City Stereotypes

[DA Monkey]

Ive never really thought about America having city stereotypes before. I tend to lump you all in the one big basket - you know a little like a kids toybox. A mixture of GI Joes, barbie dolls, cabbage patch kids, monsters, buzz lightyears, yo yo's, matchbox cars, spaceships and leggo blocks.

I dont think I have heard of most of the cities you lot mention, I know of

New York - crowded, cold, brownstone buildings and Jerry Sienfeld

Las vegas - Casinos and CSI

Hollywood - wanna be's, has beens, consumerism and the Beverly Hillbillies

New Orleans - mardi gras

Springfield - The Simpsons

Its funny how you related your cityscapes to tv shows, here we tend to associate cities to cultural/sporting icons and weather (to an extent).

Sydney - raining or bushfires, big city plebs, the harbour bridge and the opera house.
Melbourne - cold, wet, dry, hot, snowing (usually all in one day), aussie rules football, and greeks.
Adelaide - cold, churches, wine and boring,
Perth - warm and sunny, too far away
Darwin - monsoons, damn hot, barramundi, big stubbies of beer
Brisbane - warm, big country town, rugby league
Cairns - warm to hot, best thing to do in cairns - catch a bus to Brisbane.

I dont think its related to the subject but it is interesting to note that in my grandparents day the orientated themselves around towns by using the post office, the firestation, city hall, the masonic temple etc - today my kids refer to mcdonalds, Kentucky chicken, pizza hut, seven-eleven, kmart etc.

It seems consumer icons (such as tv images) have replaced community icons.

[Seabishop]

Originally posted by powerplan

I dont think its related to the subject but it is interesting to note that in my grandparents day the orientated themselves around towns by using the post office, the firestation, city hall, the masonic temple etc - today my kids refer to mcdonalds, Kentucky chicken, pizza hut, seven-eleven, kmart etc.

It seems consumer icons (such as tv images) have replaced community icons.

We're sorry about that .

I have a feeling this sort of thing is going to be like smoking which we exported through movies as an image of coolness. Now that everyone around the world smokes, we've found it unfashionable. When KFC and WalMart undermine local economies around the world we'll probably turn our backs on them and leave the rest of the world to deal with them.

In the US, Australians are always associated with extreme sports and extreme beer drinking in outback pubs - and of course, Men at Work.

[Downtown]

Ooh, I thought of some more movie geographies:
Canada - Strange Brew
Alaska - Mystery, Alaska
L.A. - The Player

And to put my two cents into the South discussion:
1. The difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee is that the Yankees go home.

2. The face of the South is definitely changing - When I worked in Anderson (SC), I was shocked at the number of people that came to my counter with midwest, jersey and upstate ny accents. I don't think anyone is saying that the South is lacking in cultural contributions, but that in certain parts of rural and remote areas, there is a pervasive sterotype of the McCoy's and Clampetts from Bugs Bunny. And I don't think that anyone would ever state that the South has cornered the market on trailerparks ignorance and racism - it's everywhere - At one time, the Long Island chapter of the KKK had the most members of any chapter in the US.

[Dan]

Australian city stereotypes, at least from the impression I get from US popular media. I know reality is much different, but for someone who might not dig a bit deeper, they'll probably think the following:

Sydney: Bronzed surfer, beer-chugging types.
Brisbane: Bronzed surfer, beer-chugging types.
Adelaide: Not much. It's just there.
Melbourne: Stuffy, uptight Victorian city where the pubs close at 9:00 PM.
Perth: Very wealthy, sunny city where everybody is a top-notch sailor.
Alice Springs: Dusty metropolis of rugged Paul Hogan-types and Aborignals. Diggeriedoos constantly moan in the background.

[Dan]

Originally posted by KMateja
2. The face of the South is definitely changing - When I worked in Anderson (SC), I was shocked at the number of people that came to my counter with midwest, jersey and upstate ny accents. I don't think anyone is saying that the South is lacking in cultural contributions, but that in certain parts of rural and remote areas, there is a pervasive sterotype of the McCoy's and Clampetts from Bugs Bunny.

Increasingly, I think of "the South" not so much as a region as an honest-to-goodness ethnic group. There's African-Americans, Italain-Americans, Polish-Americans and Southern-Americans.

Take, for instance, Atlanta. When I stopped there for the night, I checked out the malls, the restaurants, the bookstores of the northern suburbs. I heard very few Southern accents, saw few pick-up trucks, and saw no Dale Earnhardt shrines. The only thing Southern was the landscape; kudzu and billboards.

Here in Orlando, mainstream US culture predominates. However, just as there are ethnic suburban enclaves in other US metros (Armenians in Glendale, California; Poles in Cheektowaga, New York and Parma, Ohio; Chaldeans in Dearborn, MIchigan; etc), there are enclaves of Southern culture; Winter Garden and Clermont. Southern culture? No, not just trailers and Klan meetings, but rather:

* Distincitve music: country and Southern rock.

