Straight Story
The representation of the rural in Straight Story functions as a space for Straight to be honest and encounter honesty. Rural America, particularly the Midwest, is seen (and is, to an extent) as a place where people live without the burden of urban problems like serious crime and poverty. While people may be poor, the rural as it is represented in films is a more calm and stable sense of lower and working class economic status. So, in Straight Story, the rural road is place for Straight to confront losses in his life that go beyond the economic. His income level serves the narrative to create a certain type of road trip – one where he lives simply and thrives off of his kindness and the kindness of others – very Midwestern. He embarks on his drive to seek honesty and reconciliation with his brother, and along the way encounters honesty and reconciliation with his past. Through the sense of community present in the areas that he’s traveling (everyone knows the land and probably has a relative somewhere he’s going or has been), he creates bonds with people based on universal commonalities. Kinship takes on a more complex meaning in Straight story, as Straight meets and connects with people who don’t appear to have much in common with him except living in the rural Midwest. Specifically in the cases of the young woman at the beginning and the older man in the last town, Straight’s connections are based on his ability to see below to surface to what they can share and how they’re experiences are parallel. He brings all of these people along on his journey, asking each of them to explore the option of honesty with him and with their families. And his age and mode of transportation instill trust in the people he meets, allowing them to stop and engage with him while they might pass or avoid others.