Cooter gives two thumbs down!!!

[redneck236]

Hello fellow DOH lovers! I wish my first post could have been more of a positive one, but when I seen this article with an interview with Ben Jones, I had to post it.

I apologize if this has already been reported but I had to let you faithful fans know that Ol'Crazy Cooter does not seem to like this new film at all from what he said in this interview.

I really hope it isn't as bad as it seems it's going to be, can't political correctness get a little less out of our lives so much?

Here is the URL for the interview:http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg&section=Style&storyid=111875

Here is the text of it:

BEN JONES In 1989, Ben Jones cleaned out his fingernails and shaved his "Cooter" stubble, leaving his aw-shucks role on The Dukes of Hazzard behind to represent Atlanta in Congress. Riding the wave of a Dukes revival — personal appearances, a thriving memorabilia museum near Dollywood and reruns bringing a ratings boon for CMT — Jones returns to talk about the staying power of good old boys and the hazards of bringing the show to the big screen.

Q. In The Dukes of Hazzard movie, we’ll have MTV’s Jackass and the gross-out guy from American Pie playing Bo and Luke. Who’s playing you?

A. I think it was a David somebody [David Koechner, who appeared in Anchorman with Will Ferrell]. I’d never heard of him. I have to tell you right up front I’m concerned about the movie. In the script I saw, there’s profanity and sexual situations that just have no place in The Dukes of Hazzard. They had no respect for the original cast. They had no respect for the original audience. They are making a movie which mocks us. When I was a kid and I went to see a Roy Rogers movie, I wanted to see Roy Rogers, not Alan Ladd or Humphrey Bogart. People want to see us. Q. I’m surprised the movie version of the General Lee will have the rooftop Rebel flag intact. Let’s just say you don’t see a lot of Confederate symbolism in the car makeovers on Pimp My Ride. A. There was a part in the script I read where they made a big thing of it. For them to even bring it up is foolish. That’s knee-jerk liberalism. I think that debate is over and the bigots lost. Q. In today’s terms, wasn’t The Dukes of Hazzard a red-state show?

A. I think that red-state, blue-state stuff is a lazy shorthand to symbolize a larger cultural divide. I’m an old-line Democrat, but I feel that the Democratic Party has lost its resonance in the heartland of America. The Democrats have become the party of urban America. But, the biggest turn-out we’ve had in the last two years for Cooter and the General Lee was in Boston. Their politics are a little off, but they love The Dukes of Hazzard. It’s a whole lot more complicated than red and blue.

Q. Were you this serious and politically aware back when you were playing Cooter?

A. Yeah, sure. I’m an actor. I loved playing Cooter. But I’m also a rural Southerner who’s lived through this stuff.

Q. As a backwoods, do-it-yourself vice, would today’s Duke boys be manufacturing meth?

A. I don’t see the connection at all because moonshine has been part of the culture for a thousand years. Meth is a terrible chemical concoction. There’s nothing romantic about it.

Q. What was Cooter’s legislative legacy?

A. Most of it was nuts-and- bolts stuff, constituent services. I was in Congress when the Cold War ended. I took a pick ax to the Berlin Wall. I held up a banner in Tiananmen Square. I kept my ’ 60s activist thing going on.

Q. Who was the better TV actor turned congressman: you, Gopher from The Love Boat, or that dude from Law & Order?

A. Probably Gopher. Fred Grandy was very effective. He was efficient and serious. He served four terms and I only had two. I’d never had any background in it. Politics has its rewards, but show business is a lot more fun.

[Dale The Bold]

Meth? What kind os stupid quesiton was that? Well, at least it gave Ben Jones an opportunity to give a perfect answer to such a stupid question.

[redneck236]

These seem to be the biggest clues about the film that has me concerned, I take from this Cooter does not like it, and frankly I can't disagree with him....

