Hillbilly

2018 1h 25min

Available on Hulu

Hillbilly examines the history and continuation of disempowering rural stereotypes. Though the film is based around the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the content extends far beyond our current political landscape. It is also engaging to watch as it masterfully integrates media stereotypes from popular shows and movies. Some prominent sociological concepts evident in the film include othering, codeswitching, and cultural appropriation as hillbilly may have become the new hipster.

Focusing on the intersections between social class and race, the history of the hillbilly has lots of parallels to other racial stereotypes and controlling images. Even today it is rare to see rural people portrayed in complex ways as the media clings to the hillbilly stereotype. We learn that the stereotype was created to legitimize the dispossession of the Appalachian Mountains, thus facilitating environmental exploitation. The characterization of the people as poor, backward, and illiterate gave the impression they were not worth valuing, and as such, who would care if corporations trashed their environment? This stereotyping was perpetuated by businesses, the media, and politicians alike. For example, the war on poverty leads to publicity stunts where Appalachian poverty was visibly exploited for political gain, similar to the “poverty porn” utilized by some charity organizations today.

Overall, Hillbilly would be an interesting film for students in courses like race/ethnicity, the sociology of the media, and environmental sociology. It highlights agency and resistance among the population while encouraging the audience to abandon preconceived notions of rural communities.

Sociological themes include: Stereotypes, prejudice, social class, race/ethnicity, culture, the media, environmental exploitation…