Appalachian Culture and Reality TV: The Ethical Dilemma of Stereotyping Others

Abstract

Stereotypical images of Appalachians abound in entertainment media. When CBS proposed transplanting a poor Appalachian family to California for a reality television show titled The Real Beverly Hillbillies, Appalachians and advocacy groups were outraged. This article explores ethical issues raised by stereotypical portrayals of Appalachians and potential harm from those stereotypes as well as the reality from which they emerged. Using the theories of Levinas, Kant, and Aristotle, we then examine the ethics of stereotyping Appalachians and other subcultures in entertainment media. Finally, we propose a decision tree to aid producers of entertainment media in creating ethical portrayals of fictional characters and real people.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This manuscript is based on an earlier paper prepared for and presented at Intercultural Intersections in Media Ethics, the eighth media ethics colloquium in the Colloquia 2000 series, Oct. 14–18, 2007, at the University of Hawaii. The authors wish to thank the other colloquium fellows and the members of the steering committee for their helpful critiques and suggestions. The authors also wish to thank James Grady of the Vanderbilt University Philosophy Department for his assistance in unpacking Levinas.

The authors are listed alphabetically by last name and contributed equally to this article.

Notes

1. This is the complete list of values Loyal Jones ascribes to Appalachians:

• Individualism, Self-Reliance, Pride—most obvious characteristics; necessary on the early frontier; look after oneself; solitude; freedom; do things for oneself; not wanting to be beholding to others; make do.

• Religion—values and meaning to life spring from religious sources; fatalistic (outside factors control one's life, fate, believe things happen for a reason and will work out for the best); sustains people in hard times.

• Neighborliness and Hospitality—help each other out, but suspicious of strangers; spontaneous to invite people for a meal, to spend the night, etc.

• Family Solidarity or Familism—family centered; loyalty runs deep; responsibility may extend beyond immediate family; “blood is thicker than water.”

• Personalism—relates well to others; go to great lengths to keep from offending others; getting along is more important than letting one's feelings be known; think in terms of persons rather than degrees or professional reputations.

• Love of Place—never forget “back home” and go there as often as possible; revitalizing, especially if a migrant; sometimes stay in places where there is no hope of maintaining decent lives.

• Modesty and Being Oneself—believe one should not put on airs; be oneself, not a phony; don't pretend to be something you're not or be boastful; don't get above your raising.

• Sense of Beauty—displayed through folksongs, poems, arts, crafts, etc., colorful language metaphors, e.g., “I'm as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.”

• Sense of Humor—seem dour, but laugh at ourselves; do not appreciate being laughed at; humor sustains people in hard times.

• Patriotism—goes back to Civil War times; flag, land, relationships are important; shows up in community celebration and festivals.

2. Our decision tree for producers of entertainment media was influenced by a utilitarian decision tree developed by Deni Elliott. See Elliott, D. (2007). Getting Mill Right. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 22(2&3), 100–112.