contrary to poopular opinion you don't have to read or watch hillbilly elegy now that jd vance has a foot hovering over the white house threshold. it's a bad film written by a yale grad, beloved by heartsick libs that paints an entire region of human beings as lazy hicks who just wont work to raise themselves from poverty. who cares about the long, long series of systemic failures. but golly aint mamaw and the rest got a mystic and dignified way about 'em?
if you wanna know something real about the region, save your brain cells and grab a copy of What You're Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Dr. Elizabeth Catte from yr library or thrift or new or wherever. it's the most "she doesn't even go here!" thing i ever read.
If you're still curious, listen to this review instead.
If Books Could Kill: Hillbilly Elegy
the gap between the cultural reputation of the book and its actual contents as described on If Books Could Kill is... really something. I always thought it was a "pity the white working class, left behind by society" book, but nope it's actually about how everyone in Appalachia wants to be poor and live on benefits and the only cure is Tough Love
(This is IBCK's specialty: actually reading all the hot-topic books that everyone talks about, usually revealing that absolutely no one else has)