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Wow you haven't read anything I have said have you? When people hear the word Chicago one of the FIRST things that comes to their head is gangsters. This has almost always been my experience. With NYC it's not the case.
Man, that is so ridiculously subjective. How could you possibly make an assessment that "the mob shapes the identity of Chicago more than NYC?" That statement is based on nothing more than pure speculation. The Blues Brothers, Deep Dish Pizza, the blues, jazz, the Sears Tower, the Shedd Aquarium, sauer kraut, Oprah Winfrey, Taste of Chicago, the St. Patty's Day Parade, "Da Bears," Polish sausages, the Cubs, the Magnificent Mile, Michael Jordan and Barack Obama are all things that could precede "organized crime" when asking the ordinary layperson to list 10 things about Chicago.
What is objective (or more objective anyway) is that Italian identity is more central to New York identity than it is to Chicago identity. And for better or worse, in the minds of many Americans....
Personal experiences living abroad: I've actually seen, on more than one occasion, t-shirts for Chicago that said something to the effect of Al Capone, Public Enemy number one or something. For NY, which I see stuff for a lot more, it's the Yankees, NYPD, etc. Someone made a nice list of famous crime families, big players, etc. NY, yep, but... if I was to start asking people about them... the overwhelming majority wouldn't know them, but if I ask about Al Capone... pretty much everyone knows him. Also, the incredibly infamous Saint Valentine's Day Massacre...
My mother was born and raised in Barbados. Before moving to America, she said she didn't know who George Washington was. And why should she have? How many Americans know about Robert Walpole or even Benjamin Disraeli?
Even if many people overseas knew who Al Capone was (doubtful), I don't think they would make the connection to Chicago. If anything, they'd probably think he was from New York, particularly Europeans who have a starry-eyed obsession with NYC. I can't speak for every single person on the European continent, but I can confidently say that no one in my family can tell you anything about Chicago, little less tie the city to Al Capone.
Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, the Great Chicago Fire, etc. do not register with many people who were raised and educated in former British colonies (which is a lot of the world if you think about it). The British school curriculum focuses mostly on, well, Britain and the history of her colonial possessions.
Oh okay bro I see.........well yeah in todays time Chicago is Gotham city
I heard it was like 50 people shot 1 weekend recently but never sleep on Brooklyn it's on the level of violence with Detroit in sum areas
Oh you are wrong actually yeah 5,000 people got shot and it wasn't in a weekend it was all in one day! Crazy bro dawg , crazy.
Man, that is so ridiculously subjective. How could you possibly make an assessment that "the mob shapes the identity of Chicago more than NYC?" That statement is based on nothing more than pure speculation. The Blues Brothers, Deep Dish Pizza, the blues, jazz, the Sears Tower, the Shedd Aquarium, sauer kraut, Oprah Winfrey, Taste of Chicago, the St. Patty's Day Parade, "Da Bears," Polish sausages, the Cubs, the Magnificent Mile, Michael Jordan and Barack Obama are all things that could precede "organized crime" when asking the ordinary layperson to list 10 things about Chicago.
What is objective (or more objective anyway) is that Italian identity is more central to New York identity than it is to Chicago identity. And for better or worse, in the minds of many Americans....
Italians = Mafia.
Lol I'm subjective but then you go and say Italians = mafia. There goes your credibility. I'm done talking about this because it's straying too far away of what this thread is really about.
Lol I'm subjective but then you go and say Italians = mafia. There goes your credibility. I'm done talking about this because it's straying too far away of what this thread is really about.
So you think "Blacks = Mafia" to most people? Or Polynesians? Or Eskimos? I mean, the word "mafia" has Italian (Sicilian) origins anyway, right?
It is totally subjective to say, on the other hand, that organized crime will be the FIRST (or one of the first) things people will mention when asked about Chicago. It's not like organized crime and Chicago go hand in hand like Las Vegas and Gambling, or Miami and Beach, or Hollywood and Movies, or even Nashville and country music. There are many things that may come to mind for the average person before "organized crime" when talking about Chicago.
Here's a question for you, btw: If you asked people to name three things about Charlotte and three things about NYC, do you think "finance" or "banking" would be named for Charlotte before it would be named for New York? If so, would that then mean that Charlotte is "more known" for finance than NYC?
Last edited by BajanYankee; 07-27-2012 at 07:26 PM..
Cleveland makes sense, though I always figured Metropolis was Chicago since the Kents lived on a farm in the middle of some kind of wheat field. Chicago would be the nearby "big city" where a farm boy would aspire to living.
Yeah, I always thought that too. But I guess they've made a big deal about Metropolis and Gotham being within driving distance.
It doesn't really matter, though, since they keep moving them around. There was a time when they set Gotham in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware (because that somehow makes sense).
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2e1m5a
I'm confused, I thought Gotham City was always assumed to be NYC. Although the reference was more relevant in the 80's/90's and prior, not today.
Yeah, me too. Especially since Gotham was a nickname for New York before Batman. I guess Nolan's The Dark Knight helped make people think about Chicago (or maybe people just want their city to be Gotham for some inexplicable reason). It's really D.C.'s fault for not making it clear, or maybe that's the point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanologist
Metropolis actually does exist but isn't the large city you see on the films but is the "official" home of superman. It's Metropolis,IL. Every year is where the Superman Celebration takes place where fans from around the world come. It's more like Smallville,KS but it's theme is "Superman".
Isn't that the plot of a Superman issue (some villain attacks Metropolis, Illinois)?
My mother was born and raised in Barbados. Before moving to America, she said she didn't know who George Washington was. And why should she have? How many Americans know about Robert Walpole or even Benjamin Disraeli?
I get where you're going, but a country with the size and notoriety of America is different than Barbados. Do you know who Winston Churchill is? Or Joan of Arc?
Ok but here is this question. Who is the most famous gangster? Al Capone. What city is he linked to. Yeah he was born and raised in Brooklyn, so what? It's like what I said about Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was born and raised in North Carolina, but what city is he associated with most?
It don't matter.
Last edited by DC's Finest; 07-27-2012 at 08:31 PM..
Ok but here is this question. Who is the most famous gangster? Al Capone. What city is he linked to. Yeah he was born and raised in Brooklyn, so what? It's like what I said about Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was born and raised in North Carolina, but what city is he associated with most?
Michael Jordan was actually born in brooklyn too lol.
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