Has to be a gimmick - The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2010) Discussion

[–] Strongsad38001 14 years ago

I don't know. The directer did say in the commentary that there were a few times when they were actually shocked to see the stars doing drugs. Like when Kirk just had her baby and snorted her medication. He was taken aback by that. But Mamie did say after that the crew encouraged them to act like that, and they were snorting powdered sugar at times, but I just don't know what to believe.

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[–] Greatornot 14 years ago

Ahhh Props as drugs. That explains it. Just like those typical reality shows that are anything but real.

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[–] Dragon000 14 years ago

It is a documentary ... the job of the producer is to film what goes on, not call the police.

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[–] DocumentaryAddict 14 years ago

<<<This movie shows many illegal activities. It just can not be real. Particularly the drugs that were openly used.>>>>

Where have you been? Watch any HBO documentary and drugs are used. there is a weekly show on A&E called "Intervention" that show people smoking crack, and shooting up heroin.

It's just them and a small camera crew in a room. Most people in the throes of addiction (especially when others around them do it) almost WANT to show-off how much they can do.

Nothing will happen about them doing drugs on camera- it happens all the time. But it was pretty stupid of them to brag about selling on camera. if Mamie ever gets busted, the film can be used as evidence.

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[–] Hitman84 14 years ago

"if Mamie ever gets busted, the film can be used as evidence."

*beep* 'AT CAMRA lmao, and the film too i guess

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[–] mojo2004 14 years ago

This movie shows many illegal activities. It just can not be real. Particularly the drugs that were openly used.

Do you watch any reality shows? What do you think happens on those shows. Even on this ones with police involved often they don't arrest people they catch breaking the law when they're looking for specific suspects. The crime show 'The Next 48' often does that. Officers tell people they don't care they're selling drugs or buying drugs they just want to know where is John Doe who shot so& so. Or tell me what happened the night so & so got shot.

Any documentary will show a lot of disturbing behavior. The film makers are their to make a movie. Not to judge or be the police.

"Where were you born? At home. I wanted to be near my mother."

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[–] bjmscooter2008 14 years ago

No gimmick. The only incriminating thing was the lady stating she sold pills and she could just say she was making it up for the show.(Her prices were way off & she knew it) You can swallow or snort your medicine if it's YOUR prescription. If ya'll noticed, there weren't many men in the show. They aren't going to be filmed out stealing or cooking meth, dealing any drugs/stolen merchandise which, I'd bet the farm is what's going on. That's why they kept going on about Xanax."We love Xanies, yeehah!" No mention of Hillybilly Heroin (Oxycontin???) Like we believe that....the Whites left out all "the good stuff". 40 year old women who look like they're sixty are doing much more than drinking whiskey, snorting Xanax, and smoking weed. Everything filmed was real...I know because we are surrounded by Whites.

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[–] crooked_spoons 14 years ago

They mentioned "Roxies" several times I think.

"You want me? Well f*king come on and break the door down. I'm ready..."

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[–] Dragon000 14 years ago

Excellent points! I agree, most of the talk about crime was referred to as what had happened in the past and therefore was not incriminating, and the majority of those shown were women, I noticed that too.

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[–] vick_mackey 14 years ago

I am from west virginia though not boone county, its rougly 40 minutes away, and I can tell you that these people are real as shown, its not *beep* like many other reality shows, its a documentary about a clan of hillbilly outlaws from boone county and the way life is shown is accurate. the entirety of the coal fields in west virginia are like boone county painpills are worth more than money, and flow like water. I vividly recall watching about sue bobs son on the news when it happend, though the level of detail was left out. this documentary sadly shows what real life is like in west virginia. all you need to know how *beep* life is here is how that little boy asked so excitedly to go to the dollar store, what does that say about life when going to the dollar store is a highlight of your life? my state is a diseased decaying sesspoole, there is no hope here, and most young college aged kids leave if at all possible. I am glad they made the movie not enough people know what life is really like here.

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[–] Greatornot 14 years ago

I have seen shows like Cops for example and the people are busted. The difference here is that the folks were openly using and were not busted. I do think that props were used and yes I know they have criminal records from the past. That is irrelevant. Furthermore the writers of this show could be arrested as well for filming illegal activity.

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[–] crooked_spoons 14 years ago

Furthermore the writers of this show could be arrested as well for filming illegal activity.

If that were true than A&E would be considered an enemy of the state for all the illegal activity they film on Intervention and even Hoarders.

