How did America let this man become an icon of the working class?

[LizzieMaine]

I think a more cogent question would be "when did the stereotype of the *Southern* working class become the definitive image of the *entire* working class -- and why?" The working class background I grew up in, in the Northeast, was nothing like the yee-haw stereotype you see today -- it was serious-minded, unemotional, nose-to-the-grindstone people who minded their own business and expected everyone else to mind theirs. Larry The Cable Guy would have been run out of town.

 

[C-dot]

I think a more cogent question would be "when did the stereotype of the *Southern* working class become the definitive image of the *entire* working class -- and why?" The working class background I grew up in, in the Northeast, was nothing like the yee-haw stereotype you see today -- it was serious-minded, unemotional, nose-to-the-grindstone people who minded their own business and expected everyone else to mind theirs. Larry The Cable Guy would have been run out of town.

If I were to associate the working class with my geographical location, I would say it was similar to what you described (granted, we're not far from each other.)

I'm not American, but I've seen the vast differences in culture from one state to the next, and would plant Larry the Cable Guy firmly in the South aswell. That said, I would never believe that all Southerner's are like him - not even most of them. Stereotyping takes a grain of truth from a culture and blows it out of a proportion, then applies it to *everybody* - Knowing this, it should be easy to recognize and digest accordingly.

A great example of this is Canada's Trailer Park Boys. Are some Newfoundlanders similar to them? Sure, in ways. Are they icons of Newfoundland? Not at all!

 

[JimWagner]

He isn't the icon of the working class. He's the comedic embodiment of the southern redneck. Who ever heard of him before the "You might be a redneck if.." Jeff Foxworthy phenomenon?

Think of it this way, all southern rednecks are working class but not all working class are southern rednecks. Even in the south.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

Don't tell anyone, but Foxworthy and Larry are supposed to keep the Californian's from taking over the South like they did Montana and Washington state...

I grew up with Rednecks in Central Illinois. I remember Dad laughing at a table at the diner. Three guys wearing hog lot boots, jeans, flannel shirts, Seed corn baseball caps, and Carhardt barn coats eating together. One multi-millionaire, and two of the guys what worked for him. Couldn't tell which was which unless you knew them.

Later

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

If I were to associate the working class with my geographical location, I would say it was similar to what you described (granted, we're not far from each other.)

I'm not American, but I've seen the vast differences in culture from one state to the next, and would plant Larry the Cable Guy firmly in the South aswell. That said, I would never believe that all Southerner's are like him - not even most of them. Stereotyping takes a grain of truth from a culture and blows it out of a proportion, then applies it to *everybody* - Knowing this, it should be easy to recognize and digest accordingly.

A great example of this is Canada's Trailer Park Boys. Are some Newfoundlanders similar to them? Sure, in ways. Are they icons of Newfoundland? Not at all!

Years ago, a friend of mine was a Canadian from Prince Edward Island. Though he didn't have a southern accent, he did more or less have the Larry the Cable Guy type persona (he worked as a horse trainer), so we used to always rag on him about being a Newfie. lol

 

[C-dot]

Years ago, a friend of mine was a Canadian from Prince Edward Island. Though he didn't have a southern accent, he did more or less have the Larry the Cable Guy type persona (he worked as a horse trainer), so we used to always rag on him about being a Newfie. lol

OT: And the funny thing is, East Coasters are the first to laugh at East Coaster jokes lol

 

[AmateisGal]

Daniel Whitney, aka Larry the Cable Guy, hails from my state, Nebraska (he was born in Pawnee City). Here in Lincoln, he donated money for a youth center in a poor neighborhood, and it's a wonderful addition. He has a house just outside town. He loves our Nebraska Cornhuskers and is a good, decent guy. My husband met him when he went to the local Dodge dealership to get his truck repaired.

His act is just that - an act.

 

[appa69]

I believe it's all part of the "dumbing-down" of the average American. They've made stupidity admirable, not just for young men through good 'ol Larry, but for the ladies too, think Paris Hilton. They want the average American to be only semi-educated and placated through cable tv and cheap domestic beer in order to opress the middle class.

 

[C-dot]

They want the average American to be only semi-educated and placated through cable tv and cheap domestic beer in order to opress the middle class.

I wouldn't go that far, but I agree that entertainment has been considerably dumbed-down in recent years. I can no longer watch breakfast television... It's too banal.

 

[appa69]

I wouldn't go that far.

Sorry, I tend to be a bit cynical these days.

 

[Feraud]

I believe it's all part of the "dumbing-down" of the average American. They've made stupidity admirable, not just for young men through good 'ol Larry, but for the ladies too, think Paris Hilton. They want the average American to be only semi-educated and placated through cable tv and cheap domestic beer in order to opress the middle class.

