Enter
— who is both a native West Virginian and a graduate of West Virginia University — recommended
that people instead seek out and
support Hollow, a documentary
project centering on the residents
of the state’s McDowell County. As Hollow story director Jason
Headley says:
Most of the thoughts and opinions of our state are formed
by outside forces looking in.
A project like this gives us the
opportunity to do the exact opposite. To let people see West
Virginia from the perspective
of the people who live here. We
can show the good and the bad.
And the surprising thing for
most people will probably be
that the good is awfully good.
And that the bad is much more
real and nuanced than the cliches and stereotypes.
This seems more in keeping
with the way Davis would prefer
residents of poor rural communities are depicted on screen. “I
don’t want to pretend that we’re
so precious and noble,” he said.
“The reality is that there’s a lot
of things that these communities are dealing with that are not
LOOKING FORWARD
IN ANGST
HUFFINGTON
05.12.13
pretty. But when they make these
people an open target for ridicule
and derision, it sends the message
that they aren’t like you and me,
they aren’t a part of ‘our culture.’”
And that, Davis says, puts a layer
of distance between those within
these communities and those who
All of the producers
of these shows say that they
are trying to augur some
authenticity, but in the
end, they end up using their
subjects for ridicule.”
live outside, which, in turn, makes
the very real struggles of rural
America seem unimportant.
“Reality television,” Davis
said, “should come with a higher
threshold of responsibility.” His
reaction to the proposal delineated in the CAA memo? “I hope
they don’t do it.”
Seconded. But I am nothing if not
charitable, and since this strain of
reality television seems to do nothing but latch onto someone else’s
original idea to make a cheapened
version of it, might I suggest something like The Real Locavore
Hipsters Of Portlandia?