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Post by shep on Mar 12, 2007 15:26:25 GMT -5
Just a quick question (s) - where state is Smallville set? And is there such a place called Metropolis?
Cheers Ali x
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Post by Girl Power on Mar 12, 2007 17:08:48 GMT -5
Smallville is in the state of Kansas. Kansas is a midwestern state above Oklahoma and below Nebraska. Kansas is stereotyped in the US as a farm state full of small towns and boring, traditional people. It's part of what a lot of people on the west and east coasts call "flyover country." That just means it extra land of nothing in the middle that more sophisticated people have to fly over to get from one coast to the other.
The tradition of Superman in the comics and movies was that Clark Kent grew up in rural Kansas, in "Smallville" which is just a symbolic name for a small town. He's a small town, farm boy.
Metropolis in the comics and movies is a clear stand in for New York City. Just as the big, sophisticated city in Batman was called "Gotham," but was obviously supposed to be New York City. Metropolis is actually a word that means "big city."
There is no real town of Metropolis. In the traditional mythology, Metropolis is on the east coast of the US, basically New York City, the ultimate big city.
In the Smallville TV show, Metropolis appears to just be a big city or the big city of Kansas state. They did this so that Clark Kent and his family could easily visit Metropolis as part of their lives. This way they can incorporate the mythical Superman city and the legendary "Daily Planet" newspaper of Superman's adulthood into the show about his teenage years. In reality New York City is about 1,100 miles from the state of Kansas, where the imaginary town of Smallville is.
Incidentally, in case you've ever wondered if Sunnydale exists, it does not. There is a town in California called "Sunnyvale", but it's about an 8 hour drive from LA.
I've read that Joss Whedon says that the mythical town of Sunnydale would be located where Santa Barbara is, which is about a 75 minute drive north of LA on the southern California coast.
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Post by CK-- on Mar 12, 2007 17:29:31 GMT -5
Smallville is in the state of Kansas. Kansas is a midwestern state above Oklahoma and below Nebraska. Kansas is stereotyped in the US as a farm state full of small towns and boring, traditional people. It's part of what a lot of people on the west and east coasts call "flyover country." That just means it extra land of nothing in the middle that more sophisticated people have to fly over to get from one coast to the other. The tradition of Superman in the comics and movies was that Clark Kent grew up in rural Kansas, in "Smallville" which is just a symbolic name for a small town. He's a small town, farm boy. Metropolis in the comics and movies is a clear stand in for New York City. Just as the big, sophisticated city in Batman was called "Gotham," but was obviously supposed to be New York City. Metropolis is actually a word that means "big city." There is no real town of Metropolis. In the traditional mythology, Metropolis is on the east coast of the US, basically New York City, the ultimate big city. In the Smallville TV show, Metropolis appears to just be a big city or the big city of Kansas state. They did this so that Clark Kent and his family could easily visit Metropolis as part of their lives. This way they can incorporate the mythical Superman city and the legendary "Daily Planet" newspaper of Superman's adulthood into the show about his teenage years. In reality New York City is about 1,100 miles from the state of Kansas, where the imaginary town of Smallville is. Incidentally, in case you've ever wondered if Sunnydale exists, it does not. There is a town in California called "Sunnyvale", but it's about an 8 hour drive from LA. I've read that Joss Whedon says that the mythical town of Sunnydale would be located where Santa Barbara is, which is about a 75 minute drive north of LA on the southern California coast. Very nice explanation Maria. I have read that many people who read The Comic books believe that in the DC mythology that (as you said) "Metropolis" is a stand in for New York City and "Gotham City" (In Batman) is a stand In for Chicago and "Star City" (where Green Arrow comes from) is a stand in for Atlantic City. This explaination theory came from when Superman Visited Batman and vice versa... But... As far as I know DC Comics has neither verified nor denied the above city analogies.
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Post by The Batboy on Mar 12, 2007 17:30:08 GMT -5
And side bar, for those who wonder. Smallville (series) is filmed in British Columbia Canada, mostly in north where alot of the farm land is. Aldergrove is where alot of the farm scenes are filmed, but alot of Vancouver and smaller "cities" attached to Vancouver are also used.
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Post by CK-- on Mar 12, 2007 17:38:40 GMT -5
And side bar, for those who wonder. Smallville (series) is filmed in British Columbia Canada, mostly in north where alot of the farm land is. Aldergrove is where alot of the farm scenes are filmed, but alot of Vancouver and smaller "cities" attached to Vancouver are also used. That is interesting...It amazes me about how many of American TV shows are actually filmed in Canada (Vancouver and British Columbia) and in New Zealand. I don't blame them, the few times that I was lucky enough to visit Canada the scenery was beautiful and the weather was really nice
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The Batboy
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Post by The Batboy on Mar 12, 2007 17:41:47 GMT -5
And side bar, for those who wonder. Smallville (series) is filmed in British Columbia Canada, mostly in north where alot of the farm land is. Aldergrove is where alot of the farm scenes are filmed, but alot of Vancouver and smaller "cities" attached to Vancouver are also used. That is interesting...It amazes me about how many of American TV shows are actually filmed in Canada (Vancouver and British Columbia) and in New Zealand. I don't blame them, the few times that I was lucky enough to visit Canada the scenery was beautiful and the weather was really nice Vancouver is pretty much Hollywood Number 2. Tru Calling, Dead Like Me, Supernatural, Stargate. We get alot of series, and movies. All 3 X-Men flicks were filmed here. I was on the set (well near it) when they filmed She's The Man. It's just really cool to have the chance to go out and visit all these sites.
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Post by tvilike admin on Mar 12, 2007 19:15:10 GMT -5
Look I found Metropolis !!! Hadley is from the real Kansas.....justhad is our own Smallville girl next door www.cityofmetropolis.com/
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Post by Girl Power on Mar 12, 2007 20:03:47 GMT -5
Wow! There's an actual Metropolis, Indiana? I had no idea.
That's hilarious that it's just a little over 15,000 people. Metropolis is such a small town! It should be called Smalliville, instead.
I've never heard that about Gotham being Chicago. But I guess since Batman and Superman are supposed to live in the same imaginary world, it makes sense and they visit each other, it makes sense.
It's kind of amazing how many shows film in Canada. I assume it's the nice scenery and cheaper costs. But I'm sure they have to schedule filiming around the weather. I used to live in Bellingham, Washington, which is just 40 miles from Vancouver. It gets pretty damned cold in the winter!
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Post by CK-- on Mar 12, 2007 20:08:06 GMT -5
Wow! There's an actual Metropolis, Indiana? I had no idea. That's hilarious that it's just a little over 15,000 people. Metropolis is such a small town! It should be called Smalliville, instead. I've never heard that about Gotham being Chicago. But I guess since Batman and Superman are supposed to live in the same imaginary world, it makes sense and they visit each other, it makes sense. It's kind of amazing how many shows film in Canada. I assume it's the nice scenery and cheaper costs. But I'm sure they have to schedule filiming around the weather. I used to live in Bellingham, Washington, which is just 40 miles from Vancouver. It gets pretty damned cold in the winter! Metropolis is in Illinois... They have a Superman meseum there unfortunately I have never been
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Post by Girl Power on Mar 12, 2007 22:07:55 GMT -5
Wow! There's an actual Metropolis, Indiana? I had no idea. That's hilarious that it's just a little over 15,000 people. Metropolis is such a small town! It should be called Smalliville, instead. I've never heard that about Gotham being Chicago. But I guess since Batman and Superman are supposed to live in the same imaginary world, it makes sense and they visit each other, it makes sense. It's kind of amazing how many shows film in Canada. I assume it's the nice scenery and cheaper costs. But I'm sure they have to schedule filiming around the weather. I used to live in Bellingham, Washington, which is just 40 miles from Vancouver. It gets pretty damned cold in the winter! Metropolis is in Illinois... They have a Superman meseum there unfortunately I have never been Indiana, Illinois, I remembered it was one of those "I" states.
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