MovieChat Forums > Sweet Home Alabama (2002) Discussion > is the south really like this? if so...

is the south really like this? if so...

posted 15 years ago by alexaw9
27 replies | jump to latest

If so, I want to move there :)

I've never been to the South, but I don't like how people are portrayed as ignorant or stupid. I live in Massachusetts, and I hate the constant busy hustle bustle uptight stressed feeling .. I like the friendly small town simple feel the South is portrayed with. And I don't mean simple in a bad way, like stupid. Just small and comfortable and about family and friends and not the materialistic money-obsessed uptight way places like Boston and New York City are .. people say it's more exciting, and maybe I'm being ignorant in looking at stereotypes, but I like, mostly, the way the South is portrayed sometimes including this movie. I've always preferred country over city anyway, people say NYC skyline is pretty .. thats not pretty. Nature is pretty. With all the huge tall buildings and lights you cant see the stars. Not like in the country .. or I guess how I picture the country to be. I just like the way it seems in this movie pretty much :)

So .. is it like that?

If I ever start referring to these as the best days of my life, remind me to kill myself.

[–] Lilibetp 15 years ago

Some small towns in the south are like this.

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[–] phoebe4353 15 years ago

i live in a small town in Indiana, I would have to say small towns everywhere are like that.

[–] chopper0116 15 years ago

Well you can't lump "the south" into one paragraph or compare one place to another. Small towns are not all they're cracked up to be. Everyone knows everybodys business and my town isn't even that small. I'd rather be back on Long Island than living in Florida that's for sure. I guess the heat is getting to me, as there is way too much of it. We also have crime,crime, crime down here also.drugs etc.& crappy schools (public schools anyway) No place is 'cute and safe' anymore. Not safe to leave your windows open at night anymore as we did years ago.

you have now officially lost your mind!

[–] jaysgurl2000 13 years ago

@chopper0116 I couldn't agree with you MORE!

[–] FLCutie81 9 years ago

I definitely miss the change of seasons also living in FL from Orange County, NY. Florida has driven me nuts. People are not friendly down here like they are in the real southern states. FL is more northerners that moved here. At least further south and on the West coast. Northern Florida seems better though if you want the nicer southerners. Definitely lol at the Carolinas, TN, GA, AL, though. Change of season, just not as horrible winters and nicer people. I love TN!!!

[–] Monte_Carlo_SS 15 years ago

I live in Alabama, and the city I live in used to not even be a city until about...5 years ago. Everyone did know everyone...this can get annoying. But since it has gotten bigger because of cities beside us expanding it's not as bad as it used to be. I love it here, but there are days where I wish I could leave.

I was actually telling my husband the other day about how much I hate how movies portray the South. We are all not hicks/rednecks and we have electricity lol...now granted there are PLENTY rednecks here, but all of us aren't like that. But some of the "good ol Southern folks" are some of the nicest people you will know.

Every once in awhile I find my "Southern roots" buried in me and I will attended a monster truck mud race or BBQ some ribs or start a bon fire and just sit around and talk with friends...and other stuff like that. lol.

If you ever visit go to a flea market and see how many Confederate flags are flying or count how many Alabama or Auburn football shirts you will see. lol. Don't look into movies too much to see how the South is, just see for yourself :) It's not that bad. lol.

True friends stab you in the front.- Oscar Wilde

[–] jackscoloncancer 15 years ago

I'm from Southern Illinois and depending where you are people do act like the rednecks in this movie. I live in St. Louis suburbs, so it's more urban than anything here.
I agree with previous posts, you can find towns like that anywhere, not just in the South.

I also understand the attitude Northerners can have towards those south of them. North Illinois and South Illinois are completely different. I've actually had someone from Chicago ask me if I rode a tractor to school and how my farm was doing, and he was serious.

