I was born in Texas and spent my first 35 years there. It's not like the movies, because life isn't like the movies. I was completely miserable and honestly regret being born due to my life in Texas. Very little help from the government, my schooling was inadequate, and I was exploited by employers multiple times without repercussions. Bad places do make for good people so my dearest friends looked out for me and I them. I'm very glad I moved up North to the Eastern seaboard where there is infrastructure and the average person is a bit less on edge.

The governor literally had a trap set in the Rio Grande river to drown undocumented migrants that attempted to cross there. It was the death penalty, for a misdemeanor offense. He then lost a lawsuit about it, and refused to comply with a court order.

So I would say that it's likely worse than depicted in books, and the people saying otherwise live in a very soft, comfortably cocoon.

Depends on the part of Texas you’re in. Texas is a very large state.

I don't know those movies. I've lived in a few places and have been in Texas for the last 26 years. IMO Texas cities are friendlier than Indiana, less racist than Florida, and cheaper than Southern California. We tease that we set our watches back 20 years when we cross the river to Oklahoma. Rural and small town Texas can be totally different! I've been in a small town where an older gay couple runs the local coffee shop and it seems like the whole town hangs out there. I've been in a small town where i was afraid to go into a bar wearing a covid mask.

ETA- You sent me down a rabbit hole and now I'm about to watch Lone Star.

For women in Texas, a new study says you're getting the short end of the stick. WalletHub ranked Texas among the five worst states for women to live in, with its study released Monday, February 26.

Source: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/worst-state-for-women-texas-18690990.php

Texas is the worst state to live and work ... Factors like Texas having the highest number of uninsured residents in the nation, higher violent crime rates, a low number of primary care physicians per capita, a strict abortion ban and laws targeting LGBTQ+ people were what made Texas’ score so low

Source: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-is-the-worst-state-to-live-and-work-according-to-cnbc-analysis/

Texans? No. The Texan government? Yes. The AG tried suing a children's hospital here in Seattle for providing care to a trans kid. The government is obviously pretty fucked when it comes to abortion. Taxation largely falls on the lower and middle classes.

Absolutely not lol. Firstly, you're assuming that Texas, a state literally larger than France, has one, singular culture. Secondly, just no. Listen, Texas has a lot of problems. There are a lot of assholes in Texas. However, being unable to trust anyone is not one of those problems.

I live in the Panhandle and it's a hilarious satire on existence. People go to church and talk about community and family, but cheat on their spouses and screech about hyper individualism all the time. They threaten to shoot you with their "come and take it" guns for sneezing too close to their property but then if we get a bunch of snow dumped on us and traffic goes to shit, without fail, the good ol boys in their lifted trucks are all over the high way pulling stuck cars out of the snow. It's bizarre.

Why would you pick those particular pieces of media? There is a great deal of media depicting Texas. In my (generally suburban) experience, it's way more like King of the Hill or Office Space than it's like No Country for Old Men.

no. its so much worse

Blood Meridian is maybe not the best novel to base your opinion of a state on.

Much like anywhere else there's wonderful folks interspersed with absolute shitters.

Texas is a weird place. If you fit a certain mold in the rural parts people will bend over backwards to help you. Anyone outside of that will view you with suspicion however. Racism in the rural south is more based around cultural signifiers than skin color. A POC dressed nicely will be treated pretty normally, especially if they speak politely. The same person wearing a hoodie will be ostracized and viewed with suspicion.

Of course, as you go into cities people become more atomized and less willing to help. Without the southern hospitality, you just individualist racists. People in the rural areas have shitty opinions but sincerely care about community. They're wrong about rural Texas but right about the cities I would say.

It's not the wild west anymore. The politics are bad, but people are mostly the same as anywhere else. Maybe you should visit.

they're just filled with constant sorrow.

Texas is a beautiful state ruined by a bunch of assholes with authority.

I've lived in the east and the South (Texas) and by far Texans are more kind but not nice while the east people were nice but not kind.

It's more of an idea that's like that than a place always being like that I think. Pirates, wild west, etc.