I’ve watched most of the Jesco-related videos with a strange sense of fascination…realizing that yes, they are real people and they seem pretty happy with the way things are. (except for the one brother who moved to Minnesota)
That is it and it is awesome as ever. That was made in 1991 and current reality TV still has a lot learn from it. If watching that movie won’t warp your reality, nothing will.
The take-home message from this movie as far as I can I can tell is to always have a shotgun ready in case somebody decides to cook you you some sloppy, slimy eggs. You are going to bed alright…in a coffin.
Just in case anyone is interested, there was a sequel to Dancin’ Outlaw called “Jesco goes to Hollywood”. It’s about him doing an episode of Roseanne. It’s just as great as the first one!
Also if anyone is interested, a more straight foward but watchable documentary on mountain folk is “American Hollow” which is on youtube. Highly reccomend.
I live and practice medicine in another corner of the rural coalfields, not too far away (geographically or culturally) from the Whites’ world. (In fact, I know some of the musicians who appeared in the movie.)
In our case, we do have a methadone clinic, but there are only so many slots and the dose is controlled. They also require you to show up every day to get your dose, which added to the not-insubstantial cost of the methadone clinic itself can add up to a significant financial burden. Not to mention that we’re dealing with a population here (rural, mostly unemployed drug addicts) that is not exactly good at showing up someplace every day.
There are Suboxone clinics that only require one visit a month, but it’s very expensive and there’s still a waiting list. And there are legitimate pain clinics that are also expensive and tough to get into. But an even bigger barrier for both of those is that they tolerate NO BULLSHIT WHATSOEVER–no failed drug tests, no missed appointments, not even a hint that your pills might be winding up in other hands. As you might imagine, folks like the Whites are not good at being bullshit-free.
Yes, pills are a huge problem around here, and for every funny pill story I know I also know a dozen pure tragedies. But from my perspective, I don’t think it’s the problem it was ten or even five years ago. A lot of the supplies are drying up, as the internet pharmacies have mostly gone away and Florida actually started giving a shit. I’m at least a little bit hopeful.
Maybe it’s the equivilent of passing a joint and saying " 'ere." (I’ve only heard “snort.”)
That’s exactly what I thought.
Apparently D. Ray (the patriarch) got fed up with the coal mine companies screwing him and so he figured out how to play the social services system got his whole family declared insane and/or disabled. If that’s true they probably have no jobs and nothing to do but sit around and get in trouble. I think the drugs they have are prescription at least some of the time.
There is something very compelling about the family though. Mamie is a trip, Jesco is crazy dangerous, Kirk is an airhead. I have relatives in WV but they are nothing like that. I’d watch a part two if they made it.
Look around on YouTube and you can find footage of various dive bars with Mamie singing (not well either) with Hank III and Kirk dancing, and pretty decent interviews with the creators of the movie. They had a hard time remaining detached, like when they put the child safety seat in the car, but didn’t buckle it in. There is also a radio interview with Mamie and Kirk where she says Johnny Knoxville screwed them on the royalties. Lots of drama from that clan.
I hope it is OK to revive this long dead thread, but I am late to the game watching the Dancing Outlaw and the Wild and Wonderful Whites of WV. The Youtube algorithm brought up a short video of Jesco and I had to watch more and then I found both the movies free online and watched both. It is fascinating and also extremely sad. And like 6’8" mentioned, I am fascinated with the way Jesco talks. This is not true for anyone else in his family.
I have some relatives who are also in the same boat. Basically one of them found out the “trick” to get the whole family declared disabled, and they all collect some form of money that allows them to sit around the house and do absolutely nothing all day, except of course to become bored and start raising hell in the neighborhood for no reason.