History Main / HollywoodProvincialism

See also BigApplesauce. Subtrope of CreatorProvincialism and of WeAllLiveInAmerica, which happens when American media assumes that life and culture in other parts of the world is the same as in the United States. BritainIsOnlyLondon, FreeStateAmsterdam, ThirtySecondsOverTokyo, and the EiffelTowerEffect occur when a country is deliberately reduced by the writer to its most iconic city or just one landmark. NewYorkIsOnlyManhattan is when one city, New York City, is reduced to one iconic area within it. Contrast CanadaDoesNotExist, a weird Canadian inversion of this trope, and EaglelandOsmosis, where the omnipresence of American media leads non-Americans to believe that their country works just like America (or L.A., for that matter).

* ''Film/KnightAndDay'': UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}-based June says "the I-93."

* ''Film/{{Devil}}'': Bowden, a detective in Philadelphia, refers to a possible murder as a "187".

* ''Series/TheNanny'': The show is set in New York, but in one episode Fran is holding a cup from In'n'Out Burger, a restaurant chain that exists only in the southwest U.S.

The United States is a large country of stunning diversity, but the film and television industries are largely confined to one little corner of it: the southern region of UsefulNotes/{{California}}, where Hollywood is. Writers tend to [[WriteWhatYouKnow write what they know]], and since they know Southern California, the rest of the country will often be inaccurately portrayed as being just like L.A. (And it'll [[TheMountainsOfIllinois look just like L.A.]], too.) Often, this happens just because it's cheaper to film in nearby locations than to spend money relocating staff to other parts of the country. Because of this, minute details about other locations tend to get written in media as [[ArtisticLicenseGeography being just like California, even when it's very different.]] This trope became especially prominent in American culture in the 1980s, when Los Angeles began to supplant New York City as the [[TotallyRadical "hip"]] place to be (though that has subsided in the decades since).

This is arguably the reason why ItsAlwaysSpring. Also known as ''Californication'', which is the trope namer for a [[Series/{{Californication}} TV show]] and [[Music/{{Californication}} an album]] (and its titular song) by Music/RedHotChiliPeppers. Especially as a TakeThat by residents of the [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest Pacific Northwest]]. Nonetheless, it can be inverted by having shows that actually are set in Southern California... but filmed in UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}}.

* The Music/RedHotChiliPeppers song "Music/{{Californication}}, quoted atop this page, mentions this -- another good line is "''Little girls from Sweden dream of silver-screen quotations''".

See also BigApplesauce. Subtrope of CreatorProvincialism and of WeAllLiveInAmerica, which happens when American media assumes that life and culture in other parts of the world is the same as in the United States. BritainIsOnlyLondon, FreeStateAmsterdam, ThirtySecondsOverTokyo and the EiffelTowerEffect occur when a country is deliberately reduced by the writer to its most iconic city or just one landmark. NewYorkIsOnlyManhattan is when one city, New York City, is reduced to one iconic area within it. Contrast CanadaDoesNotExist, a weird Canadian inversion of this trope, and EaglelandOsmosis, where the omnipresence of American media leads non-Americans to believe that their country works just like America (or L.A., for that matter).

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': In "Exit Wounds", the BAU travels to a remote Alaskan town to help the local Sheriff department catch a spree killer. In real life there is not a single sheriff department in Alaska: their duties are covered by the Alaska State Troopers, who are never mentioned in the episode.

* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Appears in one of the standard forms when Isabelle acts seductively toward Zii, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/the-right-romantic-moment Zii says that she hopes that Isabelle is over 18]]. The age of consent in Canada is 16. This is a little odd because the comic is normally consistent at {{avert|edTrope}}ing the trope, maintaining a subtle but distinctive {{Canad|aEh}}ian flavor. Admittedly, this more than likely has more to do with the fact that no one would want to have sex with minor regardless of legal status.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Most school districts in the United States either close down every school, or don't close down any schools at all. However, it is common in Tim Long's native Canada for the principals of individual schools to decide whether school is cancelled.

* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Appears in one of the standard forms when Isabelle acts seductively toward Zii, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/the-right-romantic-moment Zii says that she hopes that Isabelle is over 18]]. The age of consent in Canada is 16. This is a little odd because the comic is normally consistent at {{avert|edTrope}}ing the trope, maintaining a subtle but distinctive {{Canad|aEh}}ian flavor.

* ''Literature/SpocksWorld'': An hilariously odd variant. In a description of ''[[RefugeInAudacity Vulcan]]''- "Jim tended to think of it as southern California, but with less rain." [[note]]For those who have no idea why this is so funny, Capt. James T. Kirk hails from Iowa. Starfleet HQ is in California, but ''Northern'' California, not at all the same thing... Southern California averages about 35 rainy days per year near the coast in the winter and spring (less in the inland desert areas), with summer and autumn typically being rain-free or nearly so.[[/note]]

* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': In the very first episode they refer to a local radio station as "K-Rock." That'd be for stations West of the Mississippi. All local radio and TV stations in Chicago (the location of the series) have call signs beginning with a W.[[note]]There's a possibility that "K-Rock" is a station nickname (for example: WXRK in New York went by the name "K-Rock" during the 80s and 90s).[[/note]]

* The Music/RedHotChiliPeppers song "Music/{{Californication}}, quoted atop this page, mentions this - another good line is "''Little girls from Sweden dream of silver-screen quotations''".

** In 2003, [[http://www.treadingground.com/?p=44 strip #6]] establishes the main plot: Rose has the hots for Nate, but the 21-year-old guy doesn't want to have sex with the 16 year-old-girl until she's of legal age. After eight years (about one year in ComicBookTime), in which both characters have plenty of sex (just [[SleepsWithEveryoneButYou not with each other]]), they finally realise they are victims of Hollywood Provincialism; 16 is legal age in their state. So in 2011, [[http://www.treadingground.com/?p=1594 strip #251]] concludes the series with them holding hands... [[LeftHanging And still not having had sex together yet.]]

* Website/{{Cracked}}: Anything about Teen-sex seems to rely on Hollywood Provincialism, making British (and others) wonder what the pre-occupation with 17 year olds is.

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': At least two episodes feature characters buying Chocodiles at the store. Since the mid-90s, Chocodiles have only been available on the West Coast (the show is set in Virginia).

* ''Series/{{Detroit187}}'': In the title itself: 187 is the police code for murder...in California, not Michigan.

* ''VideoGame/SimCity'': Another Easter egg in ''4'' appears more obscurely in the form of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight a man sitting on a floating balloons-strapped lawnchair]]. As Maxis is a Californian outfit, [[CreatorProvincialism it comes as no surprise why it's there]].

* Music/{{Californication}}: "Californication", which includes the line "''Little girls from Sweden dream of silver-screen quotations''".

* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': The newspost below [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=224 this]] strip implies that Ellen's about to turn 18. (And it's specifically stated [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=231 five strips later]].) The age of consent in Massachusetts is 16.

* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': The newspost below [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=224 this]] strip implies that Ellen's about to turn 18. The age of consent in Massachusetts is 16.

The United States is a large country of stunning diversity, but the film and television industries are largely confined to one little corner of it: the southern region of UsefulNotes/{{California}}, where Hollywood is. Writers tend to [[WriteWhatYouKnow write what they know]], and since they know Southern California, the rest of the country will often be inaccurately portrayed as being just like L.A. (And it'll [[TheMountainsOfIllinois look just like L.A.]], too.) Often, this happens just because it's cheaper to film in nearby locations than to spend money relocating staff to other parts of the country. Because of this, minute details about other locations tend to get written in media as [[ArtisticLicenseGeography being just like California, even when it's very different.]] This trope became been especially prominent in American culture in the 1980s, when Los Angeles began to supplant New York City as the [[TotallyRadical "hip"]] place to be (though that has subsided in the decades since).

The United States is a large country of stunning diversity, but the film and television industries are largely confined to one little corner of it: the southern region UsefulNotes/{{California}}, where Hollywood is. Writers tend to [[WriteWhatYouKnow write what they know]], and since they know Southern California, the rest of the country will often be inaccurately portrayed as being just like L.A. (And it'll [[TheMountainsOfIllinois look just like L.A.]], too.) Often, this happens just because it's cheaper to film in nearby locations than to spend money relocating staff to other parts of the country. Because of this, minute details about other locations tend to get written in media as [[ArtisticLicenseGeography being just like California, even when it's very different.]] This trope has been especially prominent in American culture since the 1980s, when Los Angeles began to supplant New York City as the [[TotallyRadical "hip"]] place to be.

