Reflection on Dancing Outlaw

I really do not know what to think of this film. We were told that we would never be the same after watching it and after seeing Jesco get so mad about his sunglasses, I don’t think that I will ever be the same. However, I also found something serious about this film. It almost reinforced the idea that all people from Appalachia are like Jesco. It certainly did not do much to disprove existing stereotypes of people from Appalachia. I think that in order to really understand and make an informed opinion about Appalachia, one must go there. One should not base their opinions on one film when there is so much more information. I thought that this was a good film, though, with some interesting parts. I especially liked the tap dancing parts. I think that if anyone were looking for an interesting Appalachian film, I would recommend this first.
In this film, Jesco and his family are shown living in trailers and driving old cars, basically living an impoverished lifestyle. This does not provide an example of an Appalachian that is well off. Of course as a resident of one of the richest towns in the country, Greenwich, CT, my view may be a little skewed. There are probably people living in other parts of the country like this that I do not know about. The filmmakers also show one of Jesco’s female relations tearing up their yard in a truck for fun at a family party. I have been to many family parties, with some unusual aunts, uncles, and cousins, but I have never seen anything quite like what was happening at Jesco’s party. This scene could further strengthen any ideas that people from Appalachia are different then people in the rest of the country.
Some of the things that Jesco says in the film also serve to distance him from normality. For instance when he is complaining about sloppy eggs: “And I took the butcher knife and put it up to her neck. I said if you want to live to see tomorrow, you better start fryin' them eggs a little bit better then what you a fryin' em - I'm tired of eatin' sloppy, slimy eggs!” This seems like a slight overreaction, but maybe this is normal in Appalachia. This quote, like the one when he talks about forgetting his sunglasses, makes it seem like the people of Appalachia are different from other Americans.
In the end, however, the viewer must remember that this film only portrays one man of Appalachia. I think that the filmmakers assume that most people that watch this film know that not all people that live in Appalachia act like Jesco. They also assume that viewers know that if one were to go to Appalachia, it is certainly possible that he or she will meet someone similar to Jesco. I think that the only way to make a fair judgment on the stereotypes of Appalachia is to live in or at least visit Appalachia and be immersed in the culture.