this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2024
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[–] [email protected] 225 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (11 children)

Apart from the confederate flag itself, this show was pretty much anarchist. They spent every episode humiliating the cops and breaking any unrighteous law they could. The show treated the flag as set dressing.

They also came from a family that canonically resisted the Union during the civil war. And there's very few black people in the show whatsoever. So.

I know the hate symbol has always been a hate symbol, but if there's any show where you could say "it was a product of its time" (the 70's, btw) I think it's this one.

[–] [email protected] 70 points 5 months ago

There's a whole episode of The Cleveland Show (as in Cleveland Brown, the black character from Family Guy) where Cleveland gets upset at his neighbor friend for flying a Confederate flag on his house and finally tries to get rid of it. When he fails, he confronts the hick neighbor and calls him a racist. The neighbor doesn't understand why Cleveland is upset and when Cleveland points to the flag the neighbor says, "What, my Dukes of Hazard flag?"

Cleveland immediately realizes he approached the problem from the completely wrong angle and drops the matter indefinitely. They continue to be friends.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Sure, and the context of "that time" was yet another Southern Grievance over the checks notes

Civil Rights Act and continued victories against bigotry in the decade leading to Dukes.

Including police officers enforcing laws like desegregation of schools.

Fun Exercise Btw:

Pick a southern county, look up what years the private schools in the area were founded.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Plus the black people that do appear in the show are always equals to the Hazard Boys. They never depict the Hazard Boys being anything but accepting of everyone except Boss Hog and his law dawgs.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And they were always wary of going into the next country because their sheriff actually had his shit together and would bring the pain to the Duke boys. That sheriff happens to be black.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago

Right? If anything, they're mocking the southern, rich, white, fat cat, stereotype.

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[–] [email protected] 130 points 5 months ago (13 children)

The Friday night lineup in those days was Dukes, followed by The Love Boat, followed by Fantasy Island. I didn't know it was racist. I thought it was a sort of Robbin Hood story with cool car jumps and a corrupt Sheriff of Nottinghazzard.

[–] [email protected] 65 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That's because that's all it was.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The racist shit was just a lilly for the southern broadcasters to hang their hat on.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I saw a couple episodes when I was a very small child and I don't remember anything racist. They were just like running from the cops and solving crimes sometimes right?

[–] [email protected] 53 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

It had the southern pride propaganda of the car being named after a confederate general and the flag plus the whole rebellious thing

But yeah, it was basically Robin Hood set in the south and the characters themselves were not written to be racists.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Pretty much. The only 'racist' bit was having the confederate flag on the roof.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 months ago (2 children)

And calling it General Lee.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 months ago (4 children)

I watched it a bit growing up and never got racist vibes from it either. The Confederate flag just meant "the south" to me back then. I knew a lot of people with them on various knick knacks and articles of clothing that I never witnessed being racist either. I don't think people put so much thought into it back then.

These days though, yeah if you're still flying that flag you're probably an asshole.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago

On the flip side, it was just kind-a ok to be racist at that time. I can remember serious discussion on whether a black man could be smart enough to play quarterback in the NFL.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I got into a heated argument (preschool) about whether the car jumped or flew. My dumbass neighbors (my age and younger) contended that it flew. Their mother backed them up. I bet they turned out really fucked up with a parent who was willing to lie to them and distort reality rather than hit them with a dose of reality. I was super mad about it. And now look at me: I’m an atheist who believes in Leftwing politics, so I’d say that on the spectrum from reality to fucked, I turned out pretty ok. Hate to think how they must see the world today.

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Just imagined it or don't understand it. There's zero incest in the show, and zero hate crimes. Other than the flag and name of the car, there's nothing racist about it at all, and that flag wasn't perceived as a racist symbol back then, as illogical as that may seem. When black people do appear in the show, which admittedly is rare, they're always equals to the Duke boys. The show is just good fun. If there's any theme to it at all, it's that it's cool to make money with moonshine, and flaunt the law, while making fools of law enforcement.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 5 months ago

To add, the bad guy is a rich guy trying to exploit people for profit or to get revenge for those that have wronged him.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 5 months ago (4 children)

As a non American, the confederate flag on the roof always seemed strange to me, to put it lightly

[–] [email protected] 70 points 5 months ago (12 children)

The name of the car leaves little room for interpretation.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

They really should have gone that last extra mile and painted flames on it and called it the General Sherman.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

What's the name of the car?

