The Recent Proclivity of Hillbilly Based Reality Television

few years back i worked as a chef at a casino on an indian reservation in minnesota.
there was a week of film crew following us (me, my mom is the pastry chef, the head chef, and 4 others) around. we apparently were the choice characters in a possible reality show.
no paperwork or permissions from me at that point, it hadnt gone far enough for that to be needed.

it was just to gather footage so some producers somewhere decides what show they were to make.
we wernt dramatic enough apparently.

but i do remember being talked to by the cameraman. he was trying to get some interesting stories told.
i made a joke about how "this native casino was built on a white man's burial ground, and its haunted"
and thought years later how if that ended uo on tv, how horrible it would have sounded lol.

Cinrad
The only ones I have seen any bit of is Swamp People and Moonshiners, 5 minutes of Moonshiners was enough to not bother again. Anyway, was going to say, that since the Jerry Springer show closed, these people don't have anywhere else to exhibit their baseness.

I hope Turtleman isn't one of the shows you would put in this category? I like Tutrtleman, does that make me ....

the problem with calling it "their baseness", is it suggests baseness is a quality they alone exhibit. and if such is the case, perhaps you could provide evidence that baseness is the singular domain of southern white people.

Bisman
few years back i worked as a chef at a casino on an indian reservation in minnesota.
there was a week of film crew following us (me, my mom is the pastry chef, the head chef, and 4 others) around. we apparently were the choice characters in a possible reality show.
no paperwork or permissions from me at that point, it hadnt gone far enough for that to be needed.

it was just to gather footage so some producers somewhere decides what show they were to make.
we wernt dramatic enough apparently.

but i do remember being talked to by the cameraman. he was trying to get some interesting stories told.
i made a joke about how "this native casino was built on a white man's burial ground, and its haunted"
and thought years later how if that ended uo on tv, how horrible it would have sounded lol.

they should have stuck around when things got hot, lol!!

sometimes reaching hell's kitchen's level.

i know, i am a chef also, well trained crew and not a lot of drama, but when it happens,
watch out!

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I believe that would be Virginia slims as the cigarette,right. Tried one once from a friend they were nasty.

Anyone who thinks that they are better or smarter than a hillbilly, is gonna get owned.Had alot of hillbilly friends when I lived in Tennessee.They were some of the most practical and intelligent people I have ever met.They can make needed items out of almost anything.Very clever people.

I hate these reality programs they really lack any form of intelligence. I think the reason they are so popular with producers is that commercials have taken over the content. How do you put together a show with a story in 15 min for a 30 min time slot and make sure the commercials dominate? So sick of the commercialism in our society.

Not just referring to the Dynasty, it is all of them, including the storage wars, pawn stars etc.

undo
that's what the communist party did to the ukranians. first, they characterized them as backwards and unsophisticated and then established a word to call them by, that was given a negative connotation.
nevermind that many of the people of the southern rural areas are electricians, mechanics, welders, roofers, plumbers. farmers, gardeners, and can repair every machine known to man and can put together working mechanical and electronic gadgets a''la macgiver, without having to read a manual first.

edit on 26-12-2013 by undo because: (no reason given)

That would be my husband, they don't make men like him anymore.

Mon1k3r

Logarock

But let me ask before I go on what sort of chumps have these metro sexual types become for the industry tycoons?

I'm not sure to what metrosexual types you refer. Are you talking about syndicated national news anchors, or generally anyone with sculpted eyebrows and an earring?

edit on 26-12-2013 by Mon1k3r because: dangling participle

The question is being asked as if the "hillbillies" are some drifting from a norm. I am saying that its all type. That's all we get are types of people. We though "Friends" was normal when they in fact look sort of odd to "hillbillies".

By the way women's rights groups should be in full support. We have women hoggers, women loggers and women gator hunters. But Gee Wally, I thought all those backward country folks kept their women in the kitchen.

Part of the reason for focusing on "rednecks" is because they generally do physical work. Physical work is active and thus more captivating for the TV audience.

Could you make a reality show of office workers in their cubicles?

You also need over-the-top emotional interactions. That is easier with a large cast, a family.

The third reason is that the hollywood magic-makers are often completely ignorant of the South. It is exotic and a bit threatening to them, so it is interesting visually. Most of them have never really been in the woods, have never seen the insides of a barn or a metal shop, have never seen a woman and her 2 daughters-in-law cook for 30 people from scratch.

I suspect the real reason reality TV is stupid, is the same reason that sitcoms are stupid: you have to make it so almost everyone can understand. You have people who are not really "glued to the TV" these days. I have the TV on while I type this, but I'm barely following it. Likewise, people watching any given show are drinking in a bar, waiting in a doctor's office, or putting together a kid's Christmas present.

You make the show stupid enough, so that people can follow it without really watching it.

Lowest common denominator for the public. Everyone has a TV but the majority are not into learning facts or history. The news isn't even fact half the time.

You isolated all the hick reality shows but forgot that Americans have a fascination with simpler life, which is why there are so many Amish, Hutterite shows, polygamy shows, and now FLDS, though that one is completely fabricated like Breaking Amish from TLC. And then there are all the Gypsy shows.

You are also missing the slew of Alaskan shows. The last frontier is a personal favorite of mine, I think those people are superhuman. I recently caught one on NatGeo about an established Russian community in Alaska that has a severe religious rift going on, it was fascinating, never heard of them before.
Oh, and all the fishing shows.

I have noticed there seems to be an epidemic of southern cooking shows. As if people want to do that much southern cooking.

With shows like American Pickers and such, many companies actually pay to have a reality show made for them, it is a form of advertising. Which I would bet a lot of money is why Duck Dynasty got started.

