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Location: National Landing (ha! just kidding) Pentaon City
21 posts, read 10,120 times
Reputation: 15
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I haven't looked into this show (though I saw a brief mention of it somewhere). Does it have blue collar themes? Need I even ask? Lots of smoke, shots of el tracks?
Season 2 was one of the best season series of TV I've ever seen. I am considering GoT, The Sopranos and Succession when I make this statement. Fantastic writing, great acting, great directing and some intangible quality that made it, episode to episode-- an incredible rollercoaster of humor, hubris, melodrama, fear and empathy. Can't wait for season 3. (actually wondering if they can keep the momentum. I suspect they can).
100% concur. I thought Season 2 was a masterpiece. Just utterly phenomenal.
I haven't looked into this show (though I saw a brief mention of it somewhere). Does it have blue collar themes? Need I even ask? Lots of smoke, shots of el tracks?
Location: National Landing (ha! just kidding) Pentaon City
21 posts, read 10,120 times
Reputation: 15
It's a joke.
This is why people who have never been to the United States believe (and this is a real example) that Chicago doesn't have a single coffee shop.
When will you get that shows like these are actually hurting Chicago, when it's the only view of the city that outsiders get?
Why are most people who visit the city for the first time shocked by how different the reality is versus what they've seen on television?
All gritty, all fast food, all the time is not going to attract tourists or newcomers to the city. (And besides, it's a lie, but a well-worn, favorite one.) If there were other shows depicting Chicago in a more positive/balanced light (the kind of depictions New York City, for instance, has gotten for decades), I wouldn't care, but there aren't. It's just a blue collar hellzone in TV land. (By the way, I have no problem with Italian beef sandwiches. I just don't think they define the city's dining scene the way the show's creators apparently do.)
A simple thing the show could have done better: set it someplace besides River North (a blue collar suburb would have been more accurate). Have the protagonist start out a James Beard Award-winning chef at an upscale restaurant IN CHICAGO (it wouldn't have been a stretch -- my god, no). Like I said, shows like this one (and you'd be shocked by the degree to which people outside the United States treat shows like these as gospel) will not bring foreign or domestic visitors or newcomers to the city. (Unless it's that fetishist from Germany who is actually brave enough[!!!] to enter the city and is on a 'grease wasteland' tour, wanting to see the Shameless house and the Beef. And then is shocked by how nice and vibrant the place is once he gets there.)
Last edited by ecureuilvert; 07-30-2023 at 12:17 PM..
This is why people who have never been to the United States believe (and this is a real example) that Chicago doesn't have a single coffee shop.
When will you get that shows like these are actually hurting Chicago, when it's the only view of the city that outsiders get?
Why are most people who visit the city for the first time shocked by how different the reality is versus what they've seen on television?
All gritty, all fast food, all the time is not going to attract tourists or newcomers to the city. (And besides, it's a lie, but a well-worn, favorite one.) If there were other shows depicting Chicago in a more positive/balanced light (the kind of depictions New York City, for instance, has gotten for decades), I wouldn't care, but there aren't. It's just a blue collar hellzone in TV land. (By the way, I have no problem with Italian beef sandwiches. I just don't think they define the city's dining scene the way the show's creators apparently do.)
A simple thing the show could have done better: set it someplace besides River North (a blue collar suburb would have been more accurate). Have the protagonist start out a James Beard Award-winning chef at an upscale restaurant IN CHICAGO (it wouldn't have been a stretch -- my god, no). Like I said, shows like this one (and you'd be shocked by the degree to which people outside the United States treat shows like these as gospel) will not bring foreign or domestic visitors or newcomers to the city. (Unless it's that fetishist from Germany who is actually brave enough[!!!] to enter the city and is on a 'grease wasteland' tour, wanting to see the Shameless house and the Beef. And then is shocked by how nice and vibrant the place is once he gets there.)
You clearly haven't watched the show. And you are speaking WAY out of turn.
There is an entire episode set inside of Ever, a 2 michelin star restaurant in Chicago. There are visits to other great, non-fast food places in the city, ie. Avec and Kasama.
The entire show is about changing an Italian Beef restaurant into a fine dining establishment.
So....maybe actually WATCH the program before spitting that crap?
This show is great PR for the city of Chicago. Seems like every show revoving around Chicago has to do with crime, gangs, drugs, things of nature. We need more shows of regularity
This show is great PR for the city of Chicago. Seems like every show revoving around Chicago has to do with crime, gangs, drugs, things of nature. We need more shows of regularity
Yes.
First off, the show is absolutely phenomenal, city notwithstanding. Because it's very associated with Chicago, this will link people with feeling good about a show - the characters, etc. to the city, and that's a positive thing. Put one of the best shows ever written in Chicago? Yes please.
Second, while there are definitely "working class" undercurrents to the setting and people, it's not universally so, a la Shameless. The main character is a world class chef, for one. There are great aerial shots of the beautiful parts of the city, in every episode of Season 2. Plus a showcase of high end dining.
The Bear is not a show that makes a point to show a rugged Chicago. It's a show about some rugged people, trying to do some amazing things, with a Chicago backdrop. And sometimes that backdrop is rugged and sometimes it's elegant. Big difference.
Location: National Landing (ha! just kidding) Pentaon City
21 posts, read 10,120 times
Reputation: 15
Name for me a show set in Chicago that wasn't primarily (entirely? -- probably entirely) about "working class" people.
Now think about the number of shows set in New York City, Boston, etc. that aren't about "working class" people.
Think that's a coincidence?
