Hillbilly Elegy was an interesting glimpse into the minds of Young Republicans, and specifically, into the upbringing of the next guy who might one day wake up and accidentally become President.
(You really think Trump is going to last another four years in his present state?)
Before Godzilla Trump came along, Republicans were a dead party ruled over by Tea Party religious loudmouths who didn’t know how to win an election without a Bush or without referencing Reagan.
The book and the film were written before Vance entered into politics. The film adaptation was also made by Hollywood royalty, with the likes of Ron Howard directing, and Glenn Close and Amy Adams turning in Oscar-worthy performances.
All of which suggests to me that there are some Conservative Democrats out there who are anti-Trump but still very much Blue MAGA at heart.
I wonder if the Hollywood A-listers who made the film feel “betrayed” by the fact that Vance, all but predestined to be a Republican given his life story, decided to join the enemy?
When in fact, for the whole movie and the whole book, they are hearing a story of how “Rich and Successful People” overcome adversity and personally triumph because of their determination. It’s the same story Hollywood has sold us for a lifetime. Who knew it had a very subtle elephantine flavor?
Did they suddenly feel guilt, knowing that Capitalism and Fascism are two stops on the same path?
No, I imagine all of that went over their heads.
Nevertheless, the crux of the movie is when Adult Vance realizes that his drug-addict mother doesn’t need to be saved.
She needs to be abandoned so that he can go on and live his life. Because in his own words, “he’s not saving anybody,” and she’s made a lifetime of choices that she alone has to suffer for.
Vance’s grandmother was the one who showed him love and compassion. She earned his respect. His mother was abusive and a bit Trumpesque herself in the reckless way she lived life…and she didn’t do much for him in the end.
Is that why Vance and Trump bonded at the VP audition? Their mutual hatred of drugs (what they see as the downfall of their family)? Or was Vance simply telling the Universal Story of Poverty-Stricken Christians who have to escape the hole of their own despair – a story Trump grabbed and used to campaign?
After all, Christianity is, at heart, a religion of addicts, a religion for those lost in depression and despair, a collective of abuse survivors with a lifetime of regrets, and a demographic who is often conned for everything they’re worth by people who don’t even believe.
I found it interesting that many film critics upon release debated the moral decision that Vance made. Did he owe a debt to his mother, knowing that she would ultimately bring him down with her? Or was it “tough love” that finally convinced her to get sober?
The point of the book/film is open-ended, and a reflection of the viewer themselves.
Ultimately, we don’t owe everyone we meet compassion or mercy or sustenance. But the friendships and familial relationships that we cherish are the ones that we fight for. All of our friendships are optional. They are their own reward. Sometimes there is no ROI, no silver lining, and no point to any of it. The few people we meet, and love, are the treasure we discover.
I will remember this movie as an accurate depiction of Libertarian philosophy, which has always permeated Hollywood and Americana, long before Blue and Red MAGA started fighting.
It’s nothing new. It’s Darwinism. It’s cynicism, the little bit of soul we lose each time we close the door to someone else’s suffering. “I owe you nothing except my debt.” This is where detachment from our own species begins and we forget the whole point of life.
But most Great & Rich People will never understand that, that at the end of your life, your things will be redistributed. Your legacy will be forgotten. But the people you helped will still be on your mind, and you will be on theirs.
Subversify Staff 
L. A. Breaux