The 1998 David Sutherland documentary Country Boys portrays the lives of two distressed teenagers living in the hills of David, Kentucky. Christopher is a teenager living in poverty with his mother and alcoholic father in a trailer, while Cody is a teenager who lives with his unrelated grandmother. These boys attend The David School, which is an alternative school for troubled students. Both Cody’s and Chris’ vulgar, improper word choices reveal their poor, impoverished lifestyles.
Chris and Cody speak with crude, indecent language exposing their poverty-stricken backgrounds. On numerous occasions, Chris speaks with improper grammar, saying things such as “I’ll find a couple of people that is real social, ‘cause you know I’m not.” His choice of saying “a couple of people that is” reveals his uneducated background. Proper grammar rules would have said a couple of people that are. Additionally, Chris said, “to hell with everything else.” His vulgar choice of “hell” expresses his indecent background. Cody is similar to Chris. However, Cody uses much more vulgarity when speaking. Cody believes something is “bullsh*t.” Instead of using a more appropriate, less crude choice of word here, Cody discloses his improper background and upbringing. Both Cody and Chris speak with numerous imperfections in their grammar and offensive words.
Thoughtful response . . I have noticed that Chris likes to speak in a higher diction at times, too, when he is around people he wants to impress.
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