Harlan County U.S.A.

[SHOOTER12 8,833]

This is a documentary about the 1973 coal miners strike in Harlan County Kentucky.

I know that union problem, scabs, strikes and protests have, and can be violent and extreme, but wow this documentary is insane. Union office candidates and their families murdered in their beds, strike breakers firing on picket lines with 30 cal machine guns, its all over the place as far as the insanity goes.

Als features the biggest collection of inbred, gene pool damaged looking bunch òf ugly people I've ever seen.

The AP and UPI crews covering that are some of the bravest people you can imagine. I recorded it off of TCM but don't know where else it would be available for viewing. 

Edited March 30, 2023 by SHOOTER12

[mchookem 16,404]

where is it streaming?

[Celery Man 21,002]

Classic documentary, I think I watched it on Hulu a couple of years back but it appears to be on HBO Max right now.

I love documentaries like this, if this turns into a discussion of that I would be fine with it.

just some background music

 

and why not the trailer

 

[Celery Man 21,002]

other docs (variously about working class stuff or appalachia people) - 

it's hillbillies so you're going to have to mention The Wild and Wonderful Whites (even if it's fairly exploitative)

American Factory

Frontline: Left Behind in America
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/left-behind-america/

Dirty Driving

(shitty trailer - Indiana town being decimated by the migration of auto manufacturing jobs set against the backdrop of amateur racing)

American Hollow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDAFy3ASNOo
(follows some time in the life of a very rural Appalachian family in ~1999)

probably some other good "blue collar jobs are leaving and these people are left behind" type docs I'm missing. I would be very interested to watch more that get into the type of Union drama that Harlan County does. I should watch that one again.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Celery Man

[Herpa Derpa 6,132]

Fantastic doc that won Oscar. Director also won another for American Dream about a Hormel plant strike in Minnesota. No idea where one would see it these days. Fellow Texans might be familiar with her Dixie Chicks doc Shut Up and Sing (currently streamable with ads on Pluto).

[PantsTent 2,002]

[SHOOTER12 8,833]

As with a lot of other jobs, and/or locations I cannot understand why someone would do some work, or move to where different work was available. There's no way I could have ever been a coal miners, hell I got claustrophobic several times watching the documentary. 

[mininghorn88 2,298]

I have been to many of the mines in WV and the surrounding areas. It gets pretty rough.

On one visit I was talking to a miner in WV and he said that a miner would be more likely to share his wife with you than to let you cross a picket line.

Many years ago we actually flew some guys in on a helicopter to do some maintenance on the equipment so that they could get into and out of the mine safely. Times have changed so I doubt anything like that would happen today.

Watched the documentary a couple of years ago and it proved what I had seen and heard. It is really different back in those hills.

[Longhornstampede 3,186]

4 hours ago, Herpa Derpa said:

Fantastic doc that won Oscar. Director also won another for American Dream about a Hormel plant strike in Minnesota. No idea where one would see it these days. Fellow Texans might be familiar with her Dixie Chicks doc Shut Up and Sing (currently streamable with ads on Pluto).

I used to work for Hormel and I've been to that big plant in Austin, Minnesota. The slaughter side of the operation is something you'll never get out of your memory. And yes I know EXACTLY how spam is made. 

[Deej 76,944]

8 minutes ago, Longhornstampede said:

And yes I know EXACTLY how spam is made.

You've been with South Austin's mom, too?

[KYHorn 17,201]

26 minutes ago, mininghorn88 said:

I have been to many of the mines in WV and the surrounding areas. It gets pretty rough.

On one visit I was talking to a miner in WV and he said that a miner would be more likely to share his wife with you than to let you cross a picket line.

Many years ago we actually flew some guys in on a helicopter to do some maintenance on the equipment so that they could get into and out of the mine safely. Times have changed so I doubt anything like that would happen today.

Watched the documentary a couple of years ago and it proved what I had seen and heard. It is really different back in those hills.

My wife is from Harlan. We visit often. It's truly like stepping back decades or even centuries depending on what parts of the county you visit. We stay in the city, but when you drive through the county, it is bleak. Some "hollers" you just simply don't go to.

