This blog will serve as a medium for communication and content for History 332 - The American South in the Twentieth Century - Taught at the University of Mississippi, Spring Semester 2009
Slingblade is a great film, but it seems to accentuate the "aww shucks, po-dunk" attitude that people commonly slap on the South. As Southerners, as I assume most of you are, do you feel that this simpleton view of the South takes away from the great message of friendship crossing any boundaries that the movie provides? If not, how do you feel about the way the South is portrayed in the film?
In class on Tuesday we discussed the commercialization of the South with the prominent example of Southern Living. It would seem that selling of the South as a product would be more successful with the standard cookie cutter image of the South (Paula Deen, expensive condos on the square, sweet tea) …but there are pieces of the southern gothic genre that depict a much more brutal South and have seen just as much commercial success (James Lee Burke, Slingblade, Flannery O’Connor). Just because parts of this southern gothic are more brutal in their portrayal of the South does that necessarily make them closer to the southern reality? Or are they also just another form of a selling of the South?
In the movie Sling Blade we see Frank and Carl from a special bond and become good friends. What aspects from the southern way of life attributed to this special friendship? Also why would the movie try to depict a particular way that southerners were suppose to talk. Is this what northerners see the people of the south today if so why?
Slingblade attempts to illustrate the goings-on of a "lower class" of southerners, exemplified by the language and setting of rural Arkansas. Is this movie accurate and/or ultimately successful in its aims? Comparing the elements of Slingblade with Southern Living and other stereotypically "southern" images, which creates a more realistic picture of true southerness, if there is such a thing?
In "Slingblade" and as well in the Southern Gothic stories of O'Connor, Lee, and Williams, the South and it's inhabitants are often characterized as either disenfranchised or afflicted. Do these images of the South as primitive, mentally disturbed, and potentially violent perpetuate this stereotype of southerners (as Warren pointed out), or could it possibly raise awareness through its folklore the realities of social and cultural conditions in the South? And if so, what legacy does Southern Gothic literature leave?
The film shows multiple examples of masculinity through various male characters that all have drastically different personalities. How do these characters reflect the need for males to defend their identities and lifestyles in the South?
Other than terrible acting by Mr. Cox the small motor mechanic and Frank's dream girl, Slingbade was a gread movie. In it they display an image of a dumb, poor, naive, ignorant southern man in the form of the mom's boyfriend (name escapes me). Was this an accurate portrayal of a small-town southern man or did they do this in an attempt to create a distinction between him and those in the town with more open beliefs and the wish to better themselves(the mom, Vaughn)?
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Slingblade is a great film, but it seems to accentuate the "aww shucks, po-dunk" attitude that people commonly slap on the South. As Southerners, as I assume most of you are, do you feel that this simpleton view of the South takes away from the great message of friendship crossing any boundaries that the movie provides? If not, how do you feel about the way the South is portrayed in the film?
ReplyDeleteIn class on Tuesday we discussed the commercialization of the South with the prominent example of Southern Living. It would seem that selling of the South as a product would be more successful with the standard cookie cutter image of the South (Paula Deen, expensive condos on the square, sweet tea) …but there are pieces of the southern gothic genre that depict a much more brutal South and have seen just as much commercial success (James Lee Burke, Slingblade, Flannery O’Connor). Just because parts of this southern gothic are more brutal in their portrayal of the South does that necessarily make them closer to the southern reality? Or are they also just another form of a selling of the South?
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Sling Blade we see Frank and Carl from a special bond and become good friends. What aspects from the southern way of life attributed to this special friendship? Also why would the movie try to depict a particular way that southerners were suppose to talk. Is this what northerners see the people of the south today if so why?
ReplyDeleteSlingblade attempts to illustrate the goings-on of a "lower class" of southerners, exemplified by the language and setting of rural Arkansas. Is this movie accurate and/or ultimately successful in its aims? Comparing the elements of Slingblade with Southern Living and other stereotypically "southern" images, which creates a more realistic picture of true southerness, if there is such a thing?
ReplyDeleteIn "Slingblade" and as well in the Southern Gothic stories of O'Connor, Lee, and Williams, the South and it's inhabitants are often characterized as either disenfranchised or afflicted. Do these images of the South as primitive, mentally disturbed, and potentially violent perpetuate this stereotype of southerners (as Warren pointed out), or could it possibly raise awareness through its folklore the realities of social and cultural conditions in the South? And if so, what legacy does Southern Gothic literature leave?
ReplyDeleteThe film shows multiple examples of masculinity through various male characters that all have drastically different personalities. How do these characters reflect the need for males to defend their identities and lifestyles in the South?
ReplyDeleteOther than terrible acting by Mr. Cox the small motor mechanic and Frank's dream girl, Slingbade was a gread movie. In it they display an image of a dumb, poor, naive, ignorant southern man in the form of the mom's boyfriend (name escapes me). Was this an accurate portrayal of a small-town southern man or did they do this in an attempt to create a distinction between him and those in the town with more open beliefs and the wish to better themselves(the mom, Vaughn)?
ReplyDelete