i hate to admit it, but "king of the hill" is frighteningly accurate and
could be of great use in teaching about the culture and language of
contemporary texas.
of course it traffics in stereotypes (it's a mainstream television
production, what do you expect?), but most of the "texas" stereotypes
portrayed therein have some basis in fact. america is becoming more
homogenized as regional dialects and local cultures are rapidly
disappearing, but texans cling tenaciously to their uniqueness. some of
this is accurately portrayed on "king of the hill."
fierce independence, old-fashioned loyalty (to friends, family, and the
state of texas--loyalty to texas sometimes overpowering loyalty to the u.s.
as a whole), deep appreciation of the art of the bar-b-que, and warm-hearted
friendliness all remain strong characteristics of texans in the year
2000...as do depressingly entrenched bigotry, an unforgiving sense of
justice (manifested in the state's terrifyingly busy death row), rampant gun
ownership & an unyielding defense of property rights, and, um, an
unwillingness to get over the whole cowboy boots and country/western music
thing.
i live in austin, which is about as un-texas as you can get within the state
(it's kind of like a smaller version of san francisco (with both hippies AND
techies) plopped in the center of the state), but i've traveled around the
surrounding countryside and dated a girl whose family lived in houston but
whose parents had grown up in "the country." and they talked and acted
EXACTLY like the folks on "king of the hill."
maybe i've rambled on too long about the culture (if you haven't guessed, i
both love it and hate it here...with the loving beating down (literally) the
hating nine times out of ten. it's just quite a change for a boy who grew
up in the exurbs of the big apple.), but the language can't be ignored--and
"king of the hill" captures it masterfully. the ubiquitous "y'all" (my
parents still make fun of me for saying it, but i can't help it anymore),
the charming "i bin fixin' tuh git summa dat" (translation: "i've been
planning to purchase that product"), the swallowed vowels and softened
consonants...texan is a language that combines the best elements of the
southern drawl and the midwestern twang. and "king of the hill" is a great
place to hear it spoken.
i'm trying to think of some other movies or tv shows and am drawing a blank,
but i'll ask my friends.
i look forward to the day that "texan" is a required subject.
-martin
