Does this movie insult anyone else?

It's obvious most of you have never been to Swaim Co. The rednecks in the movie are pretty much spot on. Never met an Irish Doctor there though.

"Redeemer's girl, why do you have such hatred towards the hippies that have moved to Asheville? "--ragilmer

No,no--no hatred or loathing for these downtown parasites. Disdain, yes. Disgust, surely. Anger, definitely. However, I'm certainly not suggesting we get out the torches and pitchforks to run them out of town or anything; they have presented a unique sort of "freak show" that tourists seem to eat up and drive through to see, and, as you pointed out, Asheville does depend largely on the tourist flow for income. But that certainly doesn't mean I have to accept and/or tolerate the arrogant and sometimes downright evil egocentricity of all those self-proclaimed "artists" that infest downtown. The homeless division is not included in that particular grouping, I must add; I am referring only to those who seem to believe they exist simply to prove that they are much more culturally advanced that all the rest of us plebians and delight in trying to adopt a snooty "poor-thing-you-just-can't-grasp-art-can-you?" attitude while exuding a cloud of noxiousness that could fell vultures; or to those fighting to rent McCormick Field to have the largest wiccan/pagan gathering in the Southeast, only to set the field on fire (on the upside, that type of activity has since been prohibited as a result); or those that charged almost **$300k** to erect that huge rusty junkyard POS in front of the Federal Building in the name of "art" and the "cultural melting pot"; or those whose previous actions have forced the Humane Society and the ACN to forbid the sale of any solid black or solid white animals during the month of October due to the discovery of horrific sacrificial acts attributed to satanic worship committed in the recent past... I probably don't need to go on, my guess is you get my drift.

I've worked in the Federal Building downtown for the last 5 years and have, literally, a front row view via a huge picture window. Occasionally, we will sit and gawk in horrified amazement at the goings-on, most especially during Bele Cher, July 4th, or any opportunity that is given for people to gather in the downtown streets. Last year, we watched an entire group of black-clad, bechained, pierced and painted "good, idealistic kids" waving a large black banner/flag with a huge pentagram on it while drumming and dancing down the street, singing honors to the "dark god" and yelling jeering insults at all who even looked at them with anything bordering disapproval.

The increase in violent crime you think seems to have happened has most definitely happened and continues to do so; our high schools--even Asheville Mall!--are slowly becoming war zones. There is more and more a huge lack of any type of respect from the "college crowd", the Ukranian, Vietnamese and Hispanic minorites are expanding in an unprecedented pace--not an issue in itself, but sadly, they are bringing their own forms of "mafias" into being here, with more and more aggression within the schools as well as a major hike in drug use. (Citing source: my son and other ACR students, TCR students and Owen students.)

And, btw, I must respectfully point out that it isn't just the "rich folks" who've driven up the property values, it's *all* of the transplants, over the past 10-15 years especially, us included. As I mentioned, Buncombe was and still is one of the top 5 fastest growing counties in the entire nation per recent real estate reports. People are pouring in here--not just to have second homes, but to try and catch the wave early of a town rapidly screaming into cityhood. (Hmmm...can we say "carpet-baggers"? LOL) By forcing the property values up, it has caused many familes to have to sell land that has been in their families for generations because they can no longer afford the taxes. (I remember when I first moved here in the early '90s, one was warned not to drive into the Leicester/Sandy Mush/Doggett Valley area with out-of-state plates on one's car, or the real risk existed of being shot at by the locals.) AND the Buncombe County property taxes are currently in re-evaluation again, with expectations of doubling and in some cases, even tripling. Swannanoa is trembling and looking over its group shoulder, as the latest news is that it will be annexed into Asheville within the next 3-5 years, forcing the current home and land owners to pay even more taxes since it will then be within city limits.

I do disagree that the renewal of downtown has been accomplished by those who are lost-in-time Deadheads once removed, though. If you're referring to the Grove Arcade and such, that was accomplished by big corporate money sniffing around for an opportunity to make even more money, and they found easy targets. The Interstate Motel has been sold and turned into condos, yes; because of progress amongst the artsy-fartsy group? Partly. And partly to stop the local prostitutes from utilizing it as a "home base" for business(hence the notorious nickname, The Intercourse Motel). Word is they've moved over to the Days Inn at the end of Otis Street...but I digress.

The "natural beauty" clearing is now to be coming with a price and has been designed to slow down the mutilation of the forestry; they are entertaining the incorporation of a "view tax" (and a hefty one at that!) to try and protect against ridge-clearing.

I do everything within my power to stay out of downtown Asheville other than to get to work. (They've once again put the kibosh on the new parking garage, I've heard, so the downtown parking atrocity will apparently remain as such for awhile longer.) I love the rest of the area and hope to eventually build a house--although definitely OUTSIDE Buncombe county and away from this Asheville-monster with the insatiable appetite; still, the cesspool that exists just outside as I type this is mutating into something I wish only to distance myself from just as soon as finances permit.

In looking at myself honestly, I think the only problem I am contributing to is refusing to spend my money downtown. I do bathe daily; I do my very best to be kind to everyone even if what they're doing and the disrespect they're flaunting strips my soul with sheer fury; I believe in the one true God, His son and our Savior, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but I do *not* stand on a street corner and slap passers-by in the face with my Bible(www.notreligion.com) as people following these other "paths" have been doing with their beliefs; and I wind up contributing and donating even to those who feel they are owed being taken care of because their "creativity" has purchased that entitlement when I would rather remove the metal from their faces, force them into a shower to slough off that "natural scent" they think is so aphrodisiacal.

I filterlessly chose to vent the frustrations I feel of a beautiful city swirling into chaos on this board due to a kneejerk reaction. I have already been beset by guilt for my previous outspokenness, but the facts are still the facts: and as Jeff Dunham's Peanut says: "Polish a turd, it's still a turd".

(BTW, the FL drivers are slow mostly because most of 'em are old enough that they can't really see over the steering wheel and *any* type of incline is a new and undiscovered beast. LOL Watch out for Broughton escapees during the rain, too. ;-D)

PLEASE, If anyone gets a bad rep, its people from louisiana. Sure I dont know that I need to capitalize the first letter in our states name, but we're not total idiots!

Honestly. Get real. I lived in North Carolina for a large majority of my younger life. It doesn't insult anyone. If it does you're way too oversensitive.