sorry but once you notice how often ppl use a southern accent as shorthand for being unintelligent you can never unsee it. classism is baked so deeply and why are you acting like anyone who talks the way my grandfather talks is stupid.
The southern and Appalachian accents definitely get the worst of this but all regional dialects are treated as stupid except *maybe* the NYC accents. But even then I've never seen a character with a PhD and a Brooklyn accent.
It sucks. I've got family with the SW Pennsylvania "Yinzer" accent. I see people daily with the southern "New Englanda" accent. But I know if I saw a character in a show with either of those accents, they would be a moron. I think the only time I haven't seen that was Good Will Hunting and that's because Matt Damon is from Boston and so was his self-insert character.

























