Lectures Focus on How Appalachia Is Portrayed in Film

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 27, 2015) — From Reverence to Resistance, a series of lectures about Appalachians on film, begins today with “Genre and Jessica Lynch” at 2 p.m. today in the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

Stacy Takacs, author of “Terrorism TV,” will discuss how Hollywood can “spin” a war. Her lecture will answer the question “Was West Virginia soldier Jessica Lynch really a female Rambo, and did the military make her a damsel in distress who needed to be saved from Iraqis?”

The next lecture, "Hillbilly Horror," is slated Feb. 24, presented by Emily Satterwhite, author of “Dear Appalachia.” The lecture will focus on Appalachian slasher films like “Wrong Turn,” a series of six movies about deformed cannibals hunting in West Virginia.

The last lecture in the series, "Goodbye Gauley Mountain," welcomes filmmakers Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle to campus to discuss their documentary about the Appalachian Mountains in the age of King Coal. It is scheduled March 24.

The events are sponsored by American Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, Appalachian Center, the Department of English, and the Environmental Sustainability Program. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Carol Mason (carol.mason@uky.edu) or Pearl James (pearl.james@uky.edu).