Other Film Series – Hillbilly Elegy

The 2019 United States Census reveals that 10.5% of American lives in poverty; in Kentucky, a state that is pertinent to this workshop, the rate is almost twice as high at 18.7%. Almost one-quarter or 23.7% of those in poverty lack a high school education. How these factors impact the lived experience of those who inhabit these categories is depicted in Hillbilly Elegy, an autobiography written by J.D. Vance and the movie based on this work directed by Ron Howard. Readers of the book, and those who view the film, not only get a glimpse into the challenges of living in a culture of poverty but also gain the opportunity to examine their own assumptions and attitudes of those we might consider as “other”.

This virtual workshop will examine the way in which the concept of “the other”, ideas regarding how we perceive those who are “not like us” and how we may have been ascribed to social identities that we did not choose are encountered in the book and film. A brief presentation of Jungian, Psychoanalytic and Existential ideas as they illuminate this topic will be followed by a guided exploration and discussion of these themes and how they are revealed in both in the psyche of an individual and in the larger culture.

Reading the book and/or viewing the film prior to the workshop are highly recommended but not required.