By Adelaide Maloney ’22
Hillbilly Elegy is a movie that came out on Netflix on November 25, 2019, based upon
the bestselling memoir of the same name. The film is framed around JD Vance and his
relationships with different members of his family, particularly with his mother, Beverly.
After Beverly suffers an overdose in 2011, JD visits her in Ohio. This is the inciting
incident of the story, though it does not follow a chronological timeline. Instead, it jumps between his childhood and his adult life.
This is an incredibly effective way of communicating the film’s narrative. It allows for
the exploration of characters in two separate periods of JD’s life who would otherwise be
unable to exist within the same movie. Additionally, it creates a more full character arc
for the protagonist. The audience is able to understand the beginning and end of the arc
early within the movie, and it sets up an expectation of how JD will change. Fulfillment
of this expectation is what makes his arc more satisfying.
The film’s acting is also incredibly good. Characters were well cast. Any awkward
moments of acting were practically indetectable. While the film itself was well-done, there are certain aspects of it which are questionable. The first and most concrete of these is the subtitles. While they always get the point of what characters are saying across, they often will omit words from the dialogue. It became more noticeable as the movie went on, and could potentially make the movie less enjoyable for some people. Netflix, as the distributor of the film and therefore the company responsible for these subtitles, is worth over two hundred billion dollars, and could have afforded fully competent subtitles, as opposed to only partially competent ones.
Another potential issue with the film is more implicit, and perhaps is more a flaw in
reaction to the movie than the movie itself. Hillbilly Elegy is touted by some to be a key
for liberals and coastal people to understand those from more conservative areas such
as Appalachia. This creates the expectation going into the film that rural, conservative
Americans will be explained by the film, an expectation which is not fulfilled. Instead the
film focuses on its characters, all of whom are incredibly flawed, to the point where some
audience members may see them as irredeemable.
While these characters and their flaws create a compelling narrative in isolation, when
paired with this expectation it can create harmful ideas about conservative America as a
whole. If the flaws of these characters are seen as representations of so many people, it
will inevitably lead to harmful stereotypes about them. Stereotypes in turn may serve to
create more polarization between the American people.
While the film’s characters are incredibly compelling, they are not representative of
rural America and should not be treated as if they are. Overall, Hillbilly Elegy is wonderfully created, though its audience should temper their
expectations regarding what it says about certain demographics.
