The Rebel Behind the Wheel: An Examination of the ‘Redneck’ Rebel Cultural Trope in <i>The Dukes of Hazzard</i>

The heyday of ‘Redneck’ cinema—the 1970s to early 1980s, saw the rise Redneck Rebel—a Southern or otherwise ‘hick’ anti-hero who rode around countryside like a modern-day cowboy vanquishing evil. His ‘horse’ was his car—a beefed up/souped up muscle car that often became star show and overshadowed himself. This article examines Rebel through lens one American TV series—The Dukes Hazzard. popular 1980s series, along with its antecedents contemporaries, underscore several important points reinforce typical conservative virtues: freedom, fighting ‘good fight,’ an overt heterosexuality, particular reveling in sarcastic ‘sticking out tongue’ at overly sophisticated, arrogant, ‘anti-American,’ well-heeled parts society.