7. Sergeant York presented another type of Appalachian stereotype
The film Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper as the eponymous World War I hero, depicted several Appalachian stereotypes while at the same time disputing others. A prevalent belief of the day, and one which remains a foil for comedians in the present day, was that the men of the region were lazy, overly fond of liquor, mired in poverty, lacking modern conveniences, and woefully ignorant of the English language. Sergeant York presents all of those aspects of Appalachian life except that the York portrayed by Cooper was far from lazy, and after experiencing an epiphany of a sort while in a drunken rage loses his fondness for whiskey as well, or at least gives up the habit of drinking.
