I'm a Native Texan and I enjoyed your post. My
husband is also a NY (Syracuse) transplant and my
father has never forgiven me for marrying a
"DamnYankee". I don't watch King Of the Hill partly
because I'm not entertained by "cartoons" and partly
because I don't like Fox. My kids have lived here in
Virginia where we were "shanhaied" 5 years ago and
they are still proud native Texans. The oldest (17
yrs) plots her return to "home". The youngest (11
yrs.) still has a strong Texas accent. My husband
also after 30 years of being in Texas acquired the
"accent" and his northern relatives can't understand
him and make fun of him. But as most Texans will tell
you: Love it or leave it! And I agree with your
assessment of the unfortunate bigotry (both racial and
religious) that predominate with the older
generations. But high school football still rules!
LOL!!
Ruth
--- "Martin J. Lang" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 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
>
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