* Specialized trades: In Buffalo, most builders are Italian, factory workers are Polish, government employees are dominantly Irish, and so on. Here in Orlando, most builders and those working in the building and construction trades are Southern. You don't encounter that many drywallers, pavers, contractors or HVAC technicians with Northern accents.

* Cultural traditions: Southerners are BIG into fishing, hunting, and active outdoors activities (four-wheeling, mudding, etc.). Check out all the trucks in WG with bass or deer stickers in the back window, next to the big "3" stickers. Northerners are more into passive outdoors activities, such as camping and hiking.

* Canada has hockey. Mainstream America has baseball. The South has NASCAR. Southerners have a passion for all things that move with internal combustion engines. Visit a Southern city or enclave, and you'll find far more used car dealers, auto repair shops, vehicle modification shops, and so on, than in similarly sized cities in other areas.

[Seabishop]

There are definitely cultural differences, although I know northerners who live up to all those criteria except the accent.

[prudence]

Originally posted by bturk

"Step by Step" was set in Port Washington, WI 30 minutes to Milwaukee's north. Also very blue collar.

My hometown...nothing like the TV show...the culture is dominated by taverns...31 at last count. Not bad for a town of 10,000 people.

It is a beautiful town...at times.

[Andy Dobson]

Originally posted by jestes
Let's just take a look at some of the famous/influential people who have called Mississippi home:


Sela Ward (Hubba Hubba!) - Actor

Let's hear it for Mississippi!

[Andy Dobson]

Let's try that photo again...

[sleepy]

Originally posted by Dan


Increasingly, I think of "the South" not so much as a region as an honest-to-goodness ethnic group. There's African-Americans, Italain-Americans, Polish-Americans and Southern-Americans.
*

*

*

*
* Distincitve music: country and Southern rock.

I find it interesting that when non-southerners use the term "southerner", they only use it in reference to white southerners, ignoring the fact that the south is the cultural home for African-Americans in the US.

I think southerners-black and white-use that term to mean both races.

I have read that one result of the civil rights movement of the 60's was that black southerners were able to finally call themselves southerners. And most African-American southerners have as fierce a regional pride as white southerners.

As a white southerner born in Memphis, I view southern culture as distinctive primarily due to the interplay of white and black culture, in speech, food, music, and literature.

I've always thought that the FUBU rebel flag--the one with the green field, the red cross, and the black stars--was the perfect flag for the South.

Aside from all that----I like the south because of the wonderful gap between appearance and reality--irony perhaps--that creates this crawl space which is fertile stomping grounds for music and literature. I like the south's oral traditions, the warmth of the people, the tolerance for eccentricity.

I also find southerners to be believers in tragedy--fatalists, I guess. All that tends to make southerners not believe in progress--the perfectability of human nature--but to take a more "life is a stage" approach to things, rather than the "life is a plan" approach popular here in the upper Midwest.

[Seabishop]

I think the rest of the country's disdain for religion* is what makes people think of southerners as ready to lynch you if you're not a practicing Southern Baptist. I think the Jerry Springer show has set back the South's image like nothing since segregation (ok and maybe Dukes of Hazard).

*unless its Richard Gere style Buddism

[BKM]

I really don't think the rest of the country has much "disdain for religion." The midwest, where I come from, is very religious. Even California is full of churches.

Now, the Chattering Classes (Gosh, I love that term and will use it wenever I can, even though I am probably at least partly a member ) are more irreligious than average. Richard Gere does not represent a very big segment of the population.

Of course, the rest of the country is not quite so dominated by evangelical protestantism and its more frantic practitioners (boy, a church I went to in high school was pretty wild, though), but there is plenty of ol' time religion in the US. So, this leads to some of the disdain you speak of.

[sleepy]

Originally posted by BKM
I really don't think the rest of the country has much "disdain for religion." The midwest, where I come from, is very religious. Even California is full of churches.

Now, the Chattering Classes (Gosh, I love that term and will use it wenever I can, even though I am probably at least partly a member ) are more irreligious than average. Richard Gere does not represent a very big segment of the population.

Of course, the rest of the country is not quite so dominated by evangelical protestantism and its more frantic practitioners (boy, a church I went to in high school was pretty wild, though), but there is plenty of ol' time religion in the US. So, this leads to some of the disdain you speak of.

I moved to the upper midwest--southern Minnesota--from the deep south and find this part of the country to be more committedly religious than the South. By that, I mean you are expected to belong to a church and the vast majority of people go.

Also, while many people in the south go to church, I find that where I now live has a much more abiding, religion-saturated "feel" to it than the south. Many southerners are hypocrites when it comes to religion (I don't consider hypocrisy to be particularly bad), but in Minnesota, you get the real thing.

