How did America let this man become an icon of the working class?

thecardigankid · Aug 9, 2011

Bourbon Guy said:
This Larry guy is not an icon. I have finally stopped getting furious at the mere sight of him.

He's an insulting stereotype composite intended to ridicule and demean America's Scots Irish cultural heritage. That Larry David show is no different. A traitor Jew willing to perpetuate every negative Jewish stereotype. Nothing new. This guy just follows in the grand tradition of Minnie Pearl and String Bean, as well as the black minstrel players doing step and fetchit jive crap to ridicule and demean black folks and keep them in their place in the minds of everyone who laughs at it. Not that I have an opinion on it.

Having lived and mingled in quite a few rural places, with the true seeds of the earth people you describe as being persecuted, I can not remember one time when I have heard a person who is considered "country" by some or "redneck" by some or who are even the spitting image of Larry the Cable Guy himself (and I have met them) I have never once heard them say "I am so offended by the way Larry the Cable Guy portrays us, it is so racist!" not once have I heard that. Most if not all of the people I know who live the country life style (and I'm not talking about we have primitave furniture in a farm house we bought because its away from the city) I'm talking true country people actually like Larry the Cable Guy. Kinda hard for him to be racist if the people he is supposedly stereotyping like him.

Not that I have an opinion on it.

Treetopflyer · Aug 9, 2011

I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and I have friends and family that share a lot of the same traits as the "Larry the Cable Guy" character. To include a friend of mine that cuts the sleeves off his shirts. He was doing it years before Larry was even heard of. The bottom line is that he is a COMEDIAN. He plays a character on stage. I have never once thought of him as a representative of the working man. I have always thought of him as a comedian playing a character, nothing more and nothing less.

I concur with Mike Rowe being a great representative for the American Working class.

LoveMyHats2 · Aug 9, 2011

I agree with most of what is being said here, but you know the "cable guy" is not my cup of tea as a comedian, and is too similar to the late Ernest. Too goofy for me.

MisterCairo · Aug 9, 2011

Rats Riley said:
Just a stereotype!

Nothing more than an Al Bundy, an Archie Bunker....Pee Wee Herman or an Andrew Dice Clay...

Then again...anyone ever watch Swamp People... or visit Missouri or Kentucky???

Hell we have em here up north, so I shouldn't complain!

That's MISTER Herman to you! Pee-Wee is the real thing!

Tiller · Aug 9, 2011

I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and I have friends and family that share a lot of the same traits as the "Larry the Cable Guy" character. To include a friend of mine that cuts the sleeves off his shirts. He was doing it years before Larry was even heard of. The bottom line is that he is a COMEDIAN. He plays a character on stage. I have never once thought of him as a representative of the working man. I have always thought of him as a comedian playing a character, nothing more and nothing less.

Exactly, Daniel is about as much of a redneck as Jack Benny was a tightwad with a man servant named Rochester. Daniel Whitney wasn't really born in the south, and Jack Benny didn't really drive around in a 1923 Maxwell. It's an act, it's an over exaggerated lie, and for anyone who isn't afraid of laughing they are both funny.

rue · Aug 9, 2011

Hi Tiller .... glad to see you

I agree. Although there are people like this that exist, it's just a joke and he's not an icon of the working class.

AtomicEraTom · Aug 9, 2011

He is NO icon of the working class. He's just a comedy bit and anybody who thinks of him as such is taking a character too seriously, I think.

He's no hick at all. Ever watched a true interview with him, he talks like the man on the six-o-clock news.

jamespowers said:
It is all a con. He isn't really even a hick like that. Don't take it too seriously.

Almost everyone I know looks like Larry the Cable Guy, it seems.

rue said:
Trust me... they are everywhere.... even in California and Ohio. In fact a couple of them live across the street from me.

I grew up in and still live in farm country. There's a lot of Larrys out there. I think he's good for a laugh, but little else. These 'rednecks' I see nowadays just make me sad. Every 16 year old kid has a lifted 1995 Chevy Silverado with some ridiculous tires on it and a home made lift kit from 2x4's. They're all flying Confederate flags, with no idea as to what the heritage behind it is. Then you see them, pierced ears, Hollister shirts, and rap music playing out of the truck, but they have a camouflage hat on, so it's okay. My sister and I call them 'wanna-be' hicks.

I don't consider myself a redneck, or a hick, or a hillbilly. I'm just a country boy, I guess I'd say. I wish people didn't buy into stereotypes. They see a guy who works in a factory, drives a truck, and listens to country music as some uneducated ignoramus. You don't need a college degree to be smart, you just have to be willing to learn.

Can you tell this is a sore subject for me? lol

Maj.Nick Danger · Aug 9, 2011

No, of course not. This "icon" is merely the product of Madison Avenue advertising.
But this makes me wonder. Was not the vintage icon "everyman" also simply a product of the same system? You all know who I mean, the ubiquitous suit and tie guy, with the pipe and the perpetual smile that we all have seen in the catalogs from the past. THIS guy,..right here,........ ----->

[/IMG]
Although the stereotypical guy did exist,....was he really representative of the average guy?? Or rather, the majority of average guys back in the day?
I think not.

rue said:
Hi Tiller .... glad to see you

I agree. Although there are people like this that exist, it's just a joke and he's not an icon of the working class.

Pompidou · Aug 9, 2011

I'd argue there's an important distinction between "isn't" and "shouldn't be". What is an icon of the working class? Who gets to decide? I guess what I'm getting at is, where would Larry the Cable Guy rate if a poll were taken as to who comes to mind as an average working class person? A lot might say Mike Rowe, if they watch Discovery Channel, but Larry the Cable Guy and his Blue Collar Comedy have a lot more exposure. I'd argue that what shouldn't be is. Doesn't matter who we want to be the icon of the working class. At least to me. It's more an issue of popular consensus, and, while I might be wrong, I think Larry's a very strong contender for at least one of a few notable icons of the working class.

rue · Aug 9, 2011

AtomicEraTom said:
These 'rednecks' I see nowadays just make me sad. Every 16 year old kid has a lifted 1995 Chevy Silverado with some ridiculous tires on it and a home made lift kit from 2x4's. They're all flying Confederate flags, with no idea as to what the heritage behind it is. Then you see them, pierced ears, Hollister shirts, and rap music playing out of the truck, but they have a camouflage hat on, so it's okay. My sister and I call them 'wanna-be' hicks.
I don't consider myself a redneck, or a hick, or a hillbilly.

I don't think anyone thinks of you like that Tom and if they do I'll kick their butt (figuratively of course, because I'm a girl

) You are good people little brother

Gene · Aug 9, 2011

The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America's Scapegoats

GREAT book on the subject.

Tiller · Aug 9, 2011

rue said:
Hi Tiller .... glad to see you

Hello dear.

How's tricks?

Every 16 year old kid has a lifted 1995 Chevy Silverado with some ridiculous tires on it and a home made lift kit from 2x4's. They're all flying Confederate flags, with no idea as to what the heritage behind it is. Then you see them, pierced ears, Hollister shirts, and rap music playing out of the truck, but they have a camouflage hat on, so it's okay. My sister and I call them 'wanna-be' hicks.

I have cousins who follow this template even though they are pushing thirty and have kids. My Mother's side has been in upstate New York since we got off the boats, whether we were living in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown, or the foothills of the Adirondack's where most of us are now. None the less my cousins enjoy driving around twenty year old lifted pick up trucks with Confederate Flags in the back. well wearing cheap clothes that haven't been washed in awhile. They usually say something about it being their "heritage", because you know if you grow up in a rural area in upstate New York it must mean your a Confederate sympathizer.

And I'm as worried about Daniel Whitney's character being a representative of the modern working class, as Laural and Hardy were a representative of the Golden Age working class. It's just an act.

AtomicEraTom · Aug 9, 2011

What would I do without you, Rue?

rue said:
I don't think anyone thinks of you like that Tom and if they do I'll kick their butt (figuratively of course, because I'm a girl ) You are good people little brother

Like I said, I've got a ton of friends like this, I don't get why they don't wanna grow up. My parents fly the Confederate flag (not from their vehicles) because our heritage is there and our family fought for that flag. People who use it as a symbol of 'redneck' 'hillbilly' 'white-trash' or any other similar term just infuriate me.

