Southern-Fried Culture?

Okay, so I'm watching this movie called Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills about the "West Memphis Three", which is a documentary that can pretty much be summed up concisely by its description on imbd.com:

Tagline: It's frightening to think they did it. It's terrifying to think they didn't.

Plot Outline: A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.

Please note: I'm not making light of the deaths of these little boys in any way at all -- I know their murders were horrendous tragedies and they are not the targets of this post in any way, nor is it a mockery of what happened. That being said...

...it is impossible to watch this movie and NOT be utterly astounded by the sheer volume of mullets, awful teeth (or, more often than not, lack thereof), abused & butchered grammar, OVERALLS, "interesting" & "creative" make-up, hairstyles &/or dye jobs I never dreamt even existed, trailer parks, lawn ornaments galore, quite a few mesh caps, lots & lots of stretchy cotton clothing pieces including, but not limited to, camoflauge items, a fair amount of downhome Southern Baptist preachin' at its finest (don't get me wrong -- I am a strong Christian, but hellfire & brimstone aren't really my cup o' tea)... and did I mention the mullets? Oh, they are worth mentioning twice, trust me. I mean, WOW. That's the first thought... just wow.

I lived in Memphis, Tennessee, for a short time & always heard that the town of West Memphis, Arkansas, (just across the Mississippi River from Memphis, TN) was, well, redneck. Sorry to anyone out there from West Memphis who might take offense to that, I've never even been there. But that is the impression I always got from other Memphricans... Yeah, it was filmed around 1993-96, not exactly the pinnacle of fashion, but if the "cast" of this documentary are any represenatation of the town as a whole, then I have to admit, the rep would be unfortunately appropriate. Sooo unforutunately appropriate. Again, wow. And I'm sorry.

Call me a bitch, call me a snob, call me whatever you wish, but I swear I'm not (at least, not in this case). Just watch it for yourself -- it's like it's a documentary that also exemplifies every horrible Southern cliche' & stereotype, only amplified!!! Then again, it is sadly rather reminiscent of the video I saw on the national news after a tornado hit a town 20 miles west of my hometown -- because I swear, they always pick the worst comment(s) possible made by a local resident (who is, at that moment, always waaaay too eager to point out his status as a local) to air... and it went a little something like this -- hit it, Frank: {in the countriest voice you can imagine} "Well, it took out the Wal-Mart's and the La-Z-Boy factory -- took the roof plum off -- so we really ain't got nuthin' left."

Well said, my friend. Well said.