My GEO 321 instructor has been incredibly gracious to my class, giving us lots of opportunities to earn extra points that will be added to our final grades. (This might have something to do the class's D average on the midterm exam, yeah.) I'm taking advantage of the extra credit assignments, and I wrote a tiny paper today for one bonus point. The paper is basically my reaction to a few segments of Diane Sawyer's damn aggravating documentary about Appalachian children. I now dislike Sawyer, ABC, and television in general even more so than before. I didn't think this was possible. You can find the videos here:
Children of the Mountains
...and my response, which is more of a rant than a formal paper:
Extra Credit Assignment: Response to "A Daughter's Heartache", "Children of the Mountains", and "What It's Like Living in Appalachia"
Prior to the showing of an excerpt from the "Hidden America: Children of the Mountains" documentary, the ABC news reporter introducing the excerpt referred to Appalachia as “another world, right here in America.” In my personal opinion, this description is simply false and irritating. Appalachia cannot be accurately characterized as some sort of separate, distinct cultural entity within the greater United States. Issues of poverty, lack of infrastructure, drug use, unemployment, and inadequate education are by no means exclusive to Appalachia. Though these problems are generally more prevalent in this region of America than in many others, they are issues rooted strongly in Appalachia’s history. The social struggles that exist there today are largely the end result of decades of exploitation of its rich resources, with the generated wealth flowing out of the region rather than remaining within. After the last great booms of the dominating industries, mountain people were left with few options for ensuring their livelihoods. The infrastructure was poor, the education was sub-par, and employment opportunities were few.
Rather than view Appalachia’s current problems in light of the region’s telling history, the media seems eager to portray them as causes, rather than effects, of its “uniqueness”. (i.e., the region suffers because mountain people love their welfare checks and don’t wish to work, not because the historical circumstances of Appalachia have made it difficult for many to find employment within the region.) Ridiculous stereotypes permeate media pertaining to Appalachia, and I (most unfortunately) found these videos crawling with them. Appalachian isolation, ignorance, drug-dependence and heavy religiosity are focal points of Diane Sawyer’s documentary.
I remember watching Sawyer’s documentary for the first time last year and being seriously offended and angered. Though I felt great sympathy for these individuals, especially for the children (who were obviously intelligent and well aware of the predicaments they face), the fact that Sawyer chose these particular Appalachians to show in her documentary just proves beyond a doubt that she was more interested in sensationalizing her work rather than giving her audience a more accurate picture of mountain people. Could she have portrayed any number of young Appalachians who lived in good homes with adequate space, who had drug-free parents, and who had their basic needs provided for? Absolutely. But this would not have been as interesting as showing an impoverished young girl who cried when her mother (and sole caretaker) was sent away to drug rehab. The ABC audience would obviously rather watch another child living in a cramped mountain house with ten of her relatives relate sad stories about her mother’s food stamps running out before the end of the month. (Pepsi is put into babies’ bottles when that happens!)
I won’t deny that these situations exist in Appalachia, and the documentary is evidence of that. What I strongly dislike is the fact that Sawyer depicted the worst-of-the-worst social conditions as the Appalachian generality. Despite all the historical misfortunes of the region, many people there have shown an amazing ability to overcome in the face of adversity. Others have not been as successful in this respect, and these particular people do not need (nor want) momentary national sympathy fueled by a Louisvillian’s shameless quest for high TV ratings. Pity alone does nothing for the Appalachian people who really need assistance. But what would the media do if it could no longer poke fun at toothless, unkempt, ignorant hillbillies? God forbid!
My conclusion is this: if there is any truth in the idea that Appalachia is the “other America”, it is only because the historical circumstances of the region have produced its present difficulties, not because Appalachians are inherently lazy, averse to work, and ignorant. The fact that a good number of outsiders still carry around these ridiculous misconceptions about the region and its people is a testament to the power of stereotypes and misinformation. Oh well. What do I know? I'm just a mountain skank.
In other (and better) news, the Lexington weather has been absolutely beautiful! I have photo evidence:
Common Grounds (April 11)
UK Campus
The flowers are in bloom!
Another campus flower...
Yay for pretty colors.
Okay, I have four classes tomorrow, so it's definitely bedtime for me. Valete!