DD is about as fake as you can get. Before they started their youtube series, they were business men in golf shirts and clean faces, then they started the youtube series.

Look at this handsome fella with the frosted hair. Wonder who this yuppie family could be?



They all live in mansions, they have to rent houses for the shows to try to convince people that they are down to earth, run of the mill people.

They have a main duck commander in baton rouge you never hear about. Not to mention the hundreds of employees you never see around.

Now I am not saying that some people don't watch tv to feel better about themselves. Honey boo boo always gives me a personal lift me up.

But if it IS the case, it is even worse when you have yuppies downgrading hillbillies for our entertainment.

Cinrad
I hope Turtleman isn't one of the shows you would put in this category? I like Tutrtleman, does that make me ....

I don't judge anyone for watching these shows, I just question the reasons for their popularity, and what it means in a bigger picture. If I had any concern, it's whether people watch television at all, and the damage that's done when when they do.

Television is like alcohol, or any other drug. If you abuse it every day, your brain is going to change and adapt, and eventually become dependent on some level.

undo


the problem with calling it "their baseness", is it suggests baseness is a quality they alone exhibit. and if such is the case, perhaps you could provide evidence that baseness is the singular domain of southern white people.

True. This human quality is reflected in all aspects of American life, and it's a result of money flowing so freely for so long. In America, one can be a complete nincompoop (yeah, it's coming back, y'all!) in most aspects of their lives, and only marginally talented in a few that matter and still become fabulously wealthy.

Asktheanimals
Modern America? We stand on the brink of being willing to send women in to combat. Oh yeah, you've come a long way baby......welcome to progress.

We, modern American men, stand on the brink of allowing women to enter the fray. I don't see anything wrong with women in combat specialties. If they can, and truly want to, then they will. I don't see any reason to stop them, except that men are dolts when it comes to maintaining a level of propriety in the workplace.

I'm sure some man in Afghanistan or Pakistan is decrying the loss of values and traditions of their forefathers because some woman wants to get an education and become a doctor or a scientist. And not fully realizing that one of the reasons why they still live in a semi-stone aged existence is because as a result of those same values and traditions that marginalize such a valuable human resource and talent pool as women.

reply to post by nixie_nox


They weren't always rich, and yes they do now live in mansions, but Phil started making calls in a shed and the boys helped him.

Obviously," he did build it," into an empire.

It's a rags to riches story, so?

One thing to remember is that these shows are all entertainment.
The show "Black Gold" about oil drilling was a prime example.

It was chock full of B.S. and most of that behavior would get you removed from a rig.
I never worked with those individuals but did work with some of their friends and co-workers.
From what I heard, they were paid to be dramatic and play those games.
Most of them were normal folks (there's always a few exceptions) who just had an opportunity to get on tv and make extra cash.

I expect that is the norm.

I've got a friend who I actually know. We see each other about once every three weeks. Who is on a show that recently piloted on animal planet.
There are four primary members who are all different. They are all picked from a larger group after a casting shoot. They did 4 episodes and from the beginning they were told that they would be changing their behavior over the course of the season. (if the show takes off)

The emotional one would become more grounded. The logical one becomes more emotional. The skeptic becomes more tractable and the hardcore believer becomes more skeptical.

It's all scripted to a degree and is just entertainment.

Doesn't matter if it's a moonshiner, bigfoot hunter, hog hunter, toddler in a tiara and overalls or ghost hunter.
It's unreality TV and just meant to be entertaining enough to make a profit.

As far as the preponderance of country fried TV, I still ascribe to the "County Fair" theory.

tsingtao

Bisman
few years back i worked as a chef at a casino on an indian reservation in minnesota.
there was a week of film crew following us (me, my mom is the pastry chef, the head chef, and 4 others) around. we apparently were the choice characters in a possible reality show.
no paperwork or permissions from me at that point, it hadnt gone far enough for that to be needed.

it was just to gather footage so some producers somewhere decides what show they were to make.
we wernt dramatic enough apparently.

but i do remember being talked to by the cameraman. he was trying to get some interesting stories told.
i made a joke about how "this native casino was built on a white man's burial ground, and its haunted"
and thought years later how if that ended uo on tv, how horrible it would have sounded lol.

they should have stuck around when things got hot, lol!!

sometimes reaching hell's kitchen's level.

i know, i am a chef also, well trained crew and not a lot of drama, but when it happens,
watch out!

I spent many years as a waitress. I have had to duck a few frying pans.

It has nothing to do with class-warfare or mocking society and Everything to do with selling T-Shirts at Wal Mart and Target and appealing to the mass-public who buys stupid #.

Don't think so? Tell me how many Duck Dynasty coffee mugs you see for sale at Macy's

Stormdancer777
reply to post by nixie_nox

 

They weren't always rich, and yes they do now live in mansions, but Phil started making calls in a shed and the boys helped him.

Obviously," he did build it," into an empire.

It's a rags to riches story, so?

edit on 013131p://bFriday2013 by Stormdancer777 because: (no reason given)

You are missing the point.

They are "portraying hillbillies and common folk" and the religious mumbo jumbo and reigning in all those people who believe they are actually like this.

People like them because they think they made money, but are still simple folk that hunt squirrels for food, when they are anything but.

reply to post by badgerprints


It all started with Jerry Springer. lets face it.

And those were actors too. You can see some of them wandering around California.

My cousin's friend did one. They yanked him off the street. He was playing one of four potential baby daddies.

reply to post by badgerprints


It is scripted to a degree, and in an interviews he was honest about that, but some who have watched his earlier hunting videos claim it aint far from the truth.

Frankly I think he is sick of the whole thing.

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