Just a-walkin' in the rain….which is sumthin a body don't often do here in Ol Fair Oaks, well, if it c'n be avoided, that is…generally, when it rains here, it's cold 'n unpleasant but today…well, today is a little different…it's been warmish hereabouts, nudging those triple digits 'n last nite we had ourselves a Delta breeze 'n about a 20o drop in the temperature 'n t'day, we got ourselves some rain…well, some drizzle anyways…more than virga 'n less than actual rain…back in the USA (Kentucky) summer rains were always warm 'n walking in the rain wuz quite often a pleasant diversion..
Speaking of diversions, the big tee-vee event lately wuz the Costner mini-series on the Hatfield 'n McCoy feud…it wuz a relatively timely thing since the feud took place only a little over a hundred years ago…
Still, people are talking about it all over again…one of my daughters asked me (since I'm fond of saying that you can't kick over a stone in eastern Ky without turning up some kinfolk) which side of the feud were we on anyway…'n I had to confess that as far as I know, we're not any blood kin to either one of those tragic families…
Now, is there any connection? Probably, since it's a relatively small area 'n I have a lot of cousins who have a lot of cousins who have a lot of cousins so there very probably 'n highly likely that almost everyone with roots in the Kentucky hill country has some connection with either one or both of those famous feuding families…
That said, I enjoyed the series…there wuz a lot of fine actors involved 'n going by my own reading on the subject, they seemed to have done their homework…well, as far as Hollywood seems capable of at any rate…they do seem overly fond of stereotyping down there in those Hollywood hills 'n I'd guess that a number of those screenwriters still believe that the stereotypes of yesterday still fit today…Well, given the level of education in our modern society, I guess a certain degree of ignorance is to be expected…anyway, I wuz reminded of this because some of the Kentuckians of my acquaintance were offended by the portrayal of 'hillbillies' as ignorant, slovenly, drunken. gun-toting louts capable of the most casual murders with or without provocation….it's no wonder that Americans of Italian descent are offended by the Hollywood view that Italians are either violent mafiosi types or comic-opera buffoons…
Of course, Hollywood seems to exist on an equal opportunistic scale of bigotry as they have found cubbyholes for every segment of society, no matter the color, creed, or ethnicity including all the spinoffs that humanity has been able to come up with…
So when someone asks me if the Hatfields 'n the McCoys are still at odds with each other, I resist the temptation to rant about the bigotry 'n racism that never seems to go away 'n I just tell 'em the truth as I know it…"If you find yourself in the vicinity of the Tug River Valley 'n you see a gun-toting hillbilly comin' at you, turn around 'n run as fast as you can for the safety of one of our American city streets (sarcasm for the unenlightened)….
"Y'know, a bigot is just a mule-headed idiot who is attached to an opinion you don't agree with"...
Justin Other Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment