Unique Landscape And Pool Company

Yesterday I asked a question inquiring if Hollywood distorts people’s views about geography. I was a geography major in college. Now I’m going to grad school soon. One of my contacts suggested I go to Hollywood and educate directors about the landscape of certain regions. Growing up in Houston, it was beyond me how so many people had skewed views about Texas. When I lived on the East Coast, everyone was certain we all dress up like cowboys and ride around on horses. They assumed the entire state was one giant desert full of cacti, tumbleweed, buttes, mesas, and plateaus. They had no clue that most of Texas is prairie land with numerous oak, pine, and cedar trees. A large portion of it is even a steppe region with short grasslands. The only desert area is in the extreme far west towards El Paso. Lots of people didn’t believe me when I explained there is more swampland and dense forest in the east than there is desert in the west. They had no idea that more than 80 percent of our population is urban. They were all convinced we were either farmers or ranchers. I guess they’d never heard of NASA. Many people I’ve encountered thought Canada looked like Greenland in that it was all permafrost. They thought the Canadians live in igloos. I know at least 80 percent of Canada is all boreal coniferous forests. I firmly believe people think this way because that’s what they see on TV. So would it be a good career choice for me to encourage directors to give a more plausible and accurate depiction of the actual landscape? That way people will understand the scenery in my locale looks like that of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre rather than that of all the old westerns with John Wayne (which were actually filmed in Monument Valley on the Arizona/Utah border?)
Then people will also understand that the Midwest is not the Great American Desert; Green Bay, Wisconsin, is not a frozen tundra; it DOES rain in Southern California during the winter and spring; and it does NOT rain everyday in Seattle. They will realize the one county in America that grows the most potatoes is in Maine rather than Iowa.

Sounds like a good idea, you could really be onto something. However, many films offer escapism to their viewers; they are giving the viewer what they want to see. I’ll be honest, if I was watching a film based in Texas, and saw no desert, I’d think what the hell is going on. I know it’s not all desert, but that’s the first thing that comes to mind.

Saying that, many films need to be as realistic as possible, while others could definitely benefit from your ideas. It’s not just films, but television and other types of media too. You could even expand your idea into a PR-type ‘campaign’, not exactly to show awareness like it’s drugs or something, but I’m sure there’s some effective alternative than going to each director (unless you’re intending to be part of the film crew, that is).

I’m from the UK and recently studied the American west at school. Before that, all I thought of America was sunny california, a bit of desert down in texas, hillbillies and just huge cities. We studied the homestead act, and I had no idea the plains were so big; that the entire western coast is mountainous and that in some places on the plains the temperature could drop to -30C in the winter. People don’t seem to grasp the idea..

Take russia for example, people think it’s freezing, and everyone drinks vodka. It’s massive. Most of it is full of forests and plains and funnily enough, it’s not always cold.

You’re onto an idea there, it depends what you do I guess.