Opinionline: West Virginia goes 'Buckwild'?
Samantha Perry, Bluefield Daily Telegraph (West Virginia): "Cursing, drinking, fighting and swimming in the back of a dump truck — it's the latest image of West Virginia, ready to be broadcast in January of the new year. Buckwild will take over the Jersey Shore time slot on MTV come Jan. 3 ... At this point, no one knows how negatively the series will portray the Mountain State. But it doesn't look good. On Friday, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin sent a letter to MTV's president asking for the show to be canceled. ... Buckwild may, or may not, portray us in a negative light. If the worse-case scenario proves true, we'll weather the storm with the typical Mountaineer spirit. Those who do not know us may laugh, and label us with inaccurate and insensitive stereotypes. But we who live here know there is more to the West Virginia way of life than some folks with bad grammar and hillbilly antics. It takes more than a reality show to sever the ties and emotions that bind us to the hills of Appalachia. ... West Virginia is 'almost heaven' — and it's always home."
Tim Goodman, The Hollywood Reporter: "The only thing shocking about Buckwild, after having seen all of MTV's clips and behind-the-scenes interviews, is that anyone would be shocked. Reality shows are the ultimate cliche, and nobody knows that better nor does it better than MTV. From The Real World to Jersey Shore, MTV always has been there to document the debauchery of youth, which never goes out of style."
Alyssa Rosenberg,Think Progress: "It would be nice of Manchin, in the course of defending the innocent young people of his state, would recognize that his own constituents are among the people who 'are making money off of the poor decisions of our youth.' (We're) at a point in the development of reality television where many, many people who agree to participate in it are aware of the genre's conventions, and go into the process with open eyes and a clear sense of how they can leverage the process to their own advantage."
The Daily Athenaeum, West Virginia University, editorial: "If you live in West Virginia, you know this is not a realistic interpretation of people of the Mountain State — it is, instead, a caricature drawn by society in the vein of Honey Boo Boo that represents the absolute extreme of our state's population. The cast, fueled by a considerable pay day, is goaded into these outrageous acts and exploited for the betterment of the network. In the process, the state's image is tarnished. West Virginia has long battled this ignorant stereotyping, and in a move of solidarity, the West Virginia Film Office denied tax credits to the show's producers — a gesture representative of how the majority of the state feels."
Julie Miller,Vanity Fair: "The series will air in the same time slot as the retired Jersey Shore. Although we do not encourage watching Buckwild, we do encourage familiarizing yourself with the show, in case it's ever featured in a future Chinese Jeopardy category about the decline of the American empire."
Gary McNair, WECT: "(Manchin) makes a good point with the argument that if you're taking supposedly ordinary people in their normal setting and you add money, fame and coaching on what the director is really looking for, plus three or four takes to get it right, can you really call that reality television? I don't think so. But that is not a reason that Buckwild or any other show gets canceled. It will live or die just like any other program, on the strength or weakness of its ratings. Call this what it is. It's entertainment — entertainment produced by paying people to act out a cruel and implausible stereotype at the expense of the good and decent people living in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. There really isn't any reality about it."
Asawin Suebsaeng,Mother Jones: "If MTV's track record of offending politicians with their reality shows and making a lot of money anyway is any indication, it is probably safe to bet that Manchin won't score a similar victory this time around. Furthermore, it's worth noting that Jersey Shore faced far more political opposition prior to its premiere in 2009, and it still went on to set ratings records for MTV and leave its rowdy imprint on international pop culture."
James Thompson, Media Bistro: "We'll be closely watching what happens to Buckwild because the public will ultimately decide its fate. Have we had enough of these crass shows depicting young people as ignorant, hard-partying ciphers with terrible accents? If not, then how low can we go as a culture? You tell us, dear Public: Is America ready for a countrified version of Snooki and The Situation?"
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