Thoughts on Hillbilly: The Real Story

Recently, my sister rang to tell me about Hillbilly: The Real Story showing on the History Channel.  Since it mentioned their Scottish roots, she thought it might make a good blog post. That was very sweet and supportive of her, don't you think?  After watching it, I realized it only mentioned Ulster (Northern Ireland) and Scotland for about three minutes.  Most of the show was about the lives of those Ulster-Scots who settled in Appalachia after arriving in America. Since a good deal of my father's family lived in Appalachia, I thought a post about this documentary would be better suited to this blog.  Documentaries have advantage over history books - moving pictures, sound, and speed as you can watch a program way faster than you can read a book.  Like most historians, I can and do take issue with documentaries, but neither do I think they are the tool of the devil. 

Billy Ray Cyrus, the narrator/presenter, hails from Kentucky.  (No snide comments about Achy-Breaky Heart - it WAS a catchy tune.) It was a good production, with many talking heads (but no actual historians of Appalachia as far as I could tell), a fair amount of historical photographs, and contemporary footage of the region.  The purpose of the show, as it stated itself, was to tell the true history of Appalachia, not the farcical image seen in television, the movies or read about in books. That is a laudable goal.  To the best of my knowledge my ancestors were poor, but hardworking and didn't spend every  waking moment hiding their moonshine from the law.  I eagerly waited the return of the show after the commercial break.

I would not go so far as to say I should not have bothered returning after the break.  But instead of breaking down stereotypes, the program seemed to reinforce almost every single one.  The first segment of the program was on moonshine and marijuana, then came segments on snake-handling churches, the Battle of King's Mountain, NASCAR, coal mining, and the TVA.  Constant refrains in the narration were "freedom loving," "fighting," and an assortment of related adjectives.

I wouldn't tell you not to watch the program. I think if they had said their goal was to look at extra-legal activities in Appalachia it wouldn't have bothered me so much. But they said "true", not stereotypical. However, there was nothing about folklore, jack tales, arts and crafts, shape note singing , national parks, farming, architecture, or African Americans.  I did not feel that I gained any insight to my ancestors who moved into East Tennessee in the 19th century.  Perhaps, with time, as I learn more about my Appalachian roots I will feel more irritated by the disruption caused by the TVA. On the other hand, I think electricity is a good thing. Overall, I must say I was disappointed in the program.

The approach of this documentary made me think of the literary theorist, Edward Said, who in the 1970s popularized the term "orientalism" to describe the way scholars from the West discuss the Middle East.  Said believed that they can not get past their preconceived notions of the "exotic-ness" of the region to see it on its own terms.  Even for academics the only way to view the Middle East was through a veil of sensuality, barbarism or what have you.  They seemed to forgot or disregard that for people in the Middle East this exotic lifestyle and history was, well, totally normal.  There may be something to Said's theory, but I've often thought that it applies to other areas as well, like Scotland and Appalachia.  There is a defined discourse or rhetoric about these regions that are so intrinsically connected to them that it is almost impossible to not to discuss the subject in terms of them.  Scotland is clannish, Scots are cheap, the Highlands are militaristic, the Scots are victims and so on.  Appalachia is full of freedom loving moonshine swillers who only pay attention to the government when it suits them. So, one cannot discuss Scotland without referring to the "clannishness" of its people, even though humans by inclination tend to stick to their own kind, especially in an emigrant situation.  The mountains of Appalachia did nourish a unique culture, but perhaps no more so than other isolated communities.  

If you are interested in Edward Said's ideas, I do NOT recommend that you read Orientalism.  I tried to read it and couldn't get past the first 100 pages.  In my opinion he used way too many words which made it difficult to understand his argument.  Instead, see if you can track down the video Edward Said on Orientalism. I was able to stream it online though the college library. It's just 40 minutes long, and I thought it was pretty good and tells you everything you need to know speedily.