In case you don’t know by now, I’m not buying what Reese Witherspoon is selling. She’s selling this really hokey, fake version of “Southern culture” which has little to no bearing on what it’s really like to live and work in the South. Even though Reese is from Tennessee, it often feels like her vision of the South is just a Hollywood stereotype. It bugs, and she bugs. Anyway, Reese covers the latest issue of Southern Living because she’s promoting her sad Draper James line – clothing and lifestyle accessories for those who want to celebrate Southern stereotypes. That’s a Draper James dress she’s wearing on the cover and it is hideous. Some highlights:
Her family lies all the time because they’re Southern: “In my family, we say, ‘It doesn’t have to be true to be told.’ At lunch, my mom was telling a story about when I moved out here and how she found my apartment and paid for it. I said, ‘Mom, you know none of that’s true, right?’ I found my own apartment, and she did not do any of it! But most of the time, I don’t even bother to interrupt…I think there’s nothing better than a Southern person as they age. The stories get better and better and less and less true.”
Working with the ladies on ‘Big Little Lies’: “We learned more about each other at night over wine. We didn’t rehearse; we’d just go to dinner! I think people saw themselves [in the show]. I think men discovered how women really feel about marriage and relationships and each other. I mean, when was the last time you got to see women really talk about complex issues?
Why she started Draper James: “That’s a great question. I don’t really know. Other than sometimes I get a wild hair and an idea that won’t leave me alone, and this is one of them. I love it. It’s also good for my brain to do something other than be in a movie. I’m 41 years old, I’ve been making movies since I was 14, and I needed something else. I love what I do, but sometimes you need to meet different kinds of people. It also brought me back to my roots—I get to travel all over the South. Also, don’t you get tired of everything fashion related being based in New York and Los Angeles? There are people all over the country who are interesting and interested in fashion, and I thought, “Why not create great designs that mirror and value those kinds of lives?” I like telling these American stories.
She’s releasing a coffee table book about the South too: “There’s so much curiosity about the South right now. And it’s not the same South that you and I grew up in. It’s more inclusive. I think our region has transformed into much more of a place filled with new cultural ideas and attitudes. But Southerners still come together and take care of each other; there is such a great sense of community. I think the South is also a quintessentially very funny place—people don’t take themselves too seriously. The ability to laugh at yourself is a real survival instinct.
You guys… why? Why does she act like “the South” is this monolithic entity that can be generalized about in this way. The way she’s talking, it’s like she’s two seconds away from quoting Sarah Palin and calling the South “the real America.” The South IS more inclusive these days, but I doubt that will be reflected in her dumb coffee table book. It’s inclusive in that it’s just like the rest of America!! There are people of all races, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc living in the South. There are LGBTQ people living in the South. And yes, people have been designing clothes in the South this whole f–king time. This, to me, is like a dog-whistley version of Blake Lively’s “Allure of Antebellum.” While Blake was rightly called out for her obvious nonsense, what Reese is trying to perpetuate is this idea that the South is a monolithic white fantasy of manners, sass, humor and sugary beverages. Like the Dukes of Hazzard, but with white gloves and cotillions. It’s total f–king bullsh-t.
Photos courtesy of Southern Living.
