I am not sure if the film is exploitative, though it does seem to be glorifying and possibly encouraging illegal, unhealthy, self-destructive behavior. That being said, I suggest you watch it on a weeknight or a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Mike and I disagreed over the films best (or most telling) moment. In my eyes, the film is captured by (SPOILER ALERT) the scene where Kirk, still in the maternity ward after delivering a baby girl, crushes up some pills (Oxy? Percs? Vic?) with her friend and snorts them. She is subsequently shocked and devastated when Social Services decides she is unfit to have full custody of the child.
Mike's favorite scene was when Mousie, recently released from jail, tracks down her estranged husband Charles Green, removes him from his pregnant girlfriend's house, and forces him to kiss her int he back of a truck while her young son Wimpy is present. They then take a trip down memory lane, to the drug store where they were married; luckily, the pharmacist on duty one night was also a pastor, and after picking up some pills and snorting them, they were escorted to the flower section and married.
There were many sad scenes in the movie, but I was most struck by the fact that this is a dysfunctional family where everyone is making bad decisions, but the women keep everything from totally falling apart. The women keep the family going (literally), picking up relatives from jail, from the hospital, and from court. Clearly they could be doing a better job, and I am amazed the state of West Virginia hasn't evicted them yet. Consider how much money the state of WV sinks into this family every year, between welfare payments (their main source of income aside from selling drugs), time spent in the criminal justice system, and interventions by child and family services.
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