Despite the "Gone with the Wind" references that crop up periodically throughout "Southern Belles," it is clear from the inception that this is a portrait of the American south altogether different from that depicted in the 1939 Civil War epic.
Think gritty trailer parks instead of sweeping plantations; denim and wife beaters rather than pressed suits and flowing gowns. (Then again, the confederate flag is presented prominently in both pictures; some things never change, after all.) Our heroine Bell is no Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler is a far cry from, well, Rhett Butler.
But that's the beauty of it. Just ask anyone who's ever spent any time in a small town south of the Mason-Dixon line and they'll tell you that "Southern Belles" gets it right: from the "hill-hop" culture to the overzealous law enforcement; from the casseroles to the cars to the constellations. (Sure, the turkey hunting scene may have been less than plausible, but what movie has ever depticted hunting with any degree of accuracy?)
And in the same way that Jerry Seinfeld (or, perhaps more appropriately in the presetnt context, Jeff Foxworthy) is funny because his observations are true, so it is with "Southern Belles." Kevin is a kid we all knew in grade school, with extra blankness in his stare for added effect. And that kid probably grew up to become Hampton, complete with the ever-present cigarettes and misplaced pride in a piece-of-crap car.
The main characters, while far from flawless, keep the over-the-top supporting cast from careening out of control. But they do more than that. Even if Belle and Bell are not perfect dramatic foils, by the end of the picture they at least serve to highlight the differing - yet equally legitimate - perspectives on the world from which they hail. It is a world not meant for everyone, but that nonetheless has something quite valuable to offer.
Rhett and Scarlett may not have been proud, but they would have at least laughed a lot.