In the South, "sinning" is an accepted part of life. Up here, a really strong sense of social control and propriety precludes a whole lot of sinning.

Also, religious fundamentalism in the south is just an excuse to act hysterical.

[BKM]

Originally posted by sleepy
Also, religious fundamentalism in the south is just an excuse to act hysterical.

Without denying that some people do "feel moved by the spirit," I always wondered about the "gibbering in the aisles" churches. I still remember one church in Chicago I was invited to as a guest "Why, we just dispensed with the sermon that week and talked with the Lord"

But. . .I am somewhat agnostic/deist now, but I have trouble with people who instantly dismiss religion.

[Mastiff]

Eugene, OR - Sandals and chicks with hairy armpits

[sleepy]

Originally posted by BKM


Without denying that some people do "feel moved by the spirit," I always wondered about the "gibbering in the aisles" churches. I still remember one church in Chicago I was invited to as a guest "Why, we just dispensed with the sermon that week and talked with the Lord"

But. . .I am somewhat agnostic/deist now, but I have trouble with people who instantly dismiss religion.

I didn't mean to offend anyone when I said that southern fundamentalism is just an excuse to act hysterical.

First of all, I was being a little bit facetious.

Second, I don't really think "acting hysterical" is necessarily a putdown. I suspect there's something positive there. Don't forget, I live in southern MN, where no one, absolutely no one would ever act hysterical!

BTW--MN is a very nice place!

[Seabishop]

Count Jesse Ventura as one Minnesotan who is not a "weak minded religious fool."

[Plan Man]

Love to see how each individual American city gets a stereotype, yet when it comes to Canada - a country that dwarves the US in size - there are only four or five generic stereotypes....

[Cardinal]

Originally posted by Plan Man
Love to see how each individual American city gets a stereotype, yet when it comes to Canada - a country that dwarves the US in size - there are only four or five generic stereotypes....

Let's see if I can get them all:

1) Nunavut, the First Nations - native people living in igloos up north of Hudson Bay.

2) French Canadians, Quebecois - leftovers from French colonial days who are Canada's version of Alabama rednecks or West Virginia hill people. They live in thier igloos along with their livestock.

3) Nice People - the majority of Canadians living from Ontario westward, i.e., "mostly harmless." They have bigger igloos and build tall buildings from sheets of ice.

4) The Atlantic Coast - Anne of Green Gables. Nice wooden houses and fishing shantys with igloos in the back.

5) New Cubans and New Floridans - they have moved permanently or spend their winters in the warmer climates, but are often wet becuase their igloos keep melting.

Am I close?

[nerudite]

Originally posted by Michael Stumpf


2) French Canadians, Quebecois - leftovers from French colonial days who are Canada's version of Alabama rednecks or West Virginia hill people. They live in thier igloos along with their livestock.

3) Nice People - the majority of Canadians living from Ontario westward, i.e., "mostly harmless." They have bigger igloos and build tall buildings from sheets of ice.

4) The Atlantic Coast - Anne of Green Gables. Nice wooden houses and fishing shantys with igloos in the back.

5) New Cubans and New Floridans - they have moved permanently or spend their winters in the warmer climates, but are often wet becuase their igloos keep melting.

Am I close?

Pretty close:

2) French Canadians, Quebecois - leftovers from French colonial days who are Canada's version of Alabama rednecks or West Virginia hill people. They live in thier igloos along with their livestock. Don't forget the cigarette smoke that billows from their igloos.

3) Nice People - the majority of Canadians living from Ontario westward, i.e., "mostly harmless." They have bigger igloos and build tall buildings from sheets of ice. Clarification: this doesn't include Ontario itself. Toward the western provinces, again, smokes billows from their igloos... but it ain't cigarettes.

Not a bad job, though.

[Plan Man]

Now you're talking....

Still some refinement and you are almost there....

[BKM]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sleepy
[B]

I didn't mean to offend anyone when I said that southern fundamentalism is just an excuse to act hysterical.

I wasn't offended or meaning that you were anti-religious. I was actually thinking about some other people/forums that I participate in. I may be a doubter, but I respect religion and truly held religious beliefs. (Just don't try to impose those beliefs-I hate thecoracy and theocratic leanings)

[donk]

Canadian stereotypes
1) Maritimers drunks on poggie eating fried bologna
2) Quebecois - ils fument et mangent du poutine
3) Toronto -'nuff said
4) Ontario -Uptight
5) the Prairies - huh?
6) Alberta - the 51st state
7) BC - San Francisco North, pass the bong
8) The north - cold, really cold, the weather not the people

[nerudite]

Originally posted by donk
6) Alberta - the 51st state

From what I've seen, I think we are actually part of Montana.

[Plan Man]

North Texas is my favourite....