# Subtle inaccuracies in depictions of your city/region in fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2021, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508 "2021-01-14T09:45:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/61 "2021-01-15T01:58:10Z")
In one BBT episode, Sheldon had to Flash-run to the Grand Canyon. But, despite a helpful sign saying “Grand Canyon”, it was actually Dead Horse Point. Sure, it’s still the Colorado River, but it’s way upstream of the Canyon, upstream of Glen Canyon Dam, AND in Utah. Considering it was obviously filmed in LA in front of a green screen, would it be too much to ask to actually use a photo of the real Grand Canyon? It’s not like pictures are hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/62 "2021-01-15T02:52:43Z")
One of the many reasons my Virginia-born parents refused to let me watch _Pocahontas_ as a kid (besides the many plot liberties) is because there are no waterfalls in Hampton Roads. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/63 "2021-01-15T03:04:53Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > One that always bugged me was the costuming in Big Bang Theory. They were in Pasadena, and referred to the city frequently, along with street names, etc. Pasadena, of course, is part of greater Los Angeles - sunny southern California. So why are these characters wearing jackets and sweaters all the time, including indoors? Just dumb > [@Babale](#): > > Same goes for Psych, mentioned above as Canada doesn’t really look like Santa Barbara, but the costuming was off as well. They were far too bundled up for SB! It’s not “dumb.” They actively don’t care. I recall a joke from the 1990s WB comedy _Grosse Pointe_, which was show about a teen drama set in Michigan. Of course, the show-within-a-show was filmed in Southern California. A new cast member mentioned that the wardrobe for a particular episode was inappropriate for the weather for the time of year the episode they were filming was set in. He was told that the official policy of the production is to ignore the climate and weather when it comes to costuming unless it is explicitly part of the plot of the episode. I don’t know whether that’s anyone’s explicit production policy, but I think for most shoes the unspoken rule is that’s it doesn’t matter. Same for local geography. Shown makers don’t care if “you can’t get there from here.” There are a lot of things about reality that they don’t care about, like Batmen entering an underpass in the middle of the day and emerging a few seconds later well into nighttime. Movies and shows aren’t about recreating reality for people who happen to know geographical facts. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/64 "2021-01-15T03:15:53Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Yeahbut - Raj always in a sweater-vest and jacket, Howard always in a turtleneck and shirt… It’s not a turtleneck. It’s a dickey! ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/65 "2021-01-15T03:37:03Z")
It’s been a while since I watched it but G.I. Joe Retaliation depicts Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor South Carolina as having a land bridge on the beach to get to it. Famously Fort Sumter is a fortified island in the middle of the harbor. If there was a land bridge the Battle of Fort Sumter probably wouldn’t have happened for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/66 "2021-01-15T04:08:17Z")
When I visited New Orleans, I almost felt like I was home because one of the accents there is very similar to those in the NYC area (apparently because both are port cities that attracted immigrants from the same countries in the 1800s). Baton Rouge was another story ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/67 "2021-01-15T05:45:54Z")
Maybe it shouldn’t count, because _Canadian Bacon_ was a comedy that made much of silly stereotypes, but when John Candy and the American invaders travel across the Niagara River to Canada, they’re greeted by a pair of red-suited Mounties on horseback. First of all, the Mounties don’t ride horses any more, except on ceremonial occasions and in parades. Their everyday uniform is not the red one–that’s also only for ceremonial use. Nextly, and more importantly, the Mounties have no policing jurisdiction in Ontario, where Candy and his party landed. That duty is handled by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), whose shoulder patch can be seen on Paul McCartney’s uniform on the _Sgt. Pepper_ Beatles album. Toronto rarely plays itself in the movies, but Toronto is a popular location for film shoots, and I remember watching part of the filming for _Silver Streak_ at Toronto’s Union Station. That station stood in for the Los Angeles train station, and Kansas City’s, and Chicago’s. Fine, but when Wilder and Pryor are getting the shoe polish, hat, and radio from the shoeshine guy in the Kansas City station (remember, this is filmed in Toronto’s Union Station), they’re on the lower arrivals level of the station. They duck into the men’s room and … it’s the men’s room on the upper departures level (the shape of the urinals gives it away). And, given the layout of the lower level of the station, they duck into the actual women’s room. Okay, Gene Wilder is now in blackface, listening to his radio, and he and Pryor are heading to their train. They go through the departure checkpoint–which is actually the exit for arriving passengers. I lived in Toronto for over forty years, and I’ve taken many trains in and out of Union, and I know the station like the back of my hand. The editing of _Silver Streak_ was done well, so that only Torontonians who are familiar with Union Station would recognize these little hiccups. At any rate, they don’t bother me; it’s an enjoyable film anyway. ---
