Book Review: Mediated Images of the South: The Portrayal of Dixie in Popular Culture, by Alison F. Slade, Dedria Givens-Carroll, and Amber J. Narro

Abstract

Mediated Images of the South: Portrayal of Dixie in Popular Culture. Alison F. Slade, Dedria Givens-Carroll, and Amber J. Narro, eds. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2012. $65 hbk. $64.99 eBook.Known for its beaches, catfish, collard greens, college football games, dirt roads, fishing boats, grits, moss-draped trees, porch swings, and church steeples, the American celebrates much of its historical and regional identity. However, it also is the object of more than its share of caricatures and stereotypes, ranging from Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae Yokum to Scarlett O'Hara to the General Lee with its Confederate flag in Dukes of Hazzard. From the cover photos of footballs, magnolias, and Protestant hym- nals to its final page, Mediated Images of the South: Portrayal of Dixie in Popular elevates some images of the American and excoriates others.In the ambitious and sprawling collection of essays that make up Mediated Images of the South, the reader encounters a colorful, historical, and even whimsical region. However, beginning with the first line of the introduction, the editors identify harsh and demeaning descriptions of southerners as well: Poor white trash. Racecar drivers. Drunkards. Racists. Extricating dangerous and negative images from the ones that help to establish and encourage regional pride (racecar drivers, for example, are hardly equivalent to drunkards), authors and editors present a well-organized, broadly conceived, and persuasive argument.The editors know much of their content from their own living and working experi- ence. Alison Slade is a professor of communication at the University of Alabama in Mobile, Dedria Givens-Carroll is a professor of mass communication at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and Amber J. Narro is an assistant professor of communication at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.The exploration into portrayals of the American begins with the etymology of the word stereotype itself. idea of a printing stamp that made it possible to cre- ate multiple copies from a single model or mold devolved into what the editors call a standardized mental picture held in common by members of groups that repre- sents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment. One problem, of course, is that stereotypes cannot-and probably should not-be entirely obliterated. Generalizations can help people to order their world, organize their impressions, and draw significant conclusions. In short, stereotypes are both off-put- ting and compelling; one might even argue that they are inevitable. But if this is true, which stereotypes are useful and which ones are destructive to critical thinking and human development?The chapters of Mediated Images of the revolve around the central argument established in the introduction, Images in Popular Culture, in which the editors set the frame: While there are proud traditions in the South, not all of them involve slow-talking arguments about Friday night football and carefree Sunday din- ners and grandma's dirt-road mobile home positioned on cinder blocks. Essays address a wide variety of topics that underscore the central thesis: An Acceptable Stereotype: Southern Image in Television Programming (Alison Slade and Amber J. Narro); An Ethical Inquiry of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour's Appropriation and Commodification of Redneck Culture (Mark Glantz); Hip Hop, Commerce, and the 'Death' of Southern Black Manhood (Franklin E. Forts Jr.); and The Rise, Fall, and Rise of the Kingfish-How Southern Politicians Are Successful in the Face of Overwhelming Stereotypes (Kevin Unter, John Sutherlin, and Joshua Stockley).Other chapters are Magnolias and Manufacturing: Southern Imagery in Mississippi's Promotional Publications, 1945-1955 (Burt Buchanan); Recognizing the Past, Celebrating Change: 'Mississippi Believe It!' Campaign Redefines the South (Wendy Atkins-Sayre); Poor as Job's Turkey: Back to the Land as a Rhetoric of Authenticity in Foxfire's Appalachia (Jason Waite); The Trivialization of Traditional Southern Religion in the Film Grass Harp (Michael P. …