Typically, when a film is set in a southern state, we get a lot of rednecks and yahoos behaving badly. That’s not to say that there isn’t any bad behavior in the films reviewed in this episode, but it’s not the focus of the films.
In fact, both Dazed and Confused (1993) and Ruby in Paradise (1993) offer a look at smaller towns in the south. Dazed and Confused, directed by Richard Linklater, is a view of small-town life in an unnamed Texas town in the summer of 1976. Victor Nunez’ Ruby in Paradise spends most of its time in the Florida Panhandle during the sleepy off-season. Dazed is fun and bittersweet, and Ruby is a warm look at a relatively late coming-of-age story, told through a feminist lens. In fact, Ruby in Paradise could have been paired with 1974’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore for an interesting compare-and-contrast. (We suppose we’ll have to find another matchup for Alice.)
COMING ATTRACTIONS:
In our next episode, we’re taking a look at three different versions of Little Women (with a nod at the fourth) and examining each one’s approach to the story.