* ''VideoGame/SimCity'': Another Easter egg in ''4'' appears more obscurely in the form [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters a man sitting on a floating balloons-strapped lawnchair]]. As Maxis is a Californian outfit, [[CreatorProvincialism it comes as no surprise why it's there]].

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The man Dean tackles is stated to be the District Attorney. The closest thing that Tipton, Indiana (where the episode takes place) has is a Prosecuting Attorney.

See also BigApplesauce. Subtrope of WeAllLiveInAmerica, which happens when American media assumes that life and culture in other parts of the world is the same as in the United States. BritainIsOnlyLondon, FreeStateAmsterdam, ThirtySecondsOverTokyo and the EiffelTowerEffect occur when a country is deliberately reduced by the writer to its most iconic city or just one landmark. NewYorkIsOnlyManhattan is when one city, New York City, is reduced to one iconic area within it. Contrast CanadaDoesNotExist, a weird Canadian inversion of this trope, and EaglelandOsmosis, where the omnipresence of American media leads non-Americans to believe that their country works just like America (or L.A., for that matter).

* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Appears in one of the standard forms when Isabelle acts seductively toward Zii, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/the-right-romantic-moment Zii says that she hopes that Isabelle is over 18]]. The age of consent in Canada is 16. This is a little odd at first because the comic is normally consistent at {{avert|edTrope}}ing the trope, maintaining a subtle but distinctive {{Canad|aEh}}ian flavor, but it gets explained in later strips.

* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Appears in one of the standard forms when Isabelle acts seductively toward Zii, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/the-right-romantic-moment Zii says that she hopes that Isabelle is over 18]]. The age of consent in Canada is 16. This is a little odd, in that the comic is normally consistent at {{avert|edTrope}}ing the trope, maintaining a subtle but distinctive {{Canad|aEh}}ian flavor.

* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Appears in one of the standard forms when Isabelle acts seductively toward Zii, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/the-right-romantic-moment Zii says that she hopes that Isabelle is over 18]]. The age of consent in Canada is 16. This is a little odd, in that the comic normally does a good job of {{avert|edTrope}}ing the trope, maintaining a subtle but distinctive {{Canad|aEh}}ian flavor; it might be excused, though, in that even if the ''legal'' age of consent is 16, doing it with someone who's still a minor in every other respect ''is'' kinda creepy if you aren't very close in age (and as Zii is likely in her mid-20s, no, they aren't).
* ''Webcomic/TreadingGround'':

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1592768383052373900 under discussion]] in the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13222107430A61495000 Trope Repair Shop]].]]]]]]

* ''Series/PointPleasant'': It was a big deal in New Jersey that this show was set on the Shore. Then we found out that Hollywood's idea of the Jersey Shore was basically "[[SoCalization Southern California]], but with lighthouses and boardwalks instead of palm trees."

* ''VideoGame/SimCity'': Another Easter egg in ''4'' appears more obscurely in the form [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters a man sitting on a floating balloons-strapped lawnchair]]. As Maxis is a [[SoCalization Californian]] outfit, [[CreatorProvincialism it comes as no surprise why it's there]].

** In 2003, [[http://www.treadingground.com/?p=44 strip #6]] establishes the main plot: Rose has the hots for Nate, but the 21-year-old guy doesn't want to have sex with the 16 year-old-girl until she's of legal age. After eight years (about one year in ComicBookTime), in which both characters have plenty of sex (just [[SleepsWithEveryoneButYou not with each other]]), they finally realise they are victims of SoCalization; 16 is legal age in their state. So in 2011, [[http://www.treadingground.com/?p=1594 strip #251]] concludes the series with them holding hands... [[LeftHanging And still not having had sex together yet.]]

* Website/{{Cracked}}: Anything about Teen-sex seems to rely on SoCalization, making British (and others) wonder what the pre-occupation with 17 year olds is.

* TheMagicPokerEquation: In the past, the game in question will usually be "Five Card Draw." This probably has to do with [[SoCalization the fact that it was the only legal form of poker in California for many years.]] It was supplanted by stud and community card variants in most other places before the end of the 19th century. The explosion in popularity of televised poker tournaments seems to have changed the preference to Texas Hold-Em.