By Charlie Pyles
3 December 2009
The state of Louisiana is nothing more than a haven of backward, impoverished, uneducated racists—if your only source of information is Hollywood.
Ranging from popular comedies like “The Waterboy,” (starring Adam Sandler), to dramas like “Monster’s Ball” (Billy Bob Thornton), the majority of movies set in Louisiana give an inaccurate portrayal of the state, according to Dr. Danny Shipka, LSU professor of mass communication.
“I had an idea when I moved here about what Louisiana was all about,” Shipka said. “And I got that idea from all the movies that I saw.” Shipka, a Chicago native, said he realized upon his arrival to Louisiana that most of his Hollywood impressions were false.
Joined by graduate student and co-author Keeley Kristin, Shipka is writing a book to set the record straight on Louisiana in film.
Shipka said having Kristin as his co-author provides a balance to the project, since she is a born-and-raised Louisianan. “I couldn’t write this book honestly if I did not have a co-author who was from here,” Shipka said.
“Growing up here in Louisiana, I never really gave much thought to how other people perceived residents of Louisiana,” Kristin said. She said that throughout the research process of watching so many movies about the state, she has seen a pattern: Louisiana is consistently depicted in a negative light.
“Everyone here [in the movies] either talks with the uneducated Cajun accent or it’s the melodramatic Southern drawl,” Kristin said. She said filmmakers hold on to their negative focus on Louisiana because it attracts viewers.
Shipka and Kristin have compiled a list of more than 175 movies, all which take place in Louisiana. They are carefully going through this list, studying the movies to compare depiction to reality. Shipka said there has been lots of damage done to Louisiana’s reputation because of the film industry.
“There was a movie called ‘The Alligator People,’” Shipka said. “It takes place in LaFourche Parish. A woman goes down there to find her husband who’s disappeared. He’s turned into an alligator.”
The International Movie Database (www.imdb.com) lists “The Alligator People” as a 1959 production. Shipka listed other movies that stereotype Louisiana, including “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951) and “Shy People” (1987).
“What I think will help is the burgeoning film industry that’s going on here in Louisiana,” Shipka said. He hopes that as producers continue to take advantage of tax incentives here, the time spent in Louisiana will reveal the state’s true colors.
“When people come here, and they see how the state works, and they see the people, and they see the culture,” Shipka said, “they’ll be able to get a more accurate representation than just coming here and filming for a week.”
Shipka and Kristin expect their book, “Swamps, Snakes and Storms: Louisiana in Film,” to be complete by the end of next year. Kristin said LSU Press has expressed interest in the book by sending a letter of intent. If published, “Swamps, Snakes and Storms” would hit bookshelves sometime early 2011.