[Post Oak 20,278]

15 years ago or so Diane Sawyer did a Dateline type program on Appalachia. I think she's from there.  It was eye opening to say the least.  My first real inside look at the culture in the holler.  Learned about Mountain Dew mouth for the first time.

 

 

[The Original Greaser Bob 2,851]

I used to be a DOL lawyer and got to go down into a coal mine to see a longwall near Beckley, WV.  Holy shit, that was dark. 

I am claustrophobic as fuck now - don't think I could do that again.

[RPM 26,359]

7 hours ago, mchookem said:

where is it streaming?

TCM

Excellent documentary. Saw it first on KERA years ago. Them ol gals were tough.

[NWBuck 8,587]

It's earlier than the Harlan situation mentioned earlier, but same region of the world. The Matewan Miners Strike is rumored to be where the term "red neck" was canonized (miners wore red bandanas to ensure that they wouldn't shoot each other) and is alleged to be the only time that the Air Force (Army Air Corps) was used against American citizens.

Here's a pretty good documentary series:

And there was a pretty enjoyable movie about this from the late 80's (the full version is streaming on YouTube here)

 

[NWBuck 8,587]

10 hours ago, Celery Man said:

Dirty Driving

(shitty trailer - Indiana town being decimated by the migration of auto manufacturing jobs set against the backdrop of amateur racing)

I lived in Anderson on three occasions in my life- in 5th/6th grade (late 70's, early 80's), it was the "unemployment capital of the United States" due to collapse of General Motors. BUT, they still had three high schools of 2K plus student enrollment (including what was once the largest high school basketball gym in America).

A few years ago, we drove through again on the way to a family event. Down to one high school (and I understand it was quite a series of fights to determine which one got to 'live'), the main economy was the horse track and casino. I guess there's more growth going on out towards the interstate towards Indianapolis, but I never would have imagined how much this place has changed in 30 years or so.

(also, that area of Indiana was my first real exposure to real, overt, "We're the Klan and proud of it" racism and white supremacy... there were posted "sundown towns" in the area even as late as 1990).

[Celery Man 21,002]

9 hours ago, Post Oak said:

15 years ago or so Diane Sawyer did a Dateline type program on Appalachia. I think she's from there.  It was eye opening to say the least.  My first real inside look at the culture in the holler.  Learned about Mountain Dew mouth for the first time.

 

 

I listened to an interview with Tyler Childers somewhere where he talked about this specifically pissing him off as a kid in Appalachia. Painting them as helpless morons or something like that, I’ll have to find it. For whatever reason, I remember seeing this when it came out as well. Seems like even older than 2009 so it’s possible that I’m remembering a different 20/20.

[billfromlaketravis 11,530]

Interesting state. The most populated city is Charleston topping out at a whooping 49k. Why in the f*** did the Big 12 take them again?!

To put that in perspective, Sioux Falls has 196k, Fargo is about 125k, Anchorage is 291k, and Billings is 117k. 

 

[Al_4_ISU 12,500]

On 3/31/2023 at 6:26 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

Interesting state. The most populated city is Charleston topping out at a whooping 49k. Why in the f*** did the Big 12 take them again?!

To put that in perspective, Sioux Falls has 196k, Fargo is about 125k, Anchorage is 291k, and Billings is 117k. 

 

They were quite good in both revenue sports at the time, and have stayed generally decent in both.  They usually have some really characters and draw viewers.  Lots of WVU alums out of state in big Eastern markets too.

I do think West Virginia is kind of primed to become heavily gentrified as a vacation destination for east coasters in the near future.  The state's absolutely beautiful, there's a ton of national forest ground, and real estate is dirt cheap.  Plus it's only a few hours from multiple major metros.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Al_4_ISU

[Celery Man 21,002]

i think there are a lot of WVU people in DC particularly, and extremely anecdotally I have noticed my DC people posting from cabins in West Virginia.

[Zepol87 9,193]

Watched half of it earlier today, it was pretty wild