Or John Q Public is actually satisfied with their Larry the Cable Guy, Paris Hilton, and domestic brew. That would make the middle class their own oppressor..

 

[appa69]

Or John Q Public is actually satisfied with their Larry the Cable Guy, Paris Hilton, and domestic brew. That would make the middle class their own oppressor..

Sure. And I'm sure the homeless are satisfied with their homelessness, too.

 

[Feraud]

Apples and oranges I guess. I don't equate middle class with homeless..

 

[sheeplady]

I grew up in and still live in farm country. There's a lot of Larrys out there. I think he's good for a laugh, but little else. These 'rednecks' I see nowadays just make me sad. Every 16 year old kid has a lifted 1995 Chevy Silverado with some ridiculous tires on it and a home made lift kit from 2x4's. They're all flying Confederate flags, with no idea as to what the heritage behind it is. Then you see them, pierced ears, Hollister shirts, and rap music playing out of the truck, but they have a camouflage hat on, so it's okay. My sister and I call them 'wanna-be' hicks.

This is also a sore subject for me, too. Country girl who lives in 1940s/1950s suburbs. There are a number of "rednecks" out there that are posers- plain and simple. A poser is a person who only adopts the trappings of a lifestyle without understanding where those trappings come from and the meaning behind them.

You can dress like a country person, listen to country music, act like you're from the country, and think you're from the country but unless you really live(d) that lifestyle and therefore have a basis for that reality... you are not. You can do all those things and not be from the country and not be a poser too- listen to the music, drive a truck, etc.- because you're a real person that likes those things. But there are a number of people who have decided to write themselves a story about how they are a hick or a redneck, without ever having experienced what it is like to live in the country.

It's similar to the kids I see driving their mommy and daddy's lexus with rims with baggy jeans, rap music blaring, and "talkin' gangster." When they go home to dinner with their parents they drop the ganster slang and talk like suburb kids. Now the kid could like rap music, wear the baggy jeans, and drive the car and not be a poser, but once you adopt the attitudes (and language) without understanding the culture- I think that makes somebody a poser. Especially if you "drop the act" in different situations.

There are a lot of people with no lived basis for that lifestyle that "play act" like they are of a group/ culture, then go home to their "other life" without understanding the cultural basis for their "character." And because they have never actually lived the lifestyle they are playing or really met and understood the people who live that life, they *only* have access to stereotypes. So they choose a stereotype.

 

[appa69]

Apples and oranges I guess. I don't equate middle class with homeless..

No, but it's easy to blame everyone for their own situation instead of entertaining the thought of a failure of the system.

 

[Tomasso]

entertainment has been considerably dumbed-down in recent years.

That's what was probably said about vaudeville a century ago.

 

[Feraud]

I would never argue there are no problems with the system. This isn't about a system but individual choices towards media and entertainment.
In this context I say each man and woman makes their own choices. No system is making you watch Larry the Cable Guy or fawn over the exploits of Paris Hilton.
Sometimes it is easier to blame a faceless system than asking individuals to face their choices.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I wouldn't go that far, but I agree that entertainment has been considerably dumbed-down in recent years. I can no longer watch breakfast television... It's too banal.

Good on you because I've always believed that breakfast television (and television in general) is the intellectual equivalent of fast food. Heck, I stopped watching TV twenty years ago. The funny part is the rare occasions that I do watch TV is generally when I'm away from home: hotel/motel room, friend's house, restaurant, etc.

 

[MisterCairo]

A great example of this is Canada's Trailer Park Boys. Are some Newfoundlanders similar to them? Sure, in ways. Are they icons of Newfoundland? Not at all!

C, they're NOVA SCOTIANS! No self-respecting Newfie would live like that!

To all Nova Scotians:

The above comment is made as fair comment, and in no way intended to imply that said Nova Scotians are inferior to those indigenous to Newfoundland and Labrador, living or dead, or that habiting in a trailer park in any way implies inferiority of intellect or other socio-economic criteria. Any interpretation, implication or inference to the contrary is hereby denied.

LONG LIVE BUBBLES!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Hmmm...
Seems to me that few...if any here...have attended a Nascar event. Larry's are definately in the crowd. The south isn't far from my location..in fact many migrated here years ago. 'Good ole boys'..uncouth..down home...raw and sometimes obscene. Often the dumbness facade only camouflages an underlying quick wit and clever mindedness. The character of Larry appeals to these folks..as well as many of those that know 'em. Just because..he has captured the charactoristics(often to the extreme)...and mindset very well..ya'all.