Editing Hillbilly (section)

=== Film and television ===

[[File:Buddy Ebsen and Irene Ryan from The Beverly Hillbillies - 1970.jpg|thumb|Buddy Ebsen and Irene Ryan from ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' in 1970]]
Television and film have portrayed "hillbillies" in both derogatory and sympathetic terms. Films such as ''[[Sergeant York (film)|Sergeant York]]'' or the [[Ma and Pa Kettle]] series portrayed the "hillbilly" as wild but good-natured. Television programs of the 1960s such as ''[[The Real McCoys]]'', ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'', and especially ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]'', portrayed the "hillbilly" as backwards but with enough wisdom to outwit more sophisticated city folk. ''[[Gunsmoke]]''{{'s}} Festus Haggen was portrayed as intelligent and quick-witted (but lacking "education").

The popular 1970s television variety show ''[[Hee Haw]]'' regularly lampooned the stereotypical "hillbilly" lifestyle. A darker negative image of the hillbilly was introduced to another generation in the film ''[[Deliverance]]'' (1972), based on a [[Deliverance (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[James Dickey]], which depicted some "hillbillies" as genetically deficient, [[inbreeding|inbred]], and murderous.

''[[The Texas Chain Saw Massacre|The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]'' and its sequels has [[Leatherface]] and his family, the Sawyers, portray a particularly violent "Hillbilly" stereotype that is common in horror films. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie series is thought to have paved the way for the countless horror films featuring deranged and often cannibalistic "Hillbillies" that have since become a staple of the horror genre.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knöppler |first=Christian |date=2017 |title="7. Cannibal Hillbillies and Backwoods Horror" |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783839437353-010/pdf |journal=The Monster Always Returns: American Horror Films and Their Remakes |pages=183–210 |doi=10.1515/9783839437353-010 |isbn=9783839437353 |via=Degruyter}}</ref>

Similar "evil hillbilly people"-type have also been seen in a more comical light in the 1988 horror film ''[[The Moonlight Sonata (film)|The Moonlight Sonata]]'', but the 2010 horror comedy film ''[[Tucker & Dale vs. Evil]]'' even parodies hillbilly stereotyping. More recently, the TV series ''[[Justified (TV series)|Justified]]'' (2010–2015) was centered around deputy U. S. Marshal Raylan Givens who was reassigned to his hometown in [[Harlan, Kentucky]] where he was in conflict with Boyd Crowder, a drug dealer who had grown up with Raylan. The show's plots often included "hillbilly" tropes such as dimwitted and easily manipulated men, use of homemade drugs, and snake-handling revivalists.

"Hillbillies" became a frequent gimmick in [[professional wrestling]], usually portrayed as simple but amiable [[Face (professional wrestling)|fan favourites]].  An early example of this character was Whiskers Savage (born Edward Civil, 1899–1967) who was promoted as a "bumpkin" persona as early as 1928.<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Leo Savage |url=https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=3980 |accessdate=2022-08-07 |publisher=Wrestlingdata.com}}</ref> During the 1960s and 1970s, two [[superheavyweight]] wrestlers (and frequent [[tag team]] partners) [[Haystacks Calhoun]] and [[Man Mountain Mike]] both portrayed "country boys" in overalls and carrying lucky horseshoes. In the [[WWE|WWF]] in the 1980s, [[Hillbilly Jim]], depicted as a protegé of [[Hulk Hogan]], led a faction of "hillbillies" including [[Uncle Elmer]], [[Cousin Luke]] and [[Cousin Junior]].<ref name="WWEInterview">{{cite web |author=Murphy, Ryan |date=December 8, 2010 |title=Where Are They Now? Hillbilly Jim |url=http://www.wwe.com/classics/wherearetheynow/where-are-they-now-hillbilly-jim |access-date=April 26, 2014 |work=[[WWE]].com |publisher=[[WWE]]}}</ref><ref name="WWEBio">{{cite web |title=Hillbilly Jim |url=http://www.wwe.com/superstars/hillbilly-jim |access-date=April 26, 2014 |work=[[WWE]].com |publisher=[[WWE]]}}</ref>

"Hillbillies" were at the center of reality television in the 21st century. Network television shows such as ''The Real Beverly Hillbillies'', ''High Life'', and ''[[The Simple Life]]'' displayed the "hillbilly" lifestyle for viewers in the United States. This sparked protests across the country with rural-minded individuals gathering to fight the stereotype. The Center for Rural Strategies started a nationwide campaign stating the stereotype was "politically incorrect". The Kentucky-based organization engaged political figures in the movement such as [[Robert Byrd]] and [[Mike Huckabee]]. Both protestors argued that the discrimination of any other group in United States would not be tolerated, so neither should the discrimination against rural U.S. citizens. A 2003 piece published by ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]'' read, "In this day of hypersensitivity to diversity and political correctness, Appalachians have been a group that it is still socially acceptable to demean and joke about... But rural folks have spoken up and said 'enough' to the Hollywood mockers."<ref name="Pate">{{cite book |last1=Pate |first1=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vE1chnGUbrMC&pg=PA205 |title=Grappling With Diversity Readings On Civil Rights Pedagogy and Critical Multiculturalism |date=2008 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=9780791478998 |location=Albany}}</ref>