Dallas The Movie Info

[Willy1]

Sure, lets just be "posers" like the rest of you people in the "industry."  Pretending to be someone we are not is just as bad as being a "hick".

Hmmm.  Who should I try to emulate?

How about NOBODY!

I am for all keeping it real, and if you don't like it, it's no skin off my red neck.

Thank you!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Uh - first of all... I am not a "poser" so thanks for lumping me in to "the rest of you people in the industry". It's a hobby for me because I'm a film-lover and I wanted to know more about how they are made. I have been a writer in the corporate world for a long time and was urged - by a movie consultant in Hollywood who saw some of my work - to pursue screenwriting. So I took some classes from a guy here in Dallas who is a retired Writer-Producer-Director from Hollywood and has 9 Emmy's and a bookcase of other awards to his name. He recommended I study Improvisational Comedy to help with writing characters. I 've completed almost 2 years of improv training and performing at this point and the indie film I'm about to start is just for fun. Anyway, just giving out this information so that you realize I'm not "posing" to be anything. I am really what I say I am, or as you put it... I'm keeping it real.

Anyway, all I was saying was that some of the Texas stereotypes put on film in Hollywood are possibly lifted from reality and inflated for entertainment purposes. It's usually done in comedy and there is a reason for that. There is a phrase that is used in improv - "Truth in Comedy" and even a book by the same name. Basically it just teached improvisors to take the truth, and put it into an extreme situation. That's all Hollywood does - they just take something everyday and blow it up into something bigger than life for entertainment purposes. The problem is, sometimes they're not responsible about it. I agree with you that Texans are totally exploited by the film and television industries. They would have you believe that life here in Texas mirrors what was portrayed in the movie Urban Cowboy - which by the way, I believe was set in Houston since it was the movie that put Gilley's on the map. Granted, it would not be impossible to go out and find a couple of people who actually are like "Bud and Sissy" in that movie. But, they are not the typical Texans as Hollywood would have you believe. However Hollywood doesn't just make the characters up - they're based on reality, even if only losely. Unfortunately the general media is just as bad. I don't know how the local media is in Houston, but every time something big happens in DFW they seem to find two or three uneducated and unpresentable people to interview about what just happened. And then there is COPS. Nothing can paint a worse picture of your city than having a few episodes of COPS on location filmed in your town. I can't believe they had the insight to think about that - but that is the reason that Dallas never would let COPS film there. I guess maybe they were worried it would steal ratings from the televised city council and school board meetings. LOL....

And, I agree with you about the STEREOTYPICAL NEW YORK YANKEE thing. I used to work for a company that had officed in Manhattan, New Jersey, Dallas, and Seattle. I had to have daily conference calls with the NYC and NJ teams and although some of them were very nice people, they suffer from the same problems Texans do. There are a few people who actually fit that Rude Yankee stereotype and they are miserable people to deal with. I love NYC, but some of the people are horrible.... Actually, the worst experiences I had were in New Jersey, not NYC.

[MidtownCoog]

Good luck with your project. My rant was not really at you, but Hollywood in general. I don't see anything wrong with being a real Texan. A few years ago I was in Prague traveling with some people I met form Norway.

I might as well had just been a movie star, becuase they, and most people I met, were facinated by this Texan. I felt like an ambasador for us, and in a way, I was.

Peolpe bash "Cowboys" (BBC: Bush's Cowboy ways) but they just don't get it. This is what being a cowboy is about:

Gene Autry's Cowboy Code:

The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.

He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.

He must always tell the truth.

He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.

He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.

He must help people in distress.

He must be a good worker.

He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.

He must respect women, parents, and his nations laws.

The Cowboy is a patriot.

[RedScare]

Maybe part of the irritation is the insistance that Texas still has cowboys, when, in fact, there are few, if any, left. Out of 23 million residents, only a few thousand could be called "cowboys" in any legitimate sense. Certainly, in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso, six of the 25 most populous cities in the US, comprising some 70% of Texas' population, you would be hard pressed to find a "cowboy" (rhinestone variety notwithstanding).

While the old time notion of a cowboy may be appealing to some (not this city boy), it doesn't exist in modern day Texas. Ford and Chevy pickup commercials can't make it so.

[MidtownCoog]

Just don't forget where you came from, that's all. You can still be Texan. No need to be a homoginized American.

Pardon me if I belive that we are better than the other 49 states.

The only other state I have seen with State Pride is Ohio. Those folks love their state as much as Texans do.

[MidtownCoog]

And what in the world is a "city boy"?

Can you please define that?

Although, it does sound better than "affluent."

[RedScare]

Well, actually Coog, I came from North Carolina.

However, I've been in Texas so long, I can claim it as my own.

My definition of "city boy" would be one that loves the city and all that goes with it, the buildings, the people, the sights, the crowds, the hustle and bustle, the variety, the juxtaposition of old and new, warts and all.

A city boy appreciates nature, but really is not comfortable living in it full time. He isn't turned off by crowds and congestion, he revels in it. By definition, a city boy appreciates the monuments that man makes, from stadiums to skyscrapers to transit systems. A city boy does not define himself by the vehicle he drives, and appreciates the diversity of sights and people that a big city delivers. He is not afraid of losing his identity in a sea of people, but, rather enjoys the anonymity of getting lost in a crowd.

That, at least, is how I see it. It is also why I love living in Houston, and have since 1977.

[MidtownCoog]

Cool. I like it! I think I'm a city boy too, but I love geting out in the coutnry. I am a 5th generation Texan, and two generations removed from "Cowboy."

I was even born in downtown Houston, so when people make fun of Texas, I take it seriously.

But I have travelled a lot, and met many people who are downright fascinated by Texas. People really do ask if you own horses and oil wells. Once I met an 80 y/o grandma on the train in Bratislava who said "I love Texas. I have always wanted to go there."

That's why I don't want us to foget our roots.

[Willy1]

I agree that you can stil be a proud Texan without being a cowboy. I think the way to look at it is that the Cowboy lifestyle evolved over hundreds of years into what is today's modern Texas. And I love the Gene Autrey Cowboy Code. There are even fewer of those kinds of Cowboys left... But, you're right, Cowboys are Gentlemen, not dumb redneck bar brawlers and womanizers....

I think there are still real cowboys here, it's just that they are an endangered species now. Some still believe you see them on every corner and that all Texans ride horses and wear western clothing... There are some very real cowboys left in Fort Worth - but they're ranchers and wild catters, not John Wayne or John Travolta (visa vie Bud in Urban Cowboy). I went to college in West Texas and there are most certainly real cowboys out there... There is even a big national fraternity at my school that was made up primarily of guys from West Texas Cowboy Families.

[RedScare]

Agreed. I'll never forget my first trip to Chicago in 1990. I insisted on taking the El downtown. As I waited at the station at W. Belden, a 70 year old polish woman started talking to me and was fascinated by my apparent southern accent. When she found out I was from Houston, she kept pinching my cheek and asking if we had horses. Sweetest old woman I think I've ever met. One of the things I love about the city, too.

[J.A.S.O.N.]

I think being "Texan" is relative to where you grew up in Texas. I in no way can relate to the cowboy culture. I can talk to anyone for days about warm gulf waters, or sipping a Corona with my feet in the sand, but being "Texas" to a person in Lubbock is something totally different. I had a cousin from D.C. visit Galveston for the first time about two years ago, and the first thing he says when he gets of the plane is "Howdy". I laughed and explained to him that we don't really talk like that. Imagine at how shocked I was when began school at North Texas and employees in the grocery store greet me with a warm HOWDY!

[Willy1]

Totally agree with you on that one. I am by NO means any sort of cowboy. I grew up in Fort Worth near the Cultural District on the West Side. I was sort of in culture shock when I arrived in Lubbock for college. But, I also fell in love with Lubbock - believe it or not - because the people there are so nice and friendly and Texas Tech was so much fun. It was also an interesting study in sociology because Tech is about 70% city kids from DFW and Houston and the rest are primarily from surrounding West Texas towns. It's interesting to see the urban kids and the country kids mixing together. It's not uncommon to have a former "Tractor Queen" from Muleshoe and former "Prom Queen" from Dallas end up being sorority sisters and best friends (that's a real example where I personally knew the girls). Likewise, I had pledge brothers from places like Dumas and Sweetwater. It was a great opportunity to learn about people from different parts of the state and country. That's one thing that I really like about Texas - the fact that it really is like it's own country... It's large enough that it actually has all the different terrains of North America within the state borders and even the accents change depending on where you are. East Texas sounds very different than West Texas, and El Pasoites sound nothing like Dallasites or Fort Worthians.

I love travelling to other states and letting them know I'm from Texas... There really is some sort of fascination with everything Texan... my accent gets noticed everywhere I go. I love that.

[KimberlySayWhat]

Has anyone ever seen those trash programs about Texas that TRIO often airs? I think they originally aired on the BBC. They're so ridiculous that it's better to just laugh them off. If people believe everything is the way the media portrays it then they're just ignorant. It's not even worth it.

[KimberlySayWhat]

Agreed. I'll never forget my first trip to Chicago in 1990. I insisted on taking the El downtown. As I waited at the station at W. Belden, a 70 year old polish woman started talking to me and was fascinated by my apparent southern accent. When she found out I was from Houston, she kept pinching my cheek and asking if we had horses. Sweetest old woman I think I've ever met. One of the things I love about the city, too.

Stories like that crack me up! I think maybe I've told this before, but when I was 3 or 4 years of age, we went to Arizona to visit some friends. During our stay, we took a trip to Grand Canyon where we encountered a couple from England. When they found out that we were from Texas they wanted to know if we knew who shot J.R., if we ate steak for breakfast and then they had their picture taken with us! I guess whatever the image, if people consider it positive, that's pretty much OK with me.

[MidtownCoog]

Yes, I was in London when those aired the first time. My co-workers over there are fascianated by that junk.

But if you have watched BBC 1-4, it's acutally some of the better stuff on.

BBC reminds me of a 24/7 PBS channel. It's VERY boring stuff for the most part.

[J.A.S.O.N.]

  Ford and Chevy pickup commercials can't make it so.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Amen to that. I cannot stand the, "sweaty cowboy packing his bale of hay into the back of his pickup, with the deep faux cowboy accent commentating on how tough the guy looks" commercials. How many of us actually live like that? Surely its has to be a minority. I'd like to see some of those pickups riding through downtown Houston, Dallas, Austin, or a highway shot with the skyline in the background.