**Author:** ![NeeCD](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neecd/32/386_2.png) [@NeeCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeeCD)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/68 "2021-01-15T06:47:36Z")
I’ve had a couple of these experiences: There’s a series of books I tried to read a few years ago that was located on the Oregon coast. The author kept referring to part of the beach being privately owned and made it a plot point. Oregon has public beaches. Nobody can own them or make them private. It would not have taken the author much research to learn this and it was so irritating to me that I quit reading the series. I live near Portland and loved **Grimm** when it was on TV. Since it was shot here, it was pretty good for locations in the city. However, Forest Park does not border Forest Grove, which is a small town about 20 miles away from Portland. When the main characters stumbled out of the park and were in Forest Grove, my husband and I couldn’t stop laughing about it. Also, apparently the Portland police were called to investigate murders in Troutdale, Beaverton, Gresham, wherever. The Multnomah Co. sheriff (who would probably be the ones actually called for most of them) were only ever used a couple times and otherwise ignored. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/69 "2021-01-15T08:15:41Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Sure, maybe Vancouver makes a good stand-in for most American cities, but not for Santa Barbara. It’s not “my” city, but I’ve visited often to know what it’s like, and they have a distinctive Spanish style architecture that you see all over the city, that is never seen in _Psych_ . And I can tell you there are no towering evergreen trees anywhere there like you see in the show. Likewise, when I saw the first episode of _Longmire_ I was thinking, “Wyoming? It looks more like New Mexico to me.” It wasn’t just the landscape but all the decorative touches on the local buildings and general vibe. Sure enough, at the end of the credits when the IATSE and Teamsters logos were rolling by, came _Filmed in New Mexico_. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/70 "2021-01-15T08:34:07Z")
Weather in London as depicted in the movies. If it’s Christmas, it will be snowing. Thing is, it hardly EVER snows in London, and if it does, it will be for one random day in February, when we get 1 inch that turns to slush in a few hours. We basically never get a white Christmas in the South of England (and also looking at you, The Holiday and Bridget Jones’s Diary). Any time the rest of the year, it will be torrential rain. Again, torrential, tropical-style rain is very rare. On average, it rains 100 days a year, and even then, we’re talking a drizzle. There are more rainy days per year in New York than in London. London has quite a mild, pleasant climate, not that you’d know it. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/71 "2021-01-15T08:42:20Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Of course there is a TV Tropes page devoted to the remarkable resemblance of various regions and cities around the world to places in California (though they don’t define it as a Trope). Austin Powers made fun of that by noting that “It’s remarkable how England looks in no way like southern California” while driving through the countryside. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/72 "2021-01-15T09:18:41Z")
I gather that the movie was shot in the USA in locations that differed from the book, and then many of the panoramic outdoor scenes were done in Romania. BTW, it is not a movie, but _Downton Abbey_ was supposed to be in Yorkshire somewhere around Northallerton / Thirsk, and a village in Oxfordshire and a stately house in Hampshire did duty. And _The Tudors_ was (were?) shot in Ireland, a country that AFAIK none of them ever visited. It did mean that we did not get the usual shot of Hampton Court, too bad that there is nothing quite like it anywhere else. And that is just the location. The costumes in _The Tudors_ can only be described as “based on clothing from all around Europe at around that time, give or take a century.” ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/73 "2021-01-15T09:34:23Z")
