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Thanks for sharing your experiences. I've never visited Appalachia, and I'm afraid my views are filtered through popular media. But even if a TV show like "Just

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I've never visited Appalachia, and I'm afraid my views are filtered through popular media. But even if a TV show like "Justified" (I've seen the first 3 seasons) bends to narrative constraints, I felt it took its setting and the people living there seriously. I'm sure I'm missing a lot though. Another piece of media that I felt was a strong statement about Appalachia is Ever South[1] by Drive-by Truckers. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwM2yd2QZ2Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwM2yd2QZ2Q - live rendition at KEXP

DanielBMarkham 7y ago
Thanks. It's an interesting place. I think the saddest thing about Appalachia is the fact that much of the really interesting parts are disappearing. Everything in the country, including Appalachia, is WalMart-i-fied. It's all strip malls and chain stores. Everybody listens to the same music, surfs the same sites, and buys the same swag. As a species we are homogenizing everything. I have fond memories of walking into a country store in Grundy, Virginia where I bought a coke. The guy behind the counter spoke in a language I couldn't understand at first. Then I realized it was English. I have another fond memory of walking into a startup where they were on their way to making billions. These memories happened only several dozen miles from each other. There's a lot of cool stuff going on here. I can guarantee that whatever media you've consumed about it misled you in many ways.
- 50208 7y ago
  I had a eerily similar experience in the Pikeville, KY WalMart: Stopped in to pick up some last minute groceries for a weekend excursion to the Russell Fork. While walking around I heard a voice over the intercom that I literally could not understand a word that was said. I looked at my wife (both of us born and raised in KY) and said, "What was that?". She also had no idea what was said. It was a different language, not really English.
50208 7y ago
Being from Kentucky, Justified was a laugh-a-minute for us ... it's very authentic, if authentic means filmed in California with the best looking hillbilly's and rednecks anyone has ever seen.
- jessaustin 7y ago
  Haha just like they filmed "Ozark" in Georgia.

DanielBMarkham 7y ago

Thanks. It's an interesting place. I think the saddest thing about Appalachia is the fact that much of the really interesting parts are disappearing. Everything in the country, including Appalachia, is WalMart-i-fied. It's all strip malls and chain stores. Everybody listens to the same music, surfs the same sites, and buys the same swag. As a species we are homogenizing everything. I have fond memories of walking into a country store in Grundy, Virginia where I bought a coke. The guy behind the counter spoke in a language I couldn't understand at first. Then I realized it was English. I have another fond memory of walking into a startup where they were on their way to making billions. These memories happened only several dozen miles from each other. There's a lot of cool stuff going on here. I can guarantee that whatever media you've consumed about it misled you in many ways.

50208 7y ago
I had a eerily similar experience in the Pikeville, KY WalMart: Stopped in to pick up some last minute groceries for a weekend excursion to the Russell Fork. While walking around I heard a voice over the intercom that I literally could not understand a word that was said. I looked at my wife (both of us born and raised in KY) and said, "What was that?". She also had no idea what was said. It was a different language, not really English.

50208 7y ago

Being from Kentucky, Justified was a laugh-a-minute for us ... it's very authentic, if authentic means filmed in California with the best looking hillbilly's and rednecks anyone has ever seen.

jessaustin 7y ago
Haha just like they filmed "Ozark" in Georgia.