. While violence used to mean shootings and other violent acts commited in the backwoods, this can also mean individuals prone to chugging too much beer and getting in bar fights.
The hillbilly is seen everywhere in media – often times as the comic relief, the fool who makes others laugh with his stupidity. These portrayals rely on the sense that hillbillies have little intelligence and are ignorant enough to not even see what idiots they are.
The hillbilly can also promote fear. Movies such as Deliverance make audiences shudder at the thought of getting lost in the backwoods, hunted by God’s forgotten creatures.
In some cases, individuals may choose to profit off of this stereotype, embracing it as an identity to gain money or fame with. Comedians such as Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy climbed to fame with redneck jokes that fully embraced the stereotype, laughing at themselves in order to advance themselves.
In other cases, individuals may truly embrace this portrayal as a true identity and a symbol to be proud of: a simple way of life and a sense of belonging in a hectic world.
Whatever the case, it must be noted that the hillbilly will always survive, regardless of outside opinion. They will even thrive, despite America's fear of ending up like them. Like Shakespeare's fool, there is more to the hillbilly than can be seen upon first glance. His innocence and different perspective on the world will always make him a survivor.
The hillbilly is seen everywhere in media – often times as the comic relief, the fool who makes others laugh with his stupidity. These portrayals rely on the sense that hillbillies have little intelligence and are ignorant enough to not even see what idiots they are.
The hillbilly can also promote fear. Movies such as Deliverance make audiences shudder at the thought of getting lost in the backwoods, hunted by God’s forgotten creatures.
In some cases, individuals may choose to profit off of this stereotype, embracing it as an identity to gain money or fame with. Comedians such as Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy climbed to fame with redneck jokes that fully embraced the stereotype, laughing at themselves in order to advance themselves.
In other cases, individuals may truly embrace this portrayal as a true identity and a symbol to be proud of: a simple way of life and a sense of belonging in a hectic world.
Whatever the case, it must be noted that the hillbilly will always survive, regardless of outside opinion. They will even thrive, despite America's fear of ending up like them. Like Shakespeare's fool, there is more to the hillbilly than can be seen upon first glance. His innocence and different perspective on the world will always make him a survivor.