The Big Easy: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

[[New Orleans]], Louisiana, USA, as seen in the media. One of the most "exotic" cities in America, it has a distinctive culture due to its [[Deep South]] location, French roots, and [[Vice City]] status, and writers go crazy over it.

The town is always surrounded by swamps and alligators. The swamps, of course, are always a mere two minute jog from the French Quarter (which tends to comprise the entire city): a convenient change of scenery for the protagonist chasing a bad guy. Said chase scene will inevitably run into a Mardi Gras parade, because [[It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans]]. All the black people are either [[Hollywood Voodoo|voodoo priests]] or related to one, you can always expect a reference to the city's famous cooking, and I gerr-on-tee at least one local will have a Creole accent thicker than gumbo.

 

 

Most depictions of New Orleans depict the "Big Easy" as it existed before Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed it in 2005. Exactly how long it will take Hollywood and the networks to catch up remains unclear. A TV series set in post Katrina New Orleans entitled "K-Ville" aired briefly on Fox in late 2007, but for many producers it's still [[Too Soon]]. The first season of Treme, a post-Katrina New Orleans drama, created by David Simon (of [[The Wire]] fame), aired on HBO beginning in April 2010 . Disney sought to bring the original Big Easy image back to popularity with ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'', which incorporates ''all'' of the elements mentioned in the above description.

Useful Note: Locals don't call it "The Big Easy"; they just call it New Orleans. Which may or may not sound like "N'awlins" depending on who you're speaking to. Native New Orleanian pronunciation guide: Orleans has three syllables and no "R." Elsewhere in the south it varies. Important: New Orleans doesn't rhyme with "[[Back to The Future|ever]][[wikipedia:Johnny B Goode|greens]]." Another nickname is "The Crescent City".

 

 

* Gambit of the X-Men is nothing more than a collection of various stereotypes about thieves and Cajuns all rolled into one that has only recently been given any major [[Character Development]]. He was raised by your run-of-the-mill Cajun thieves' guild after being kidnapped at birth, and their leader was advised by a black Catholic [[Hollywood Voodoo|voodoo priestess]] type! He has a Cajun accent so hardcore that even the writers of the X-Men books can't help but parody it now and then! Every time Gambit has a few issues in New Orleans, he WILL have scenes in either the swamps and/or the French Quarter and some mention of gumbo or jambalaya WILL be made, I gerr-on-tee it.

** One time he took the X-Men with him where they were seen enjoying Mardi Gras.

* The 2008 [[Anti-Anti-Christ|Daimon Hellstrom]] miniseries is based in New Orleans and occasionally talks about the city's post-Katrina efforts, but the series makes almost no use of the setting's usual relationship with the supernatural (the villains were the Egyptian gods, of all things).

* The fourth ''[[Blacksad]]'' album is set here.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]''

* The movie ''[[Undercover Blues]]'' has a married pair of spies on vacation in a version of New Orleans that fits this trope to a T. Of course, their vacation doesn't last long, leading to all the exciting action and chase scene possibilities that Hollywood New Orleans offers.

* The eponymous locale of ''The Big Easy'' is depicted as sex, dangerous, atmospheric, and populated mainly by wiseguys (Mafioso) and Cajuns -- even though the Cajuns are traditionally farming people of rural South Louisiana. New Orleans' native Creoles are a different ethnic group entirely.

* 1939 version of ''[[The Cat and the Canary]]'' moves the West mansion into Louisiana bayou.

* ''The Cincinnati Kid'' is set in '30s New Orleans.

 

== Literature ==

* Mark Kelly, from the first part of ''[[Special Circumstances|Princess of Wands]]'', works in the New Orleans Police Department, with a few scenes in the city, and much of the rest of the segment out in the swamp areas in the vicinity.

* Arthur Hailey's ''Hotel'' is set in New Orleans, as is the 1967 film version. [[Aaron Spelling]]'s 1980s TV version moves the locale to [[San Francisco]], however.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Bones]]'' had another post-Katrina example-Brennan was down identifying victims of the flood and gets tangled up in the grisly voodoo underworld.

* Abby Sciuto from ''[[NCIS]]'' hails from New Orleans and points out in the third season opener that the jazz music occurs ''after'' the burial.

** The show quickly quickly became notorious for its inaccuracies, especially a mention of "gumbo parties" in the first episode. This was referenced in ''[[Treme]]'', where a tourist asks about gumbo parties during Mardi Gras and is told "We don't call them that."

* The HBO series ''[[Treme]]'' ([[Its Pronounced Tropay|"Tre-may"]]) lampshades this trope constantly. The show takes place largely in the Treme, a specific part of New Orleans, and frequently ridicules this trope and the lopsided media attention certain sectors of New Orleans received just after Katrina.

* There was a '90s detective series titled ''The Big Easy''.

** And one in the '60s called ''Bourbon Street Beat''.

* Minor character [[Mr. Fanservice|Detective Will LaMontagne]] from ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' is from New Orleans and in "Jones", there were mentions of [[It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans|Mardi Gras]] and Hurricane Katrina that took Will's father's life.

* The [[Too Good to Last]] '80s dramedy ''Frank's Place'' was set in New Orleans.

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Old World of Darkness]]'', no doubt inspired by Anne Rice, has a book dedicated to New Orleans as a vampire-focused horror setting. It has a rather unintentionally comic section talking about New Orleans' extensive subway system (which is practically infeasible due to the city's notoriously unstable soil).

** The remake of this book for the ''[[New World of Darkness]]'' avoids this, thankfully. However, since it was written before Katrina hit, it describes New Orleans as it was before the hurricane came through... and, in a small sidebar that's half unintended [[Call Forward]], half [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]], describes how an impending city-destroying hurricane strike might be included in the plot....

 

== Theatre ==

* ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]''. <small>'''''[[Skyward Scream|STELLAAAAAAAA!]]'''''</small>

 

== Theme Parks ==

* [[Disneyland]] has a whole area dedicated to New Orleans. Disney World changes it to a colonial themed area, but there are still many elements that stick.

 

* ''[[Gabriel Knight|Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers]]''. The whole game is set in Gabe's hometown, most of the stages of the game are in different parts of the city featuring New Orleans [[Stock Characters]] like the [[Fat Sweaty Southerner in a White Suit|Sweaty Detective]] and the [[Cloudcuckoolander|elderly Creole lady]], beignets are a [[Plot Coupon]], and [[Hollywood Voodoo|voodoo]] factors heavily [[Nightmare Fuel|into the plot]].

* ''Tony Hawk's Underground 2'' featured a New Orleans stage that takes place during a voodoo invasion at Mardi Gras.

* ''[[Nancy Drew|Legend of the Crystal Skull]]'' is a post-Katrina example, although it references the storm only obliquely and doesn't show enough of the city to reveal any changes.

* ''inFamous 2'' the main bulk of a game in a place that's [[Blatant Lies|clearly not]] in no way New Orleans

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Scooby Doo]] on Zombie Island'' has the gang from Mysteries, Inc. going to New Orleans, and running into, you guessed it, zombies.

** They go back later on in an episode of the 2002 series, this time running into ''ghosts'' (of two soldiers from the Civil War).

** Also, so-called "New Orleans Native" Skinner doesn't even know it's Mardi Gras until somebody opens up a window and there's a massive float passing by.

** Don't forget "Oh, Streetcar!", a musical version of "A Streetcar Named Desire" that Marge stars in, with its song so catchy, offensive, and ''accurate'' that it could easily serve as the page quote if we didn't have three already.

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