an icepick through the keyhole

Did you watch Joss Whedon's Firefly when it was briefly airing? I love Joss, but I think that he does a poor job integrating cultural identity (witness that poorly written quasi-Jamacian-accented second slayer in the second season of Buffy) into his series. I was interested to see how the show would expand on the theme that all cultures had been assimilated into one "Alliance," with particular emphasis on traditional Western culture coexisting with traditional Far Eastern culture. I suppose the idea is that if you don't wish to be assimilated (eg, marginalized and homogonized) you push out and become a settler on the rim of the galaxy.

Also, re: the Hatfields and McCoys, I'll save you some time: started in the Civil War, blah blah, stolen pig, blah blah, dead Hatfield, blah blah, vigilanteeism, blah blah, star-crossed lovers, blah blah, more murders, and eventually they make it up and become a tourist attraction, because there isn't a whole lot of drawing power in Appalachia.