I have viewed the online photos and yes there are people who look like that and homes that look like that, but that is NOT the majority. It is as if he purposely seeked out the poorest.
I also watched the slideshow and he said Vidor was "isolated", no it isn't, it has Interstate 10 that runs from Florida to California running right through the middle of it, give me a break. He has Vidor looking like a scene right out of the movie Deliverence.
I have lived in Vidor my entire life with the exception of a year in Boston Mass, yes from this isolated place I was actually able to get an airport, and believe it or not afford a plane ticket. Our household income is $100,000 for the year, imagine that. This book is a NEGATIVE, not a positive, from what I've seen if you are using the pictures to get an idea of what the "landscape" looks like here.
I'm very annoyed obviously. We have $20,000 homes for sale here, but also $550,000 homes. There are doctors, lawyers, etc that have their homes here because they were raised here. It is a safe place to live.
He saw and found what he wanted, he could have found the same in any town around here, he just choose Vidor.
I believe Mr. Anderson's time would have been better spent photographing the Big Thicket beauty instead of choosing to ridicule my hometown of Vidor. There are many beautiful homes in and near Vidor and perhaps a higher percentage of educated, gainfully employed residents than many other cities of Texas.
I have viewed Mr. Anderson's pictures on the internet, and I feel that he doesn't know what he's talking about. He had to go to the backwoods in Vidor to take most of his pictures. Being from Arkansas I'm sure he's seen poverty before. He only interviewed and photographed a few individuals in Vidor. Every town has poverty. However, he did not show the positive view of Vidor, only the negative. There are numerous educated people in Vidor. I know lawyers, dentist, doctors, engineers, educators, counselors, news anchor personnel, business managers, and many more professionals in Vidor. But none of these individuals were portrayed in this book. Mr. Anderson, there is no beauty in poverty. These people need help and encouragement. They do not need to be publicly ridiculed which is what people will do. Vidor is not the embodiment of the worst in all of us like many people believe. Vidor has outstanding schools which I am proud to have my grandchildren attend. Both my children graduated from Vidor and finished college with honors. Vidor is an average town which has tried to reach beyond a negative past. Unless you have lived in Vidor and personally know the people, you have no right to portray the town negatively.
