In 1936, James Agee and a photographer spent the summer living with a family of poor white sharecroppers in Alabama. Even by Depression standards, these were among the poorest and least educated people and their lives were very tough. Agree documented all this in a book called "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men". Initially, the book only sold a few hundred copies. Some now consider it a classic in sociology.
This episode of "American Experience" revisits the family Agee stayed with as well as Agee's observations. Many of the folks had died by 1988 but many were still alive and participated with the show. However, back in 1936, this family had no idea they'd be a subject of a book...and this and a few other things about Agee bothered me. There was no informed consent (something not often sought in 1936 but necessary today among researchers)...and some in the family felt hurt because of the purjorative way Agee described them. Additionally, I was shocked at one small exert from the book that the show read...in which Agee describes the 10 year-old daughter in an incredibly sexualized manner. Talk about creepy!
To me, this show is not just a historical document about a lost way of life but also an example of how back in the day sociologists could observe folks using somewhat unethical methods. One member of the family, for instance, was very bitter when the family discovered there was a book about them....years later! Agee never told them nor gave them a copy of his work. Interesting in these ways, but also an episode of "American Experience" that seems very atypical and a bit...well...dull.