A collection of social media reactions to MTV's premiere of the
controversial "Buckwild" television show Thursday night were mostly
negative, with many sounding off about the unfavorable image of West
Virginia portrayed through the show's country shenanigans.
Ric Cavender, executive director of East End Main Street in
Charleston, posted on Twitter after the show aired, "So they mud,
live in someone else's house, and speak with an accent. Compelling
story."
John Kerkhoff wrote on Twitter, "I think Congress is more
representative of the country's population than Buckwild is of
W.Va."
Politicians and tourism officials have expressed worry recently
that the show will feature negative portrayals and stereotypes of
West Virginians.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D.-W.Va., sent a letter to the president of MTV
last month, asking that the show be cancelled.
When the trailer was released in November, Charleston Convention
and Visitor's Bureau President and CEO Alisa Bailey told the Gazette
it was "just most unfortunate."
And Melissa Whitman, a South Charleston resident, had told the
Gazette that scenes for "Buckwild" were shot last spring in and
around a yellow house just across Beechwood Drive from her home. A
lot of the filming looked faked, she said, adding that she watched
the cast and crew reshoot and tweak scenes.
Dave Emke wrote on Twitter, "Seems most of the WV contingent in
my [Twitter] feed has bailed on #Buckwild halfway through the first
episode. I commend them for making the effort."
The social media posts, however, didn't wait to start when the
show premiered at 10 p.m.
At about 8 p.m., @MTV_BUCKWILD posted on Twitter: "Less than 1
hours till #BUCKWILD WHOS READY [Re-tweet] THIS ... !!!"
Earlier Thursday night, former West Virginia University football
punter and kicker Pat McAfee, currently a punter for the
Indianapolis Colts, tweeted, "The amount of WV tweets I'm gonna get
tonight when 'Buckwild' premieres is gonna be ridiculous ... The
show looks amazing though."
Courtney Grimmett promised that "West Virginia isn't full of a
bunch of uneducated and illiterate hill jacks."
Courtney Antigo said she wished "they would cut the northern
panhandle off of WV and call us PA or OH because these [expletive]
are giving us a horrible name."
But not all the reactions were negative. Twitter showed signs
that more than a few young viewers appreciated the country antics.
"I don't even care what y'all say, buck wild is crackin me up,"
Allie Cardwell said.
Just before the show aired, Haley Rakes said she was "honestly
pretty happy about being from WV and #Buckwild being on MTV."
Morgan Bowles said "at the end of the day, I'm proud where I came
from. It's just a show ... stop worrying about our reputation."
MTV photo Many social media comments mentioned the unfavorable
image of West Virginia that the shows country shenanigans portrayed.
