What Was J.D. Vance’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ About? Here’s A Recap

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At the Republican National Convention on July 15, former President Donald Trump selected Ohio senator J.D. Vance as his official running mate for the 2024 presidential election. Vance is a controversial pick for Trump for many reasons, including his reported relationship to Project 2025 and his previous distaste for Trump — but one surprising way the internet has reacted to this announcement of Trump’s vice president pick is by making memes of (*checks notes*) Amy Adams.

If you’ve seen the memes but have no idea what the connection is between Vance’s and Enchanted actress Adams, all is about to become clear. (And if you do know, you’re welcome to stay for a refresher!)

Long story short: In 2016, Vance published Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. The book reached unexpected commercial success. The New York Times, at the time, described the memoir as “a compassionate, discerning sociological analysis of the white underclass,” done with “a vocabulary intelligible to both Democrats and Republicans.”

The memoir was then adapted to film in 2020 and starred actors Glenn Close and — you guessed it — Amy Adams. So this is where the memes come in. 

If you don’t want to watch or read Hillbilly Elegy (I mean, who has the time?!) here’s a recap of the story — and the discourse that surrounds it.

Vance wrote Hillbilly Elegy about his life.

Hillbilly Elegy is a memoir about Vance’s life growing up in the Rust Belt, serving four years in the Marines, and attending Yale Law School. He also writes about his mother’s childhood, his “Mawmaw,” and his familial relationships growing up.

The novel was released in the summer of 2016, leading up to the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Trump, which accounts for much of its popularity. According to the New York Times, the novel “preaches a message about tough love and responsibility,” and explains why Appalachia so quickly went from largely Democratic to starkly Republican — serving as “a civilized reference guide for an uncivilized election.”

In the memoir, Vance mainly discusses his struggles growing up, and how he escaped them through hard work and accountability. The memoir was wildly popular at first — so much so that, upon running an interview with Vance after its release, The American Conservative’s website crashed due to traffic. 

The memoir was adapted into a Netflix movie in 2020.

The memoir was adapted to film by Netflix and released in 2020, which invited a slew of criticisms, especially of Amy Adams’ performance as Vance’s mother, Bev. 

The film scored a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (yikes) and is frequently cited as one of Adams’ worst performances to date — and now that Vance is under the spotlight again, it’s a role she’s unlikely to escape.

Both the book and the movie were controversial.

Although the memoir was praised, it was also highly controversial, especially for those hailing from or living in Appalachia, many of whom found the book audacious and full of stereotypes.

A New Republic story made the assertion that “Vance’s central argument is that hillbillies themselves are to blame for their troubles,” and as the book grew in popularity, so did this sentiment.

The novel came as an explanation for confused voters about the politics of Appalachia and the Rust Belt during the 2016 election, and it had critics divided. According to Vulture writer Sarah Jones, Vance’s memoir is “poverty porn” wrapped up with harmful preconceived notions about the region. “In Vance’s Appalachia, poverty and immorality intertwine,” Jones wrote. “Success happens to hardworking people, and structural explanations for poverty receive glancing attention when he chooses to mention them at all.”

In fact, the novel is hardly set in Appalachia at all; his family relocated to Ohio two generations before Vance was even born. Though this may be a point about generationally being unable to escape Appalachia, many still take issue with him becoming the voice of a region he may not actually know very well.

The 2020 release of the Netflix movie made these criticisms skyrocket, and Adams’ performance as Vance’s mother has — unfortunately for her and her bid for an Oscar — come into the limelight yet again.

“We can’t let our vice president be a man whose life story ruined Amy Adams’ career,” one X user wrote following the news of Vance’s appointment as Trump’s running mate. 

If that’s the sentiment that gets voters to the polls, then so be it, I guess!

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