Movies v. Real Cities

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2006-09-19 04:16pm

In the same vein as the "Tourism v. Real Cities" thread, I thought to start off a discussion of how movies distort the reality of the cities we live in. To start with, my own (though I'm presently exiled from it) city of New Orleans...

Every day is Mardi Gras: In just about every movie featuring the Crescent City, you'll run smack dab into a Mardi Gras parade. Even more amusing is when the film will show a parade running through the French Quarter, as in the second Candyman movie (for which Barth Bros. were commissioned to build scaled-down floats). Mardi Gras always falls at the end of winter or the early spring, so it's partly a dead giveaway if you see a summer crowd watching a parade on Wherever St. Also, there has not been an actual krewe parade through the French Quarter since the fire marshall banned those from rolling through the narrow streets of the Vieux Carre in 1972 given how the size of floats, particulary for superkrewes like Bacchus, have expanded over the years. These days, only Krewe duVieux is allowed to run mini-floats sponsored by the little parading/making groups through the periphery of the district.

French is the official language: You can count with the fingers of a single hand the number of movies about New Orleans in which you won't find a single person speaking French. Hollywood seems to think that everybody here speaks French. In point of fact, the French language has been extinct in New Orleans since about 1948; if you ever hear a foreign tongue spoken, it is most likely to be Spanish (something which A Streetcar Named Desire actually got right and no other film made since has managed).

New Orleans, the Cajun Heaven: While Cajun food and Zydeco music are celebrated in the Crescent City, the actual culture of New Orelans is American and Creole, not Cajun. The Creoles are the mixed-race population which have inhabited the city since before the Louisiana Purchase, and descend from black, indian, Spanish, French, and English/American forebears. Basically, the Cajun culture is found in tourist dives and restaurants, but the actual Cajun Louisiana is found in the Acadian parishes west of the city. But according to the movies, every second or third Orleanian is playing the washboard, tub, accordian and guitar at a crab boil every other weekend.

The Two Religions: If you believe Hollywood, the Crescent City is divided between Catholics and practitioners of Voodoo (just about all of whom are exclusively black). New Orleans is about as theologically diverse a place as you'll find anywhere in America. Voudou remains a strong fringe belief, and the Spiritualist churches peppered throughout the 7th and 9th Wards combine Christian and Voudou spiritual practises, but the city also hosts the seat of the Epispocal bishopric for Louisiana and has had a longstanding strong Jewish religious influence in addition to the Protestant denominations and the Greek Orthodox church. Furthermore, you won't find Voodoo shops just around the corner from St. Louis Cathedral or St. Jude's on Rampart where the storekeepers speak French and conduct business with snakes draped around their necks.

"A man told me to get on a streetcar named Desire and then one called Elysian Fields and then one called Cemetaries": Blanche Dubois telling of the street directions she was given to reach the Kowalski residence on Elysian Fields always brings a smile to my face, since the only place in New Orleans those directions would get you is hopelessly lost. While Tennessee Williams penned that actual perversion of New Orleans geography, I suspect, as an in-joke, Hollywood usually commits equally bizarre rearrangements of the local topography when you see any person driving on Carrollton or Oak to wind up in the middle of the swamp somewhere. Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh was particularly risible in this when a character reached the sticks driving on Esplanade Ave to pull up into a "plantation" home which I recognised as a house on Esplanade —which was used as location for the "swamp plantation". You actually have to do a bit of driving from the city to reach anyplace so remote that you'd think you'd gotten lost in the opening title sequence of Manos: The Hands Of Fate.

So, which parallel-universe version of your home have you ever viewed in a movie?

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2006-09-19 04:50pm

OH lord, where do I *start* with the inaccuracies on West Virginia?

"Beverly Hillbillies" : Filmed in California.

"X-Files" : all WV scenes from the show filmed in Canada.

"Deliverance" : Filmed in GEORGIA.

"Wrong Turn" : *snort* RIIIIGHT... as if being Sodomizing Hillbillies wasn't enough of a stigma, now we're Cannibals?

"MothMan" : Ok, so they did add some shots of Point Pleasant into the film, but most of it was shot elsewhere. Oh, and the events actually happened in 1959, not modern-day, which is just *one* of the liberties that film took.

"Silent Hill" : Not only *isn't* there a Silent Hill WV, far as I can tell none of the scenes were shot in WV. As for the creepy happenings, we have our own ghost stories and UFO sightings, we don't need to steal from a VideoGame.

Now, to see a movie that is (supposedly) being done RIGHT, "We Are Marshall" will be opening this December at a theatre near you. The only bitch I had was the actual football game was done in GEORGIA, by (iirc) GeorgiaTech players.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2006-09-19 05:53pm

Philadelphia apparently consists of Center City, Old City, the Art Museum, and one street in South Philadelphia. Nobody ever gets stuck on the Schuylkill Expressway. Everyone entering or leaving the city crosses the Ben Franklin Bridge, no matter where they came from or where they're going. The fastest way to travel within the city, no matter your destination, is to take Market or Broad around City Hall. Professional football is played at Franklin Field. If anyone takes public transit, it is fast, professional, on time, you never have to transfer, and your stop is conveniently located close to your destination. King of Prussia Mall is somewhere in the city limits, not 12 miles away in Valley Forge. Parking is possible.

For New Jersey: New Jersey stops at New Brunswick. Nothing exists south of there, except Atlantic City and the Pine Barrens. No matter where you are, you can see New York or a chemical plant, maybe both. Everybody takes the Turnpike. Nobody gets stuck on the Turnpike. Everybody flies out of Newark. Everybody is a Devils fan (this is a particularly loathsome falsehood south of Trenton). Everybody talks like he grew up in Brooklyn. Everybody listens to Springstein, the girls all have big hair, and the 80s never died.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2006-09-19 06:53pm

San Francisco:

1. If you leave San Francisco to visit Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Jose, or Oakland you DO NOT cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Nor would you likely use the bridge to travel to other states aside for Oregon and Washington.

2. There is very little thunder and lightning in San Francisco, this true of the entire Bay Area as a whole. Yet, scary movies set in SF often have thunder and lightning during rainy scenes.

3. You don't hear fog horns throughout the city. I'm not even sure if fog horns are even used anymore. I don't recall hearing any last time I was on the waterfront.

4. Fishermans Wharf and the docks. Fisherman's Wharf is a small tourist trap and there is very little industrial activity on the waterfront in SF. The real cargo work is done in Oakland and passenger ships are visiting SF in decreasing numbers.

5. For Star Trek fans you should know that there are no more "nuclear wessels" in Alameda.

Post by **Kuja** » 2006-09-19 07:14pm

In the laughable TV movie, 'Category 7' a preacher is killed in Buffalo while standing within a large baseball stadium that does not exist.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2006-09-19 07:16pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:5. For Star Trek fans you should know that there are no more "nuclear wessels" in Alameda.

But there are two weird guys and a hot hot chick blowing shit up in the name of science.

Shadow WarChief · Post by **Shadow WarChief** » 2006-09-19 07:18pm

To add on to TrailerParkJawa

The "Cetacean Institute" from STIV is actually the Monterey Bay aquarium, and far from being "across the bay in Alameda", it's down the peninsula in, surprise surprise, Monterey

Similarly, there is no giant whale sized tank at the MBA. The region of the aquarium in which they kept George and Gracy in the movie is in fact a large tide pool display
Behold

More on the city itself, NOONE uses cable cars as a means of transportation. Those are kept around solely because they're a black hole for money that sucks all tourist's funds out of their pockets and deposits it out of a white hole in the city treasury.

Also, it is not the pristine ecological paradise as which it is often portrayed. We have our bums, hookers, litter-bugs and SUV drivers just like every other city.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-09-19 07:27pm

Yeah, I was going to say SF is always too clean in the movies.

Also, its almost never clear at night tehre.

Lord Insanity · Post by **Lord Insanity** » 2006-09-19 07:48pm

I don't know if this really counts as it is not a city, but is is completly in line with the topic of gross misrepresentations of real places in movies. (I guess its fairly tame compared to some of the examples but it bugs the hell out of me.)

My parents live about twenty minutes from where the movies Signs was filmed in Pennsylvania. I can say with absolute certainty that any farmer up there that thought there was something in his field at night would not be grabing a flash light instead of a rifle or a shotgun. (And the minister is likely a better shot than most of the other residents.)

-Mike Petrucelli

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2006-09-19 07:49pm

Shadow WarChief wrote:Also, it is not the pristine ecological paradise as which it is often portrayed. We have our bums, hookers, litter-bugs and SUV drivers just like every other city.

YEAY for the Tenderloin!!

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2006-09-19 09:15pm

Apparantly Denver is nearly non-existent as far as Hollywood is concerned, so I'll do Colorado in general.

1) It's very cold and there is always 3-4 feet of snow on the ground (The Matador, which actually did have some Denver suburb).

In actuality, the eastern portion of the state sees very little wet snow in significant amounts (powder isn't uncommon though). A "White Christmas" is very rare. Usually it's just shitty, cloudy, and cold.

2) EVERYONE SKIS ZOMG.

Certainly, Colorado is a popular place to live for skiers and snowboarders, but it's only up here in Gunnison (which is in the Rockies, not the plains like Denver) I ever hear anything about skiing. I should also point out that skiing is hardly the only attraction for living near the Rockies; my family has a history of hiking and fishing. In fact, I see a lot more hikers than skiers.

...Actually, given the rarity of Colorado in movies, I really can't think of much else. Beyond NORAD in various movies and the Stargates, which generally show little more than military activity inside some bunker, there isn't much to comment on.

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2006-09-19 09:26pm

LadyTevar wrote:"Deliverance" : Filmed in GEORGIA.

Deliverance was indeed filmed in Georgia... but it so happens that it was also set in Georgia.

