Found time this evening to watch HGTV's "A man named Pearl" tonight (I think it originally aired Sunday night) and really enjoyed it. Even though the John Deere product placement and ads were a little obvious. I'm probably a little biased, cuz playing in the yard is my thing, but even with that aspect removed...it came across as mostly genuine, positive, and uplifting (if maybe a little saccharine).Pearl Fryar is a man in rural SC (in the poorest county in the state) who spends his days (and often nights) meticulously maintaining his 3 acre yard. His specific medium - hyper manicured hedges, bushes and trees. Most of his plants he salvages from the junk pile at a local nursery. Doesn't irrigate. Doesn't use pesticides. Drives a John Deere. Has no horticultural education at all.
Not that the story needs a feel-good theme...but Pearl's initial motivation for his obsessive attention to yardwork stemmed from a comment that was made by a potential neighbor in a community the Fryars were house-shopping in, to the effect that "his kind" didn't keep up their yards. I'd never heard that particular stereotype, but I like how he responded to it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment