Stereotypes In Deliverance

What would have happened if the Appalachians in Deliverance weren’t portrayed as they were? Would that have changed their reputation and the success of the film? We’ll never know but the fact remains the same, that in order to sell a thriller movie, the creators of Deliverance were willing to go to extreme levels to depict human beings as something that they were not. At least, not all of them. That movie took on their culture and exaggerated it to the maximum. There was no coming back from that and 45years later when people think of Appalachians, they still refer to the image that was created by the movie. In the modern age when Appalachians are asked about Deliverance, there’s a mixed review. Some detest it while others say it’s just a movie. A true Appalachian even said that there are Appalachians that are quite similar to the ones portrayed in the movie. The problem is that there wasn’t a diverse representation and that’s the reason why individuals in society only think of the one stereotype when they hear the word Appalachians.
Some Appalachians are poor southern folks living in a rural area that may not be underdeveloped while other might be living in better conditions. It really depends on which area of Appalachia is explored or being discussed. Individuals have been working to deconstruct the image by going into the community to capture photographs showing the daily lives of Appalachians. The images don’t do much to distort the image but it definitely comes nothing close to the wild and savage inhabitants that were portrayed in the movie