It is not God who kills the children... It’s us. Only us. -Rorschach

[–] cabrown482 15 years ago

Darlin', I think you've watched Gone with the Wind or Steel Magnolias one too many times. I'm from a small town in the south, I'm ten minutes away from Chattanooga,Tn, and we have the tall buildings and crowds and traffic and money hungry people you described. Being from the South does not mean that we just sit out on our front porches sippin sweet tea, gossipin, and getting into other's business. It sounds to me like you have romanticized the idea of the South. Come visit us sometime and make up your mind then :)

What did you do, Ray?

[–] chickflick2000 14 years ago

My dad's family is from that area--where are you located? They're in O'Fallon, Aviston, Belleville, and Trenton.

"Get me a box of kittens--stat!"

[–] gigglechunks68 14 years ago

I moved to the Florida panhandle from central Illinois and I can tell you that is it WAY different, but in a good way. Everyone has been welcoming and nice, and it does seem to move at a slower pace. I loved the comment about the Auburn shirts, banners, license plates...etc lol. I also have never seen a bigger collection of Confederate flags that people freely fly in front of their houses. I have to say I do love it down here though!

[–] pam-02642 8 years ago

Yes,, know what you mean. I have lived in AL most of my life, married a native man, had 2 kids, one born in Auburn when he was in graduate school, the other in Mobile, were we were divorced. As soon as you make it known you are going to stay in Al, you have to declare your allegiance to either Auburn or Bama. I am a Wareagle, true and true. It's like that everywhere, no how big or small the town or city, your neighbors will make it their buisness to be in YOUR BUISNESS! Just go with it. And by the way Reece Witherspoon needs no dialect coach for her southern drawl. She's from Tennesse, but it comes right out without any effort, a true southern girl. Sandra Bullock can keeps hers hidden a bit but you can always tell when they start saying "Mama, mama, MAMA" and talk to their daddys. Nobody talks like that unless your born and bred south of the Mason Dixon line.

[–] pinkxcouturee 14 years ago

I live in a small town in VA and it is pretty similar to the town in Sweet Home Alabama. Many people enjoy simple yet hard-working lifestyles and a lot of them never leave town. I love my town, but I want to see the world more and am going to college in the fall.

We're not free. Circumstance is what controls me, just like everyone else.

[–] thenYES 14 years ago

I remember when I visited South Carolina, I was so put off by how many Confederate flags there were. Urgh, it just creeped me the heck out...they were everywhere. But the people were nice enough and the beach was fun.

If it's small town country you want, the Midwest is a good place to start. I live in Minneapolis, and 40 minutes outside the city any way is farmland and trees. It's beautiful and so relaxing...I love Minnesota. It does get cold in the winter, though.

I love New York City and Boston, too, though. I loved Massachusetts so much I decided to go to school there.

And small town people can be just as patronizing to city folk as city folk are to them...a lot of my small town relatives and their friends act like I'm some dumb, uptight, naive city girl just because I didn't grow up on a farm. It's obnoxious. Just like people who think all small town people are dumb backwards hicks are obnoxious.

"And then he started cheating...especially at magnetic travel scrabble."

[–] CarolinianDude 14 years ago

I'm going to be honest here, the OP is kind of onto something and kind of off too.

Firstly, all stereotypes, even "positive" stereotypes, are stupid because they over-simplify the parts of life that are made beautiful by their complexity; the pain of the South, compliments the love of the South. Everything horrible about it and everything wonderful about it go together, and you can't really separate them. Like any love, you have to take the good with the bad, you can't only see your wife when she's in a good mood, and you can't only love your country (or in this case region) when it's being particularly pleasant.

Secondly, I f*#ing hate NYC and Boston. I f*%ing hate them, I wish they didn't exist, I wish I never had to have gone there, not even once just to see. However, in the midwest they have Chicago, which I think ought to be the capitol of the United States because it's so incredibly awesome. That notwithstanding, to hell with New York and to hell with Boston. OP, move to Dixie, we would love to have you

[–] cosmiccharlee 9 years ago

Chicago is pretty awesome.