Even the show Ozark is an example of the phenomenon -- the Lake of the Ozarks is a place I vacationed throughout my childhood, and it's nothing like the show portrays it. Not even close. (The show wasn't even filmed there -- it was filmed at a Corps of Engineers lake in Georgia.) Someone from a film blog (who lives in California) visited the area to do some poverty tourism and a write-up. She was shocked. And she emphasized in her article that she didn't know why the show went out of its way to hide the wealth present in the area (large, modern vacation homes, PGA golf courses, the better restaurants, etc.). (To the extent that it could "hide" anything in a place where it hadn't even filmed.)
None of this would matter nearly as much if it didn't have the power (which you are grossly underestimating) to affect the destinies of these places. (And if you don't think Chicago's "blue collar dump" (which contrasts so wildly with the truth -- but I don't need to explain that to you if you live there) reputation has had an effect on the number of people wanting to live and visit there, you're very naive.) The fact that some people do anyway is a testament to just how cool the place actually is, in spite of the crap that gets said and depicted about it. Can you imagine how thriving the city would be with a better reputation nationally and internationally?
I don't particularly relish the idea of people around the globe thinking the places I call home, where my family comes from, where I grew up and am sentimentally attached to -- are nothing but big piles of scum. Your mileage may differ.
I live in DC now (a place I moved because I had unrealistically high expectations about it -- again, thanks to entertainment & media portrayals), and I'm honestly sick of hearing about people's *completely distorted* views of the Midwest when I tell them where I'm from. Every place except Chicago (and they're not being complimentary -- I'll get to that), according to them, is a complete void -- again, all poor people, no restaurants except the rare Mom & Pop diner where you'll be served meat 'n' potatoes on a blue plate. Seeing a connection? (Incidentally, I haven't had a decent salad since I left the Midwest.)
Chicago's like the grittier parts of New Jersey, but much smaller, and also hokily Midwestern somehow.
And you'll get shot if you go there.
Where do you think they got those ideas? (I won't even get started on what they think of Kansas City, where I also lived.)
If you want to continue thinking none of this matters, go ahead and have fun.
Last edited by ecureuilvert; 08-01-2023 at 07:49 AM..
This thread is about The Bear. That show does not overly glorify Chicago's rough edges. It's in there some, but it's not the theme of the show.
Chicago is one of the most visited US destinations, still.
There haven't been too many movies/shows lately that portray it as a high-end city. But in the 80s and 90s, there were a ton. And honestly, those were the glory days of Chicago pop culture, with Oprah, Michael Jordan, etc.
John Hughes painted Chicago well Home Alone was another one. My Big Fat Greek Wedding was balanced. Best Friend's Wedding was positive and yuppie.
The Good Wife was in Chicago, about lawyers. ER was about doctors. Those aren't working class people.
So Chicago has had quite a few "normal" shows that weren't focused on grit. It's just been awhile. And I agree it would be nice to have a slick show depicting well off people living and working in Chicago. But that hasn't happened lately.
That all said, I'm thrilled The Bear was in Chicago. It's success has been good for the city.
Last edited by Kmanshouse; 08-01-2023 at 07:56 AM..
Name for me a show set in Chicago that wasn't primarily (entirely? -- probably entirely) about "working class" people.
Now think about the number of shows set in New York City, Boston, etc. that aren't about "working class" people.
Think that's a coincidence?
Even the show Ozark is an example of the phenomenon -- the Lake of the Ozarks is a place I vacationed throughout my childhood, and it's nothing like the show portrays it. Not even close. (The show wasn't even filmed there -- it was filmed at a Corps of Engineers lake in Georgia.) Someone from a film blog (who lives in California) visited the area to do some poverty tourism and a write-up. She was shocked. And she emphasized in her article that she didn't know why the show went out of its way to hide the wealth present in the area (large, modern vacation homes, PGA golf courses, the better restaurants, etc.). (To the extent that it could "hide" anything in a place where it hadn't even filmed.)
None of this would matter nearly as much if it didn't have the power (which you are grossly underestimating) to affect the destinies of these places. (And if you don't think Chicago's "blue collar dump" (which contrasts so wildly with the truth -- but I don't need to explain that to you if you live there) reputation has had an effect on the number of people wanting to live and visit there, you're very naive.) The fact that some people do anyway is a testament to just how cool the place actually is, in spite of the crap that gets said and depicted about it. Can you imagine how thriving the city would be with a better reputation nationally and internationally?
I don't particularly relish the idea of people around the globe thinking the places I call home, where my family comes from, where I grew up and am sentimentally attached to -- are nothing but big piles of scum. Your mileage may differ.
I live in DC now (a place I moved because I had unrealistically high expectations about it -- again, thanks to entertainment & media portrayals), and I'm honestly sick of hearing about people's *completely distorted* views of the Midwest when I tell them where I'm from. Every place except Chicago (and they're not being complimentary -- I'll get to that), according to them, is a complete void -- again, all poor people, no restaurants except the rare Mom & Pop diner where you'll be served meat 'n' potatoes on a blue plate. Seeing a connection? (Incidentally, I haven't had a decent salad since I left the Midwest.)
Chicago's like the grittier parts of New Jersey, but much smaller, and also hokily Midwestern somehow.
And you'll get shot if you go there.
Where do you think they got those ideas? (I won't even get started on what they think of Kansas City, where I also lived.)
If you want to continue thinking none of this matters, go ahead and have fun.
New member, can't stay on topic, spouts crap. Just made my Ignore List.
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