Llamas in Tibet? Hmmmm. But Tibet has Buddhist lamas. A comment on the person writing about the weather in London. He is right. I lived there for three years, and the climate is sort of continental by British standards. In fact, when I lived in Duesseldorf, Germany I often felt that the weather was like London. In the UK the rain falls, not mainly in the plain, but in the west. By thew time the clouds get tpo London they are pretty tired and don’t have much left. And the same goes for Edinburgh; western Scotland is described as a temperate rain forest, but the east coast is much the same as London. And no, we don’t get torrential rain, just drizzle to moderately hard. As for fog, much less of that since the Clean Air Acts of the 1950s, and usually it occurs around November, and often only to the west along the Thames valley. The river produces the fog. And snow? Once or twice a year, and not much of it. Christmas cards love to show Dickensian scenes of post coaches struggling through deep snow and people skating on the frozen Thames. Yeah. That was back in “the little Ice Age” and when the old London Bridge still impeded the flow of the river. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/74 "2021-01-15T09:44:55Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Can you elucidate? The Google Maps outline of Greenwich puts the North Greenwich Station in the boundaries of Greenwich but they could be mistaken. “North Greenwich” station is within the London Borough of Greenwich but not in the town itself - it’s up by the 02/Millennium Dome. In the film, they put up signs to make it look like the station was right next to the Old Royal Naval College (which subsequently got a bit trashed in the film). Also, IIRC Thor is told it’s one stop from Charing Cross on whatever line that’s supposed to be, which is just silly. You could get a train from Charing Cross to Greenwich but it’s about four stops and several miles. Worth noting that the ORNC features in [a LOT of films](https://ornc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Filming-Updated-list-of-films-shot-at-ORNC.pdf) - both the exteriors and the interior of the Painted Hall and the Chapel. My spouse works there and they’re constantly filming something or another there. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/75 "2021-01-15T11:09:51Z")
I once met a young woman who sounded to my ears exactly like Sarah Palin. By and by, I asked her if she was from Alaska. She seemed surprised, and asked me, “Well, how’ja _know_?!” When I told her I was interested in accents, she replied, just as surprised, “I have an _accent_?!” (pronounced ay-ak-cent). ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/76 "2021-01-15T11:40:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “Freeway” is a California term. Are you talking about use as a generic term or roads actually named “freeway”? Because I’ve been all over the country and have heard people refer to interstates as freeways in all 50 states, including NYC. The show “Step by Step” took place in Port Washington, Wisconsin. I want to know exactly where that roller coaster on the lake shore is. I’ve been to Port a zillion times and have never seen it. Also, they’ve had episodes about neighboring city Mequon they pronounced “Me Kwan”. It’s pronounced “Meck Juan”. And they insinuate that Mequon is a rough and tough run down city. In reality the poorest person in Mequon is upper middle class. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/77 "2021-01-15T12:03:49Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Worth noting that the ORNC features in [a LOT of films](https://ornc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Filming-Updated-list-of-films-shot-at-ORNC.pdf) - both the exteriors and the interior of the Painted Hall and the Chapel. My spouse works there and they’re constantly filming something or another there. Yeah, we often comment on that - The naval college seems to be the go-to stand-in in for the West End of London 1700-1850. It plays ‘Houses of Parliament’ in Poldark, which is stretching credulity somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/78 "2021-01-15T12:11:03Z")
“Picket Fences” is set in a fictional Rome, Wisconsin (there is a town and a Census Designated Place named Rome but are not the setting) The main thing that bothered me is the Mayor ordering the Sheriff around. Sheriff is a county-wide (and independent\*) position, and does not have to listen to any mayor in his county. (not sure there were any incidents where the sheriff/deputies did anything in the county but outside of Rome) In most (but not all) Wisconsin counties, the county seat is big enough to have its own police force. I forget the population of the fictional Rome, but even if they decided not to have city police, the mayor 's role would be at best advisory. Brian - budget may be determined by the county commission ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/79 "2021-01-15T12:21:32Z")
I wish I knew the shortcuts used by the cops in _Bosch_ to drive from Hollywood to Alhambra or Seal Beach in 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/80 "2021-01-15T12:22:59Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > [@Catamount](#): > > > > Netflix’s “Outer Banks” famously claimed that you could take a ferry from the outer banks to Chapel Hill across 250 miles of dry land. Everyone in NC had a good laugh at that one > > Seriously?! I mean…that’s not a _subtle_ mistake. Did the producers somehow think that Chapel Hill was on the Pamlico Sound? They claim it was an [editing error](https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article242223351.html), but I remain skeptical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508.md?page=5)