By the way..what writers?

"You want me? Well f*king come on and break the door down. I'm ready..."

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[–] Greatornot 14 years ago

A & E gets help for those folks on intervention and the Hoarders people

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[–] Dragon000 14 years ago

Apparently Mamie went on record saying that it was all faked, for the camera, but I seriously doubt it. She was likely trying to cover her (and her family's) proverbial ass.

http://www.coalvalleynews.com/pages/full_story?page_label=home&id= 2568330-Mamie+White+speaks+out+about+new+documentary&widget=push&a mp;article-Mamie%20White%20speaks%20out%20about%20new%20documentary%20 =&instance=secondary_news_left_column&open=&

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[–] Strongsad38001 14 years ago

The truth is such a mess. I just don't know what to believe. I'm friends with Mamie on Facebook (:D) and she appears to be... nice...? I don't know what the right word is, but she types very well, has proper grammar, and she's even basically running her own business on there, selling autographed DVDs and pictures. She just recently went to a McDonalds to sell directly to fans. And she posts some of those nice chain letter statuses about how bullying is wrong and junk. I mean, I've seen some worse trash on Facebook than what Mamie appears to be. Of all her comments and statuses, I think she's sworn maybe twice that I've seen? She seems like a nice business woman.

Basically, Mamie seems a lot nicer on Facebook than she was in this film. She definitely has a reputation, though, because at one point, she threatened to kick some ass because people were tagging her in their pictures even when she wasn't in them just to get attention. Obviously, she wasn't gonna go kill someone for doing that on Facebook, but her fans went wild, with all these "Hell yeah!"'s and "Go Mamie!"'s. I feel like a lot of what she does is just an act to keep up the reputation. In that deleted scene where she gets her moonshine back, she went off on this whole "f this, f that" rampage, and when she was done, she said "How's that, my man?" as in "Was that badass enough?" I don't think we'll ever know the truth.

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[–] Dragon000 14 years ago

Oh how cool is that. I never thought of adding her or other Whites on Facebook! I felt like she was actually really cool with the people about the moonshine, even though later she said she would have "kicked some a--" of she hadn't gotten it back.

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[–] StarrySkyWaltz 13 years ago

Mamie White is on Facebook? *mind boggle*

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[–] BrianN 14 years ago

They may have played it up a little for the cameras, but go live in any Appalachian community for a year or two and you will see plenty of folks living like this.

They are immune to social conventions, fear of Law, etc. etc. It's no joke.

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[–] BlackDog123 14 years ago

I don't know - I haven't seen this yet (came to check it out before putting it in my Netflix queue), but shows like Intervention and True Life have definitely caught some extremely illegal activities.

They're coming to get you, Barbara!

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[–] kb01 14 years ago

I live in West Virginia and can attest to the fact that drug use, especially prescription drugs, is just a way of life in this state, especially in the coal fields. If you spend five minutes at a bus stop next to any hospital, you will be approached by somebody either looking to sell or buy painkillers.

Users are rarely arrested and virtually never actually serve any prison time. The police and county sheriffs have much bigger fish to fry with dealers and their associated violence. Things have turned much more violent in the past 5-10 years as out-of-state interests, haven taken control of much of the trade (especially Detroit dealers operating via Huntington and Charleston). I live in Huntington and we have 5 dealers within two blocks of my house -- they make no effort to hide their businesses and dozens of people making hundreds of calls to 911 makes no difference.

I've lived all over the country and have never seen the level of open drug use, open-air drug markets, and lack of interest from law enforcement that we have here. All of the focus is on the big time dealers and distributors and not hillbillys peddling or using pills.

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[–] drswank-129-814669 13 years ago

Anyone else get the feeling that the producers and the family were using this as some sort of "jumping off" point for some reality show deal? That would explain a lot of the exaggerated behavior.

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[–] BuzzWurthy 13 years ago

I don't doubt that the outlaw behavior was "slightly" exaggerated for the film, nor do I doubt that the White family was screwed over financially by the film's producers. But I don't think any of the activity depicted in the film can be called inaccurate -- quite the opposite. I think it's uncomfortably real, and the members of the White family might be having a tough time dealing with how they were portrayed.

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[–] BrianN 13 years ago

I doubt the Whites are having a tough time with their portrayal.
In their world, appearing to be crazy/unstable is a plus.
I lived in the rural mountains of NC for awhile; it was advisable to shoot a gun on your property often.

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