esrosedotblog

ON THE EDGE

Today's film was the documentary

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009)

This is a film of a notorious family in Boone County who are totally alcoholic, shit kicking, hell raising, fucked up people. Appalachia. The tail end of the mountain chain that I come from. Came.

We called these people "cunnermans" after a similar family in our county. It is the same story. I am sure that they are "wild" but it is not so clear that they are "wonderful".

Watching a film like this is similar to watching those YouTube pet videos where, at some point, I realize that this animal is suffering and I am getting off watching it being put through paces that it does not really want to go through and is being used for exhibition. Cruelty. Animal porn. This is the same thing only people.

Johnny Knoxville is behind this film. Should'a known. We see the worst.

In the course of the time they spent with this family, one guy got 50 years for shooting up his sister's boyfriend. Or maybe his mother's bf. It is a little confusing. One woman's baby is taken away at birth because she is an addict and the kid has fetal detox to go through. She enters what looks like a pretty good program. Has 6 months. The matriarch dies. One woman gets out of prison and goes looking for her husband to kick his ass and ends up sleeping with him that night and going back with him. He still visits his girlfriend he had while, well, shit. This goes on and on.

Beyond that people have no inhibitions about snorting coke, showing their tits and dicks or whatever for the camera. And so on. It is not that they aren't volunteering.

Did I watch the whole thing? You're damned right I did. It is a show. And it is worth watching if only because it is a slice of life in America that we would like to hide.

The people that I grew up around were all alcoholics. These people have progressed to constant pot, prescription pills and hard drugs. 24/7. The booze merely keeps the background buzz going.

There is a certain pattern to it all which probably defies solution. Most of all, they do not want to change and have no intention of giving up the family rep as hell raisers.

Some sociologist may have more theories than that but it boils down to that.

There is some pretty cool clog dancing in it and they are good at that.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5 even if it is exploitation. I had some fun watching the train wreck.

Labels: films