"I have to tell you right up front I’m concerned about the movie. In the script I saw, there’s profanity and sexual situations that just have no place in The Dukes of Hazzard. They had no respect for the original cast. They had no respect for the original audience. They are making a movie which mocks us. When I was a kid and I went to see a Roy Rogers movie, I wanted to see Roy Rogers, not Alan Ladd or Humphrey Bogart. People want to see us."

About the Battle Flag on the General:

"There was a part in the script I read where they made a big thing of it. For them to even bring it up is foolish. That’s knee-jerk liberalism. I think that debate is over and the bigots lost."

[The Balladeer]

As old Waylon would say.....

"Folks..I've got a baaaaad feeling about this!"

[Divia]

Ok, now that all this has come out. I have a question.......

Is what he read the final script?

Cause to my knowledge they often change things even while filming so these sexual situations he is talking about might have been in the first draft but they could have changed them.

[JESSI DUKE]

I guess we just have to wait until the movie is come out. Just to see what they kept or took out. 8)

[01 GENERAL LEE 01]

The only thing that'll surprise me is if anyone's actually surprised that th' movie sucked.

[Southernpride]

And it is a no winner for the true DOH.

IF the movie (somehow magically) doesn't suck, all credit will go to the movie cast and crew.

When it does suck...the major populance will blaime it on the original DOH.

[StonewallBrigade]

There was a part in the script I read where they made a big thing of it.(the rebel flag) For them to even bring it up is foolish. That’s knee-jerk liberalism.

indeed.

[Scott]

I know when I saw the "preview" at one of the cast/crew parties, there were bloopers on it. These bloopers were hilarious! But...most of the bloopers contained vulgar language and some nudity. Not Daisy-nudity, though (dangit). But I also remember bloopers on other DVD's where the cursing is bleeped out. So it's "safe" for TV usage later on. That goes back to one of my original questions when I started on HazzardNet, "What rating is it going to be?"

The movie guys didn't even know. I'm sure if you edit Scarface enough it could be a G rated movie. (Extreme example there, but...) I just hope it's semi-clean and enjoyable. I'm a simple man (with kids).

[redneck236]

I think what Cooter is getting at, and a lot of us true DOH fans think, is that this movie will not have any real connection to the true fans or the original cast AND the true story of the DOH this especially shows when concerning the General.

It's bad enough there is a scene in the film that degrades the flag on the General, it's the fact that Bo and Luke shy away from it. What Cooter is saying here is that they MOCK them, and such mocks the original DOH AND US, THE FANS in doing so.

Let's not forget there were a lot more Pro-Confederate references made in the original DOH besides an orange 69 Charger with a Battle Flag on it.

How about all the Confederate remarks that Bo and Luke would make in the original series?

Like one when they are telling Uncle Jessie about how many guns these bad guys had and they would say stuff like " If we'd had that much artillery during the war, we wouldn't have lost Atlanta!"

Or in another episode when they say " Atlanta?, why that place ain't been right since Sherman burned it down!"

I'm sure you old timers like me remember them all, but that was part of what made the DOH, the Dukes of Hazzard!

It was a Pro-Southern show, and made no apologies for it, and AMERICA loved it!

I think it's just ridiculous and insulting that they find this offensive NOW but it was fine back then and everyone loved it.

My answer to this is simple, if someone says something or does something that upsets you, a normal person will slowly overcome it over time and forget about it after even more time goes by. But when we talk about the DOH or the South or the Confederate flag, these PC freaks are going in the total opposite direction than what is normal human behavior.

It was ok for the Dukes of Hazzard in 1980, but NOW your mad about it?

Bottom line is I love the DOH way to much to go to a movie that mocks what was a huge and happy memory of my raizin. The PC police can be incharge of this movie if they want to, but I'm not encouraging anyone to see it.

I'll just keep buyin up all the volumes of the original series on DVD and keep saving up for my own General Lee in a few years.

OH, and I forgot going to Cooter's Place in Gatlinburg...