Tiller said:
I have cousins who follow this template even though they are pushing thirty and have kids. My Mother's side has been in upstate New York since we got off the boats, whether we were living in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown, or the foothills of the Adirondack's where most of us are now. None the less my cousins enjoy driving around twenty year old lifted pick up trucks with Confederate Flags in the back. well wearing cheap clothes that haven't been washed in awhile. They usually say something about it being their "heritage", because you know if you grow up in a rural area in upstate New York it must mean your a Confederate sympathizer.

And I'm as worried about Daniel Whitney's character being a representative of the modern working class, as Laural and Hardy were a representative of the Golden Age working class. It's just an act.

Brad Bowers · Aug 9, 2011

I'd argue that Homer Simpson is more of a working-class icon than Larry the Cable Guy.

Brad

AtomicEraTom · Aug 9, 2011

I thought Dan Conner was a good example. I'm not a fan of 'Roseanne' but John Goodman's character on there was working hard to provide for his family, through good and bad times. He loved his wife and kids, but he wasn't a shined-up, Hollywood version of TV dad, either. He was more of a real character. Dan Conner always struck me as someone you'd run into at the local hardware store, same goes for Hank Hill.

Pompidou · Aug 9, 2011

Brad Bowers said:
I'd argue that Homer Simpson is more of a working-class icon than Larry the Cable Guy.

Brad

He and all three men from King of the Hill. I think cheap beer and lots of it plays a large part in defining the "working class icon" in the eyes of the general public.

Fidena · Aug 9, 2011

AtomicEraTom said:
He is NO icon of the working class. He's just a comedy bit and anybody who thinks of him as such is taking a character too seriously, I think.

He's no hick at all. Ever watched a true interview with him, he talks like the man on the six-o-clock news.

Almost everyone I know looks like Larry the Cable Guy, it seems.

I grew up in and still live in farm country. There's a lot of Larrys out there. I think he's good for a laugh, but little else. These 'rednecks' I see nowadays just make me sad. Every 16 year old kid has a lifted 1995 Chevy Silverado with some ridiculous tires on it and a home made lift kit from 2x4's. They're all flying Confederate flags, with no idea as to what the heritage behind it is. Then you see them, pierced ears, Hollister shirts, and rap music playing out of the truck, but they have a camouflage hat on, so it's okay. My sister and I call them 'wanna-be' hicks.

I don't consider myself a redneck, or a hick, or a hillbilly. I'm just a country boy, I guess I'd say. I wish people didn't buy into stereotypes. They see a guy who works in a factory, drives a truck, and listens to country music as some uneducated ignoramus. You don't need a college degree to be smart, you just have to be willing to learn.

Can you tell this is a sore subject for me? lol

Wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, Tom.

Although I dislike any subculture that praises militant ignorance and a spurn for dressing decently.

Feraud · Aug 9, 2011

Bourbon Guy said:
That Larry David show is no different. A traitor Jew willing to perpetuate every negative Jewish stereotype.

Dude, you just dropped a hard J.

fortworthgal · Aug 9, 2011

I grew up extremely poor in an extremely rural area. I guess if anyone was going to stereotype "hillbilly white trash" - it would have been us! I was never hungry and I always felt loved, and frankly, I had a lot of good times growing up the way I did. I still listen to Bob Wills and Hank Williams, and I have been known to enjoy Pearl & Lone Star on occasion, before they became hipster beers.

Stereotypes annoy me, so while I appreciate that Larry is just a character, I do find it somewhat irritating (even though admittedly I do know some real-life Larrys!)

C-dot · Aug 9, 2011

Pompidou said:
He and all three men from King of the Hill. I think cheap beer and lots of it plays a large part in defining the "working class icon" in the eyes of the general public.

It could be just me, but what definition of modern-day working class are we using here? I can honestly say I never associated Larry, King of the Hill, Homer Simpson, or any cartoon/fictional comedy character with the "working class." Comedy commonly uses stereotypes to quickly define a character, and although they can succeed in becoming offensive at times, it's a type of over-the-top humour and isn't meant to be taken literally.

Hell, do we even have a "working class" anymore? I don't remember the last time I've heard that term used in conversation.

How did America let this man become an icon of the working class?

thecardigankid

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Treetopflyer

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LoveMyHats2

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MisterCairo

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Tiller

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rue

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rue

Gene

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Brad Bowers

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AtomicEraTom

Pompidou

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