I was watching that film, Winter’s Bone, on the weekend, that is set in the Ozark region of Missouri. I don’t know if any of you guys have seen the film I am talking about but it is a fairly recent outing about a teenage girl desperately trying to track down her meth dealing father before the authorities take away the family home, which the father put up as bond security.
Anyway, long story short and I for one could not believe this place. It did not seem like America at all. If anything it was closer to the gyspsy-esque squalor of Kazakhstan in the Borat film.
Now, I am not stupid enough to believe that America doesn’t have its fair share of squalor but for all intents and purposes this was something else. The people portrayed in the film lived in half decrepit log cabins and trailers. It didn’t even seem part of the civilized world. I was surprised there were even schools and hot running water it was so bad. It was as if people living in America in 2010, with modern clothes and hairstyles and modern language had magically been transported back to America in 1922 and had not even realized.
My question is: is it really that bad in parts of America? Is Missouri -specifically The Ozarks - what one would call “Hillbilly country”? Do they really live like Romanian Gypsy families there?
I mean it was really foul and primitive. Beyond anything we have in suburban areas down here (although Aboriginals do unfortunately live in squalid conditions in the outback).
Anyone here ever been there or is from there? Are there worse places? Will everything be alright now, pappy??
Yes, there are plenty of places that are still that bad. I grew up in Ohio, and there are plenty of places in the southern part, along the Ohio River that are just horrid. You’d swear it was still the Great Depression.
And then there’s West Virginia. I’ve only driven through, but it’s as backwards as I’ve ever seen.
If you want to see a crazy documentary, check out [url http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396227/combined]The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. It’s intended to be humorous, but it’s still quite disturbing how people live.
I stayed for a few months in the la Pine area in Deschutes County, Oregon some years back. Beautiful scenery and there are some incredible log cabin type resorts up there but the people are kinda backwards. A lot of meth / crank abuse in Oregon. Lots of petty crime and just white trash all over the place.
Tallahassee Florida. Now if you ever find yourself down that-a-ways you know you’ve done gone and made a wrong turn, boy, and you best gets yourself out 'fore you gonna gets hoit!!
In short, don’t ever go there. Particularly Frenchtown. Although I don’t think it’s quite what you described in your movie.
Gummo I can understand. But as I said, this was something else. Like people living in prospecting times but in the modern era.
It doesn’t surprise me. With this whole “cash for gold” craze thing that’s going because of how weak our dollar is. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to hear we have prospectors again mining for gold.
Can one of you please give a detailed account of an adventure you had in a backwoods town like the one I have described, thanks.
The scarier and more backwoods the better. Then I can go to sleep feeling satisfied.
[:|]
Back in the 90s,my friend(who has since passed) lived in a town called Chipley in the panhandle of Florida…this is some serious backwoods shit,man…I went there to visit him for the weekend and have been scarred ever since haha…even trying to describe this foul inbred backwards ass place could never accurately give you an idea of what a haunting,nightmarish white trash experience I had…I could never do it justice…and of course being the loon I was in my earlier years,just being there wasn’t enough,as we decided to drop some high potency LSD to boot…let’s just say the next morning I drove out of that fucking place and didn’t even say goodbye to my friend and his family…never to ever return…
As cosmopolitan a place like Chicago is…one only has to venture 20 miles south of downtown before evidence of the US hillybilly culture begins. It’s more or less disguised as ‘working class’ but the lack of education is manifested in the poor quality of life. I speak of the area from whence I came. The smart ones get out early…the rest are left to a life of drugs, alcohol, ignorance and misery.
My wife is from southern Illinois. Even Illinois, a state with some of the most progressive institutions in the country, is horribly backwards in most of the rural communities. Abject poverty runs amok.
Don’t get me started on the Ozarks. Same goes for most of the South.
If you’re interested in the Florida panhandle (where I spent quite a few formative years and where my parents still live), this is a good doc. Just clips on Youtube:
Here’s a fascinating doc about the rural and small town south, which has the additional benefit of a stellar soundtrack. Some helpful soul uploaded the whole thing.
If you’re interested in the Florida panhandle (where I spent quite a few formative years and where my parents still live), this is a good doc. Just clips on Youtube:
Here’s a fascinating doc about the rural and small town south, which has the additional benefit of a stellar soundtrack. Some helpful soul uploaded the whole thing.
Yes, there are plenty of places that are still that bad. I grew up in Ohio, and there are plenty of places in the southern part, along the Ohio River that are just horrid. You’d swear it was still the Great Depression.
And then there’s West Virginia. I’ve only driven through, but it’s as backwards as I’ve ever seen.
If you want to see a crazy documentary, check out [url http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396227/combined]The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. It’s intended to be humorous, but it’s still quite disturbing how people live.
I haven’t seen that one, but i watched a couple of shows about Jesco, funny in parts but ultimately pretty sad. I must check that one out, cheers.
This wasn’t even backwoods, but just a podunk town up north in CA. But . . . .
My family was making our way back home after a week of vacationing in either Sequoia or Yosemite Park (I forget which).
As typically happens, one or more of us needed to pee so we stopped in the next off-highway town. The town was called DUCOR.
It wasn’t totally ramshackle or shantytown or anything, but it was small, quiet and weird. We were walking along a sidewalk as I recall and at first my mom asked a groundskeeper who was trimming some weeds in front of a church. He was no help and offered no assistance. . . . a lady apparently saw some strangers in her town and came out to see what was up.
My mom explained that we were just looking for a restroom, and the conversation continued thusly . . .
Hick Lady: “Restroom? Ain’t no restrooms in Ducor!”
Mom: “In the whole town?”
Hick Lady (now cackling like a loon): “WHOLE TOWN!!! HEH HEH HEH!!! Lady, this IS the whole town!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
We all went back to the van and vowed never to stop in Ducor ever again.