Post by **Dalton** » 2006-09-19 09:28pm

Apparently the producers of CSI: NY have taken the unprecedented step of filming the show on location...in Los Angeles.

dworkin · Post by **dworkin** » 2006-09-19 09:30pm

I doubt Tokyo is stomped by giant rubber monsters that frequently

Quadlok · Post by **Quadlok** » 2006-09-19 10:11pm

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote: ...Actually, given the rarity of Colorado in movies, I really can't think of much else. Beyond NORAD in various movies and the Stargates, which generally show little more than military activity inside some bunker, there isn't much to comment on.

If you're going to bring Stargate up, you should point out that Colorado looks very little like British Columbia. Neither does New York, or Russia, or any other terrestrial place visited in the series. In fact, very little south of Eugene or east of Ellensburg looks much like British Columbia (at least the part that has come to so dominate television).

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2006-09-20 05:13am

I'd be very surprised if anyone outside of the UK has seen any movies set in Yorkshire (Brassed Off, Little Voice, Kes), but to be perfectly honest most of them broadly have us down pat. Of the British regions ours (along with London, Liverpool and Newcastle, and maybe Manchester and Birmingham) is probably the most recognised, but outside the UK they probably all merge into each other. So the closest I can say is the myriad of American films in which Britain, as a whole, is often exagerated (bad teeth, stiff upper lip, pompous, lanky... that kind of thing).

Since we have virtually no film industry of our own I have to admit to getting a little excited when the Americans deem to put us in a film in some fashion, even if it is slightly derogatory.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2006-09-20 05:27am

LadyTevar wrote:"Beverly Hillbillies" : Filmed in California.

When they ever go to WV?

They were from Bugtussle, a town in the Ozarks. Then they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly. Hills that is.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2006-09-20 06:50am

According to the rest of Britain, Bristol does not exist. The only cities that seem to exist outside of London is Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and (in Doctor Who) Cardiff. And even though they film Casualty in Bristol, they call Bristol "Holby City"...

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2006-09-20 07:22am

Big Orange wrote:According to the rest of Britain, Bristol does not exist. The only cities that seem to exist outside of London is Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and (in Doctor Who) Cardiff. And even though they film Casualty in Bristol, they call Bristol "Holby City"...

Nonsense. The place is a well known slang term for knockers.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2006-09-20 09:26am

I haven't seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but I can tell you categorically that there are no mountains in Muncie.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2006-09-20 11:43am

dworkin wrote:I doubt Tokyo is stomped by giant rubber monsters that frequently

That's because over the years the Japanese have gotten so good at rapid post-monster reconstruction.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-09-20 12:01pm

Quadlok wrote:
Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:...Actually, given the rarity of Colorado in movies, I really can't think of much else. Beyond NORAD in various movies and the Stargates, which generally show little more than military activity inside some bunker, there isn't much to comment on.
If you're going to bring Stargate up, you should point out that Colorado looks very little like British Columbia. Neither does New York, or Russia, or any other terrestrial place visited in the series. In fact, very little south of Eugene or east of Ellensburg looks much like British Columbia (at least the part that has come to so dominate television).

Yes, but let's face it, those British Columbian forests look great onscreen. Small wonder they're used as the model for all temperate-zone forests; those other forests wished they looked like British Columbia.

As for my city, Toronto is almost never portrayed onscreen as Toronto. It does, however, serve as a stand-in onscreen for countless American cities. I'm sure plenty of people have seen parts of our downtown architecture in movies, but it was supposed to be part of New York, or Chicago, or Detroit. For example, Ron Howard complained in the extra materials for Cinderella Man that he couldn't actually find a location in modern New York that was suitable for filming Depression-era New York. But he did find a location in Toronto that looked exactly the way he needed it to.

I suppose that's because Toronto doesn't really have any kind of recognizable architectural motif. It's a hodgepodge of numerous different architectural styles, so if you pick the right part of the city, it can look like AnywhereTown, USA. I can't recall off-hand the last time the movies showed Toronto and actually identified it as Toronto.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2006-09-20 12:31pm

There are many places in Australia and Canada that could very easily pass off as generic American locations. They filmed The Matrix in Sydney for example.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2006-09-20 12:53pm

Lord Woodlouse wrote:
Big Orange wrote:According to the rest of Britain, Bristol does not exist. The only cities that seem to exist outside of London is Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and (in Doctor Who) Cardiff. And even though they film Casualty in Bristol, they call Bristol "Holby City"...
Nonsense. The place is a well known slang term for knockers.

But outside of Bristol being used as a slang word for boobies, Bristol seems nonexistent to rest of Britain at large and does not seem nowhere near as high profile as Liverpool, Manchester or even Newcastle. And why the fuck did the BBC think they could get away with calling Bristol "Holby City" in Casualty?

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2006-09-20 12:59pm

I still think the funniest thing, for me, was in "The Replacements" where the team is suppossedly from DC yet they filmed the entire thing in Baltimore. Seriously does anyone actually think there are wonderful marinas just scattered around DC in nice harbors with views of the stadium? Even worse I can identify some of the street shots as being up in Fells Point which is completely unlike anything in DC.