Buckwild and crossing fool’s hill

There is a mixed reaction to the new MTV series “Buckwild” here in West Virginia.  Most of the feedback I get on the radio and on social media was negative or neutral.  Certainly nobody is hailing the production.

I watched the inaugural episode start to finish.  My impression as I watched was one of embarrassment.  Not for the state–embarrassment at myself.    I watched three boys in their late teens and early 20’s engage in what could only be described as stupid behavior.   However, when I was in my late teens and early 20’s I did a lot of those same stupid things.

I’ve run a pickup truck through the mud at high speed for no reason other than to spray mud.    I’ve had a guy on a tractor pull me out of the same mud hole.   I’ve had fun shooting a homemade potato gun.   I’ve ridden a four-wheeler in less than safe fashion.   I’ve thrown a mattress off a balcony.  I turned a pickup truck (not a dump truck) into a swimming pool.    I have never gotten inside a tractor tire and rolled down a hill–but I would have been the first one to try it when I was in high school.   The antics were all featured in the season premier of Buckwild.

Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we all did some pretty stupid things when we were young.   When you added an audience of attractive girls common sense seemed to go out the window at that age.   However, thankfully, none of the dumb things I did as a teenager or young adult wound up on national TV.    There was also a limit to what I would have done.   I had two parents who laid down a set of boundaries.  There were consequences if I crossed them.  I might ride the edge of those boundaries–but wouldn’t cross them.  I would be deeply embarrased if my parents knew of my questionable decision making.   I enjoyed having fun and cutting up, but never wanted to disappoint my parents. 

Somehow, I made it through those turbulent years.  I survived what my dear grandmother often referred to as “Fool’s Hill.”  She would say everybody crosses “Fool’s Hill” and some don’t survive it.   Usually her sermon followed news of the tragic death of a teenager engaged in questionable activity.  Following her death, my dad kept her spirit alive with the “Fool’s Hill” sermon.  I now carry on the family tradition and deliver it to my children when the opportunity presents itself.   I was one of the lucky ones who made it across largely unscathed and now feel embarrassed by my behavior in those days. My only solace is the fact I’m not the only one.   Perhaps in 20 to 30-years the “Buckwild” gang will look back on this part of their lives and feel mortified as they search for words when their children inevidably see reruns of the show.  Sooner or later we all grow up. 

As for the state’s image.  I think any normal person watching will be able to detect the show is contrived, staged, and scripted.   The players in the show are terrible actors and much looked to be “over the top.”   Whether anybody will think we all live our lives in such a manner here in West Virginia is hard to know.   I wouldn’t use the video in the West Virginia booth at an international trade show, but it also could have been worse.  The MTV producers could have attempted to outpace “Wrong Turn WV” or the “Wild Wonderful Whites of West Virginia” in a race to the bottom.   The Mountain State survived those.  We’ll survive “Buckwild” too.







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