No Words, Trailer Park Trash

One more day<div></div>

Last Chance<div></div>

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Damnit, Paul - Although your photos obviously show a woman in despair, you don't have to label her as "Trailer Park Trash." Unless you've have first hand knowledge of her background, that label is an affront.

I'm with George. The caption is mean-spirited, especially since she obviously agreed to let you photograph her.

It's staged. The words are hers as well as mine. We're just

having fun. Sorry if it upset you George. But I guess that's in

keeping with what we were trying to do.

Go Paul,

i'd love to see an exploration of this theme - this reality! a photo essay could unearth alot of positives within this "trailer trash" community... someone like me in australia has little or no idea as to what trailer trash means. i should be doing something on "houso's" (housing commision tenants) in australia!

I shot five rolls of film with the pictured model. I haven't processed all of it yet.

But I'll put some shots in a folder later this week. I think I'll try to come up with

a different name. Something a little more PC.

Paul, good post. However, I'd love to see Mike Dixon's take on a little white trash strumpet. ;>) (You'll notice I refrained from unduly offending people who live in a trailer parks.)

 

Dennis

gee, i thought this post was tongue in cheek. my subjects don't even live in a trailer park, i was just trying to fit an image with a stereotype. didn't know pn had become so pc. ?:-)

George,

How can you tell this woman is 'obviously in depair"? In the first shot, she's smoking a cigarette and looking into the distance. In the second, she's likely doing nothing more than scratching her head.

 

It must be great to be so omniscient.

I have to agree with the dreaded 'PCer's'. Photoshop the woman to make her a woman of color, then call it 'ghetto trash'. Do we find that acceptable??...even 'tongue in cheek'.

"Trailer Park Trash" is frequently used to describe all manner of

things associated with a low-income rural lifestyle. More often

than not, it's used in jest, frequently by the very people it might

describe. It is not necessarily a derogatory term, and it is

certainly not racist. Again, this woman is an actress playing a

role. When an actor portrays a rapist in a film, is it politically

incorrect to refer to the character as a rapist? If a black woman is

cast in the role of an 18th century slave, is it wrong to identify her

as such? There are some school districts that have banned

some of Mark Twain's novels because he used the "N word" in

creating a character. I used the term "trailer park trash" to

describe a character that the pictured young lady and I created.

It's fiction. Get over it.<div></div>

Yummy!!! "Trailer Park Trash" or not, after that last shot, I'd be a guest w/her on "Springer" inna second! ;-)

where's the confederate flag???

<a href="http://mikedixonphotography.com/mistycol10b.jpg">for Dennis</a>

There's a trailer park about a mile from here. Confederate flags all over the place! But not on the trailers of red neck poor white trash! It's mostly recent Hispanic immigrants flying them, and most of them have African blood to some extent or another. Actually, most of the whites there are retired French Canadians, and a few little old ladies scraping by on Social Security and food stamps. I guess the flag is considered pretty.

 

As for "Poor White Trash" as a classification, I think it's best left up to groups of people to decide what they call themselves, and allow them the privilege of getting uptight when outsiders use the same term in a derrogatory manor. My ex, a Jamaican lady, has two kids. The boys and their friends take no offense when I greet them with a "whus up, nigga?" but I sure as hell wouldn't try that with a black guy I didn't know! Finally, words change meanings as you move from culture to culture. American blacks take offense at the term "pickaninnies". Jamaicans, white, black and oriental, all use it as an affectionate term for children. "When in Rome do as the Romans do" is good advice. Now, what time is the bar-b-qued dog meat going to be ready. Oops, wrong thread...

Paul, I understand what you are saying...but IMO it doesn't quite hold up here. If you are reading a novel, or watching a film/play you realize it is a work of fiction portraying the authors viewpoint. If you had stated in your original post that this was a staged, set up shot I'd have no problem with it. By failing to do this you (again IMO only), set yourself up as denigrating someone according to your preconceptions. And by the way...I do happen to know more than a few people brought up in trailer parks...they most certainly do not consider 'trailer park trash' to be a fun little description.

Mike:

 

Woooeeee! Tha's a purty li'l thang.

 

Got a legal question for ya: If you get married in Louisiana, but get divorced in Mississippi, are you still first cousins? ;>)

 

Thanks, Mike, you made my otherwise miserable day.

 

Dennis

Bob,

If I had said upfront that the shots were staged, I wouldn't have gotten a good read on them. Given the initial responses, I now know that our work was a success. It's authentic enough to offend. Love it. Thanks.

Daddy was a mobile home magnate<br>

He couldn't tell his baby no<br>

He made so much cash off the trailer trash<br>

He thought he had to put on a show . . .<p>

--Webb Wilder, "How Long Can She Last"

<i>"Trailer Park Trash" is frequently used to describe all manner of things associated with a low-income rural lifestyle. More often than not, it's used in jest, frequently by the very people it might describe. It is not necessarily a derogatory term, and it is certainly not racist. Again, this woman is an actress playing a role."</i>

<p>Hmmm, this is <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005eiy" target="_blank">deja vu</a>. Paul, it is OK if she agreed to this term <b><u>AND</b></u> if she knows that it will be used to describe her picture posted in a public forum. I don't know to what extent she agreed to have this label used, but I hope you have a model release that includes permission for you to use it.

<p>The very fact that it is "sometimes used in jest" and that it is "not necessarily a derogative term" (because often it is) could get you in trouble with a libel lawsuit. It's the fact that it could be interpreted either way, that can get you in trouble.

<p>I say "could" because if this woman in an actress playing a role, that's OK, and you should make that clear when you initially post your picture that she <u>calls herself</u> "trailer park trash", especially when the picture looks documentary rather than fiction.

<p><i>"When an actor portrays a rapist in a film, is it politically incorrect to refer to the character as a rapist? If a black woman is cast in the role of an 18th century slave, is it wrong to identify her as such?"</i>

<p>Your examples are a little misleading both to yourself and the forum. We're not talking about PC here, were talking about legality. If the film portrays a real person (i.e. "based on a true story") as a rapist when in fact he was not (i.e. never convicted) then the person in question can sue the filmmakers, studio, etc. for libel and he will rightfully win (big time). In the second scenario, if the real person were dead (18th century) you'd be OK, because you can't libel a dead person (i.e. her reputation dies with her). If both cases are completely fictional, then you're OK, as long as you put a disclaimer at the end of the film, "The characters portrayed in this film are entirely fictional and resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental."

<p>Ah, the times we live in nowadays....

After all my rambling (and grammar/spelling errors), the point is, you do need to be careful in this day and age.

The characters portrayed in this thread are entirely fictional and

resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely

coincidental

<It's authentic enough to offend. Love it. Thanks>...Sorry Paul, the 'me generation' mantality through and through. Do you also get ticked when someone on the freeway doing the speedlimit holds you up?