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- seed
I was going to ask if anyone was watching this documentary. If so what are your thoughts on it?
- BuddhaHat0
I lost interest as soon as i read the words 'heavy metal christian band'...
- pavlovs_dog0
...thought the heavy metal christian dude made it woth checking out.
i know these kids exist, but that's about all i know about them...
also, very little attetion (none?) is paid to the fact that most americans living in poverty are white. ...it was interesting on that level too.
but...
...too long and damn boring.
...certainly not up to the standard of frontline.
- jevad0
Looks interesting actually...I like documentaries like this...got one about the Amish from netflicks last week...reeeeally good...
- seed0
I watched the entire thing. It did seem slow at times but I couldn't stop watching it. I felt bad for the Chris. He had a a hard life and almost didn't realize how badly everything was stacked against him.
The website has a lot of interesting info on it. In the article on poverty in the Appalachians it stated that noone in power in the area invests money into the people or the community because it is beneficial to them to have a desperate workforce with no other options.
I would quote it directly but the site is down now.
- radar0
I've been watching a bit of it, that shit is nuts how poverty stricken they are, what was the actual location?
The other crazy thing is the graduating class was 7 people, and the rocker was named valevictorian(how he pronounced it) hahaha.
- -sputnik-0
i'm glad you started this thread seed. we watched the series too, and got sucked in.
i like frontline and other programmes which give me an up-close insight on how different people live. i felt really bad for some of the characters who have little or no hope of improving their lives.
unfortunatly, i knew chris wouldn't go to college. he had it all in his hands and threw it away for nothing. he was all talk and no action, whereas cody was no talk and all action.
- -sputnik-0
radar, they are in kentucky (appalachian culture).
the alcoholism and poverty was horrible. even the father who seemed to have a decent house was seizing up from his DTs...they really played that down until the end.
- seed0
I couldn't believe that Chris's father was on disability for alcoholism. I didn't know that was possible.
I thought that Cody was a pretty dynamic person considering his past experience and the limitations of where he grew up. His aunt seemed to really have it together also.
I don't want to put anyone there down but with a lot of people you could really see the effects of poor health care plus a limited gene pool.
- ********0
It's interesting how the diseases of poverty (both individual and social) are evident there, but without the sheen of racism you get in the say people's criticism of NY, LA, etc...they're good folks, trying hard, deck stacked against 'em..etc..instead of the usual litany you get against recent imigrants and african americans - yet how are they differnet? Poor education, drugs, alchohol, reliance on government programs..?
- seed0
I wonder if the crime rate is high in areas of rural poverty. I would think a lot of criticism of the urban poor may stem from increbibly high crime rates. Obviously these people in the mountains would geographically have much less opportunities available also.
- jpea0
i saw just a bit of it, but couldn't hold out for the whole thing. the part in the beginning though where the teacher was asking about still having a baby from being raped by your father??! the whole class, sans 1 girl, was thinking it was required!
jevad,
saw the amish docu a few months back... great flick :)
- seed0
jpea, I missed that part. What was the name of the Amish documentary? Is it one of these?
http://www.npr.org/programs/morn…
http://store.amishacresgeneralst…
- -sputnik-0
yea jpea...most of them think you should be forced to have a baby even if you got pregnant due to rape or incest.
did you see the part where they touched on who darwin was and evolution? they went around the room all agreeing that we weren't from apes, jesus wasn't born from an ape and that was that. it was both very funny and incredibly scary/depressing.
you're right about chris...considering his background, he accomplished a lot. i hope they do a retrospective in a few years and that he gets it together.
- ********0
I had also watch the documentary. I have to say afterwards I felt burnt out. It was such a stuggle determining what these people were saying. What I had a hard time figuring out was why the teacher and her husband made Chris move out at the end of the school year. It seemed to be the kinda place that a troubled person would live in...regardless of school enrollment. Im sure if the rental circumstances were based on him moving out when he went to college, he probally would have actually gone. It was like no one wanted to take credit for any of their actions or follow though with something.
- fullerc0
My girl friend read an article about this in the NY Times and was excited to watch it. She went to college in Southern Ohio and did some social work in the Appalachians.
I didn't feel sorry the alcoholic at all. He has a bigger house and property than me and I'm a functional alcoholic.
I had to turn the channel to something more interesting like the History Channel. What am I 80 years old? Watching PBS and the History Channel?
- -sputnik-0
the alcoholism was nuts...how much does a person have to drink a day to become like that? a handle?
and getting public assistance because you "can't work because of your drinking problem" is the most ridiculous thing ever.
- seed0
Jevad, I'll check that out thanks.
Chris did seem to have a fear of succeeding. I would be interested in a psychologists evaluation of that.
BTW, the real alcoholic was Chris's dad in the trailer. I thought the girls dad Ray had a cool house and studio too. I actually like a lot the dad Rays music they played on the show too.
I couldn't believe you can get disability checks for alcoholism. I am sure that just encourages some people to drink more.
- monkeyshine0
Yay! Happy to see this thread and that so many people are watching public television. Don't forget to support your local PBS station. :)
- -sputnik-0
i mostly watch pbs if i watch tv at all (we get 2 pbs channels). on tuesday night at 8 they had coldplay on austin city limits...really amazing.
chris' dad was a major alcoholic, although ray (jessica's dad) was not far behind. those "seizures" he was having were from his DTs and he supposedly quit drinking...i hope he stayed off the booze.