Edit: Nevermind. Looked at the picture again and I'm guessing it's called General Lee.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 5 months ago (5 children)

I was too young back then.

In hindsight, this show was a terrible idea.

Glorification of the Confederates and the protagonists called "the good old boys" would be instantaneously shut down and called out today for the racist white supremacist idea that it is.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The shows antagonists were a wealthy business man turned politician who wielded the corrupt police force to feed his own power and oppress the common folk. And while his nickname was Boss Hogg, the villain's canon name was Jefferson Davis Hogg. Pretty literally calling the cops confederate pigs.

Definitely a lot of problematic elements to the show, but there's some good there too. And I'm sure it influenced a ton of car action sequences for decades.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago

Yes the show itself outside some very visible totems like the car unfortunately, didn't really touch on issues of bigotry and racism. Had it just been about a back woods moonshining family in an unmarked car harassing the corrupt governor and police. There wouldn't be a lot of uproar. Hell it might be embraced.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (9 children)

racist white supremacist idea

Oh FFS, if you were young then you also remember All in the Family and The Jeffersons, shows that were in-your-face anti-racist. Prime time was hardly in a mood for racist bullshit.

What if I said the show was racist because it showed white, country people as wide-eyed, stupid hicks? How ridiculous does that sound?

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago

It’s just a symbol of their heritage. Of white supremacy.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (6 children)

I definitely support that we've pushed this show out of the forefront, but this is where a lot of the arguments for the flag as a 'symbol of southern pride' come from. It's a weird argument, and it is definitely not a fair one, but there's very fond associations in the south with that car even from people who had no clue where the flag came from. Super successful attempt to help the confederate flag be seen as acceptable, whether on purpose or not.

It's a weird show too for someone who isn't from the south... Racial diversity is non-existent in the show, but that's also pretty accurate for its location... It had some awesome car scenes, but no depth. The only hot take in the show beyond the flag painted on top (which wasn't even a hot take then) was that the government was widely seen as corrupt and it was more than a bit sexist.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 5 months ago (16 children)

Yeah, hell, Sheriff Little, the black sheriff from the neighboring county was actually pretty competent. Yeah, it was mostly white, but the black people were always smarter than Roscoe or Boss Hogg.

I dont think op ever watched the show.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago

Surprisingly, when blacks were shown they were treated very well and as equals by the dukes. It almost had anti-racist undertones outside of the General Lee if watched closely.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I watched this as a kid (it aired in Germany).
It was funny, the stunts were cool and the chick was kinda hot.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago (8 children)

To this day many refer to cut denim jean booty shorts as Daisy Dukes.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 months ago (6 children)

Catherine Bach was a robo-babe.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago (4 children)

She may or may not be the reason I find southern American girls hot

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 months ago (7 children)

I wish I was born in a time when people could just enjoy shit.

It seems like mindless TV with action, some good old boys and some eye candy, set in the south.

People make out it is some sort of factually wrong documentary.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (4 children)

Don't forget the rather unfortunate usage of a bunch of people cruising around in the Confederate car all being named "Duke."

See, there was once a man named David, who was the leader of a wacky little group of goofballs back in the '70s. That li'l jokester even went so far as to get everyone to call him a grand wizard, which is such a zany thing to ask people to do, but people totally did it with a straight face

Anyway, I wonder if it's a coincidence. Who knows?

[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago (1 children)

He was leader in 1989. The first episode was in 1979, a decade earlier.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 months ago (3 children)

European checking in: whats the name of the series?

[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 months ago (3 children)

In addition, those shorts are still called daisy dukes (at least by my generation) in honor of Daisy there, laying on the flag.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago

Ummm thighs

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