Semiotic Analysis Of The Film The Beverly Hillbillies

The opening credits to this episode consists of melodious tune and song with a short video graphic matching the song describing what prompted the Clampetts to move to Beverly Hills. The song and music describe how Jed Clampett, a widower, discovers oil in his land while he was hunting to find food for his family. The song terms the oil as black gold (which graphically oozes from the ground) and says that the first thing Jed did was take his family and following advice from his neighbors (“California is the place they ought to be”), move to Beverly Hills, California.

The title of the film (The Beverly Hillbillies) and the names of the cast, are then displayed on the screen with a background of the four of them, Jed Clampett, his daughter Elly May Clampett, his mother in law Daisy may or Granny and his nephew Jethro Bodine, in a small car with their belongings moving to California. The syntagms (logical sequencing of words in context) in the music form a narrative which explains the plot of the film (Monaco, p. 34).

Once they get to California, Milburn Drysdale, Jed’s banker welcomes them to their new house where they have an uneasy time adjusting. There are several paradigms (substitutions to give meaning) which have coded hidden meanings in the speeches by various characters and in the images they have portrayed (Barthes, pp. 15-78).

Mr. Drysdale for example, is dressed in a classy suit and speaks in clear formal English, contrary to the rugged country clothes and country language shown by the Clampetts. He signifies class, education and wealth while the Clampetts show poverty, classlessness and lack of education. When Mr. Drysdale wishes them a happy meal by saying “Bon Appetite”, Granny says “That man speaks gibberish”. This further demonstrates their utter lack of education and class.

Miss Jane Hathaway has short hair, dressed in an official skirt and dress, wears high heels and speaks in educated formal language. She portrays an educated, classy and modernized woman. Elly May on the other hand, is dressed in cowboy trousers and shirt, wears boots and speaks in informal language. She takes on a cowboy kind of behavior, his father actually says he raised her like a boy. She therefore portrays an uncultured lady, classless and old fashioned.

Miss Hathaway even mistakes her for a servant which she unknowingly accepts (code violation), even to put on a maid dress and shoes which she calls pegs (instance of humor using code violation). The pink flamingoes set by the pool by Miss Hathaway in an effort to please their clients, the Clampetts, symbolize wealth and class, but which the Clampetts mistake for being “big chickens”, which are ridiculously chased around by Jethro Bodine, in an effort to find food.

The very house they have been bought is a symbol, of wealth and change also. The stove that is installed in the kitchen for example, is a big change for Granny as she is not used to such. She goes ahead to put firewood in the oven (humor via code violation) and then say it does not work (Carey, pp. 11-67).The conversation about Oxford between Jethro, Jed and Mr. Drysdale represents the gap in education between Jethro and Mr. Drysdale.

Whilst Jethro speaks of a school in which he is in 5th grade and which the name came from the “FORwaDing of OX-en”, Mr. Drysdale speaks of a prominent University for the highly intelligent. This misinterpretation is also adopted by Miss Hathaway when she is inquiring about Jethro from Jed, only to get disappointed by the simplicity of Jethro and his lack of education. This conversation is a model of the TV production techniques which have been used by Telecomm companies to convey a message to the public (Hall, p.45). The message is one that calls out for the need for education.

Through the various symbols, signs, codes in dressing, misrepresentations and humor using code violation, The Beverly Hillbillies has centered on the themes of Education, Class and change. The films addresses the gap in perception and conduct in the extremes of both class and education, and the possible conflicts and difficulties in adjustments of both groups into the other group’s environment.