Sometime it's often used when something is considered to be dumb or campy.------------------
Colin Wiseley
Lyric Theatre
Blacksburg, VA
www.thelyric.com
See "Grapes of Wrath" to get an idea of the dust bowl that had many tenant farmers trying to escape starvation by going to California and other areas. Tenant farmers and their families were never properly educated, and looked down upon by those with education and jobs. This is a pastime in the U.S.. See "Salt of the Earth" for the same treatment of Mexican Americans.
I forgot who sang it.
Beings that Leo is from England, he'll probably like that song, maybe.
Ah........memories, how sweet they are.
Thanks for the post.
Leo - is your email address current? I tried to send you something, but it failed to reach you.
Jerry: I've never actually seen 'Grapes of Wrath' all through, though I did project a nitrate print of it when I worked at the NFT and I have read the book. We were shown 'The Plow that Broke the Plain' in a history class at college and I understand it puts forward a similar message. If foot and mouth disease goes on much longer in Britain I suppose we could soon be in a similar situation.
Paul: e-mail address (ldge@u.genie.co.uk) is still current, but the server has become very erratic and unreliable, and sometimes bounces incoming messages just for the hell of it. For that reason I've started a new one (ldge@y030.fsnet.co.uk) and there's also my work address (leo.e@picturehouse-cinemas.co.uk) both of which worked when I downloaded incoming mail a moment ago.
I grew up in Muskogee and it was at the Trans-Lux Theatre on South 32nd Street, that I decided that I wanted to have a career in the movie theatre business (God knows only know why...hahaha). Muskogee was once a good movie town with good movie people and was home to the Trans-Lux, Muskogee Twin, Ritz, Roxy and Sunset Drive-In. All of those great places are gone now, but the memories remain....
There used to be an Airdome in downtown Hattiesburg! You might have fun seeing if there are any photos or people who knew about it.
There was once at least one Saenger owned &/or operated theater in Muskogee. The Saenger in Hattiesburg has been de-movie'd by persuasive consultants who were in fact idiots.
One major reason Muskogee & Oklahoma frequently pop up as representations of *extreme* rural-flavored conservatism is that, after having apparently vanished for decades, the Ku Klux Klan reorganized & centralized in Oklahoma in the 20's & re-grew from there.
Thanks for the info. I have seen the sanger in Hattiesburg, but have not been inside. I was not sure about the sanger in Muskogee. I wonder if the old Broadway theatre in Muskogee was once a Sanger???
You are correct about the KKK in Oklahoma. I can remember my Grandfather saying that when he was in his twenties, he was approached by the KKK and was asked to become a member and he told them that he had "better things to do thena run around in the middle of the night wearing a bedsheet".
Do you work at a theatre in Mobile? Maybe you could give me some information on some theatre companies that I am wanting some info. on.
I put this question (what is an Okie?) to a friend who is visiting - a native of Beatrice, Nebraska (but who has been living in the UK for the last 5 years). She came out with the following (but confessed to not knowing why it should be Oklahoma-specific)...
A schoolteacher from Oklahoma set her fifth grade class an assignment: get your parents to tell you a story with a moral at the end of it. The next day they all came back, and she asked Katie to go first. "Well, my parents are farmers - dairy farmers - and one day Dad put his eggs in a massive container to take to the market, which he then put on the front seat of his pickup. Less than half a mile out, the pickup went over a pothole and all the eggs smashed, creating an awful mess." "What's the moral of that?," asked the teacher. "You shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket," replied Katie.
Next up was Tommy. "Well ma'am, my parents are also farmers - chicken farmers. We had 12 eggs and thought that we would be able to sell 12 chickens, but only 10 of them actually hatched. The moral? Don't count your chickens before they've hatched."
"Very good," said the teacher. "Now Jenna, what's your story?" "Well," replied Jenna, "my aunt Karen was a flight engineer in Operation Desert Storm. Her plane got shot down, and before she bailed out all she had time to collect was a bottle of Bourbon, an AK-47 and a machete. Fearing that the bottle might break, she drunk the whisky on the way down. When she landed she was confronted by 100 homicidal Iraqis. She shot the first 70 with the AK-47 but then it ran out of bullets. She killed another 20 with the machete before its handle snapped. Finally, she finished off the remaining 10 with her bare hands."
"Good Heavens!" replied the shocked teacher. "What could possibly be the moral of such a horrible story?" "The moral is this," replied Jenna: "stay the f*** away from Aunt Karen when she's been drinking!"
Well, I do live in Oklahoma, and have been here for coming up on 8 years (which is a longer stay than any other place I have ever lived --New York City being the previous record holder at 5 years).
Most people in the central part of the country know their Okie jokes. What's the best thing to come out of Oklahoma: I-40. Or, if the toothbrush had been invented anywhere besides Oklahoma it would be called a "teethbrush". Some of these jokes can be transferred to residents of Arkansas, Texas, Kansas or even Louisiana. I was born in New Mexico, so the jokes don't apply there (unless you consider the N.M. state flower is the oil well pump jack, the mention of Roswell inspires giggles and there has to be some kind of joke about people having their brains and DNA stands fried from all those A-Bomb tests).
Anyway, cultural stereotypes are just that. My experience here has found that many people living in this state come from many other areas (such as a lot of relocated Californians lately --sort of the reverse on that whole US-66 Grapes of Wrath thing). And then a lot of people who grow up here usually leave for jobs elsewhere. America has turned into a very transient society. Overall, that's probably going to lessen the funny impact of regional jokes and make things quite a bit more boring.
I'll end on a funny note. What's the best pick up line to use on ladies in a Wal-Mart? Tell her 8 kids, "who wants a daddy!?!"
I-40 runs so close to my home here in western North Carolina, that I can hear the trucks as they gear down to avoid the speed trap as the highway goes onto the Biltmore Estate. But not with the windows closed!
A few years ago, I saw a nice travel film of Oklahoma and thought that it is a beautiful place. But, would I want to live there?