Southern Movies and TV Shows

Do you ever watch movies and tv shows specifically about the South? When I do I can’t help but listen closely to the accents and see how real they sound. Some of them make me roll my eyes so far back in my head that I wonder if they’ll get stuck. And it is like I am drawn to those shows and movies. I can’t help it. I think it is because I would love for something to finally accurately portray life in the South.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta do NOT represent real life in the South. So please don’t ever think that. Southern women can be mean as snakes but they typically aren’t as brash and loud about it. We don’t wear 50s style clothing and smile like a Stepford wife, but we sure can get our point across. Bless your heart for thinking otherwise!

I think some examples of movies that I think of as Southern movies are Steel Magnolias, Hope Floats, and Sweet Home Alabama. Now the women of Steel Magnolias are true Southern women! The accents may not have been great, but they had the attitude of real Southern women. I was actually kinda surprised that Julia Roberts’ accent was worse than some of the other actresses, especially considering she was raised in Georgia.

Sandra Bullock in Hope Floats was the epitome of a Southern woman. She had a real accent that wasn’t over the top and was just right. I think she lived in Virginia for a while. That might have been quite helpful. I loved her character.

I think Reese Witherspoon is adorable but she got a little twangy in Sweet Home Alabama. But I will say that the scene where she punched Candice Bergen and said, “Nobody talks to my Mama like that!” was perfect! Just about any Southern girl who was raised right would do that. I also liked the references to the state of Alabama in the movie. People who aren’t from Alabama wouldn’t get them, but Alabamians (yes, I’m from there) got them. The dog’s name, Bryant, was after Paul “Bear” Bryant. There is really a motel down in South Alabama called the Golden Cherry Motel. (My ex-husband had a friend whose uncle owned it.)

I’ve just started watching Hart of Dixie and some of the accents make me gag. I also don’t like how they portray the majority of Southern women as simpering twits. We’re not. We may speak slower but we aren’t stupid. I do like that they show Southern hospitality but we aren’t all up each other’s butts. (well, most of the time anyway.)

I guess the my point is, when you watch the shows with Southern characters take it with a grain of salt. Some of those accents might not be real and most likely the characters don’t represent true Southerners. Laugh at the art but not at the real people.