Justified’s visual rhetoric: television’s subtle unmasking of the myth of the south

Abstract

In this article, I argue that the television show Justified represents a critique of the Myth of the South. I argue that Justified critiques the representation of the U.S. South and it does so by invoking the Myth of the West, which affords viewers the opportunity to identify with something they know and in so doing makes the critique of the Myth of the South more palatable. I further argue that critiquing regional identities is necessary because these identities continue to structure much of the way we think about people and places in the United States. Through a rhetorical investigation of the Myth of the South and a critical reading of Justified, I demonstrate the ways in which the Myth of the West can help do important work to critique another popular cultural myth and that Justified is an important text to investigate because of its viewership (vis-à-vis identification and escapism), relationship to popular genres, and use of one myth to critique another.

Keywords:

• Justified
• Myth of the South
• Myth of the West
• visual rhetoric
• television

Notes

1 See, for example, the Season 4 promo shot featuring Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/justified/images/35525214/title/justified-season-4-promotional-photos-photo.

2 See, for example, a promo shot featuring Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in his customary outfit with horseshoe ring and rolling hills in the background: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/timothy-olyphant-justified-time-article-1.1728226.

3 See, for example, the intertitle of Justified featuring rural Kentucky with aging buildings, relatively sparsely settled, and a backdrop of forest and mountains: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Justified_2010_Intertitle.png.

4 See, for example, the promo shot of Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens with hat, suit jacket, and tie suggesting some notion of gentlemanliness, while his gun rests on the rough-hewn table that both shows him in control and forever associated with the idea of the rugged law man: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/160581542944974851.

5 See, for example, a still of Raylan Givens and Art Mullen (played by Nick Searcy) in conversation in Season 4. Note Mullen’s mixture of pride and frustration, chest out, jaw square, and eyes focused: https://www.theday.com/article/20130325/ENT13/303259984.