Column: The Way I See It; Redneck is now chic
In recent months, I have come to a rather bizarre, yet sound conclusion: it is now vogue to be a redneck, which is a contradiction in and of itself. With the increase in the popularity of country music and the success of movies like “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” and “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector,” being a redneck no longer means that you’re an idiot or not popular, at least in the view of society as a whole.
Rednecks are now allowed to show our true colors. The John Deere logo on hats and sweatshirts is now cool, as is admitting that you really like Johnny Cash’s music and were pulling for Reese Witherspoon to win the Oscar for her part in the movie “Walk the Line.” Just the fact that she won for her role as June Carter Cash definitely proves that society has come a long way in its acceptance of the working class. Good grief, the Grand Ole Opry played at Carnegie Hall last month and the most recent Country Music Awards were held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
It used to be that if you were a redneck, you were not worth listening to or associating with mostly because society was a little too near-sighted. Rednecks have always been around. You just couldn’t see them from the freeway.
However, redneck status is not confined to small towns. In fact, I’ve had friends from places as polished and sophisticated as Provo and South Jordan that are rednecks. You might be a redneck and not even know it.
For international students and those from the northeast, it’s generally thought that rednecks are only in the southeast area of the country, but there is a simple test to determine if you are a redneck or not. If you ever get a chance, listen to any of comedian Jeff Foxworthy’s material. He’s part of the popular Blue Collar Comedy group, but he started out doing a “You Might be a Redneck if …” bit and it was a hit. It sounds like he’s joking, but, coming from a redneck background myself, I can verify that it’s all true. Check it out. You might be surprised.
Some of the problem of the perceived image of a redneck comes from things like the new “Dukes of Hazzard” movie, which I purposely did not see, but I saw enough previews to convince me that it was not worth even the dollar to rent it from Redbox (and that was just Jessica Simpson faking the southern accent). If you did see the movie and, worse, if you liked it, try watching some episodes of the original TV series and compare the two. Somewhere, Waylon Jennings weeps (that’s an odd mental image).
It doesn’t help that when it comes time for someone to publish a “breakthrough” anthropological study on life in the sticks or when there’s an issue that affect the agricultural industry, the media never seeks out the sane and reasonable rednecks. Their mission is to find the most outrageous and nutty ones they possible can.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, these are the ones of our number that have never met a TV camera they didn’t like. Most rednecks are about as competent and smart as anyone else. We just aren’t attracted by the hypnotic flashing lights on a TV camera.
Being a redneck does not necessarily mean you’re ignorant and uneducated. Just remember, many rednecks have graduated from this fine educational institution. In fact, there is a plan underway to bring a new agricultural journalism degree to Utah State.
It used to be that those two fields would never get along. Media-types would write off farmers and ranchers as ignorant, plow-pushing morons and rural people would write off journalists as corrupt, bureaucratic nut-jobs. With this new program, both professions can finally get along and learn why they never used to before (many kudos to the journalism and ASTE departments).
As Alan Jackson sings, it’s alright to be a redneck. Welcome to the club.
Chrissy Johnson is a junior majoring in English education. Her redneck qualifications include having to turn off the paved road to get home and having had people ask to hunt in her yard. Comments, questions and requests to borrow her Jeff Foxworthy CDs can be sent to chrijohn@cc.usu.edu