Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood

I was introduced to this unique film a couple of weeks ago by a family friend. I have to say I was less than thrilled to be getting ready to watch the short films Dancing Outlaw and Dancing Outlaw 2, but once I began watching them I was laughing until the end of 2.

Sure the obvious dynamic between the two films is that in the first one Jesco is in his zone, his territory and in the second film he is surrounded by a different culture which makes it more interesting but other than that it was definitely fascinating to watch to say the least.

Any film that really has no story line, no plot, no real direction and is completely banking on the fact that Jesco himself is interesting enough to carry an entire movie says something when it becomes this popular.

I am not saying it needs to be nominated for an Academy Award or anything, just acknowledging that for it's category which is a cheaply made and completely "real" it far outweighs the competition! Go Jesco :)

This documentary follows Jesco to Hollywood to appear on the Roseanne show. By chance, Roseanne and Tom ran across the PBS special of the first Dancing Outlaw and were destined to meet this legend and get him on the show. I was fortunate enough to see the actual broadcast on ABC many years back. It is just a two minute spot clogging at the end of the show, playing as the religious Elvis impersonating uncle, mentioned for many years in the show. They also drafted Dweezil Zappa to play Wildwood Flower on acoustic for him to dance to. This film was a major letdown after seeing the first one, before he found fame. But you do get to see Jesco in a limo jamming to Pink Floyd. I am glad that there was a follow up for one of my favorite cult icons. He had changed residents, got a few new pets, and lost a couple of friends and family members. I was fortunate enough to find both movies in a bundle for one reasonable price. The 2nd part didn't really accomplish much, except for showing that his prophecy of becoming a star had come true. I give this movie 2/5. Maybe a 3 if you are good and trashed.

The second glimpse of the character Jesco does not deliver like the first. In DO2, Jesco travels to California. Funny that in California, his behavior doesn't seem as eccentric compared to that of some southern California's residents'. Jesco's "big city" experience and tattoo removal does not make for a very interesting documentary. Seeing Jesco on his own terms and his own turf surrounded by family and friends who know and love him is much more interesting than this attempt to make him a "fish out of water".

All 'Dancing Outlaw' stand as examples of questionable ethics in documentary film-making, which predate the recent disgraceful trends in 'reality TV' towards voyeurism to the extent of subject exploitation. Throughout, it's difficult to tell whether Jacob Young (himself a native West Virginian) is presenting Jesco in an attempt to create a well-rounded but sympathetic representation of his character, or whether this is a mere pretence for some ever-popular 'point and laugh at the redneck' fare. This sequel in particular leaves a nasty taste in the mouth - particularly the scene in which Jesco is pretty much forced by Tom Arnold, at the request of a furious Roseanne, to cover his lopsided swastika tattoo (the connotations of which were unknown to Jesco) with three ludicrously overlarge and ugly roses, only for Jesco's scene to be left on the cutting room floor. Throughout his Hollywood 'adventure', Jesco carries himself with the air of a true southern gentleman, but is treated so utterly patronisingly it's difficult to watch.

Overall, it stands as a testament to the division, not merely within celebrity culture, but in American society, between the haves and have-nots, and the perpetuation of these disadvantages as perfectly viable public entertainment. This documentary seems to portray Jesco's story - as superficially as possible - as one of rags to riches. If you ask Jesco, however, who is reportedly steeped in more poverty and strife than ever, he'll doubtlessly tell you a different story. Only, unfortunately for him, there are no cameras left around to hear it.

I'm a West Virginia hillbilly who came to Hollywood 25 years ago, but I still got that ol' mountaineer spirit in me, so naturally I loved the two Jesco White short films, "Dancing Outlaw" and "Jesco Goes to Hollywood." Jesco is generally treated like some white trash savant, but in fact he's not all that unusual if you go up into the hollers of southern West Virginia. Jesco doesn't live too far from Hasil Adkins in Von (near Madison, WV), who was similarly "discovered" about 20 years ago when the Cramps recorded one of the crazy songs he recorded in his bedroom back in late '59 or early '60s. Picture a guy singing about cutting off his girlfriend's head and putting it on the wall, so that she "cain't eat no more hot dogs." That's Hasil Adkins, and he's just as much an unpredictable and volatile backwoods character as ol' Jesco. As for Jesco having "LOVE" tattooed on the fingers of one hand and "HATE" tattooed on the fingers of the other, well, that's a West Virginia prison tradition. Check out a 1953 novel by Davis Grubb (or see the film) called "Night of the Hunter," in which the antagonist, a jackleg West Virginia preacher who kills people (Robert Mitchum in the 1954 movie) has those words tattooed on his fingers so that he can use his hands to demonstrate the eternal battle between God and Satan. What is this review all about? Simply that Dancing Outlaw I & II are freak shows that allow us sophisticated folks to see and smirk at true hillbilly culture in all its glory, and it ain't purty. But it's sure entertaining. Jesco could teach us a thing or two about keeping it real.