Everything Is Big in Texas: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"You have heard the saying that everything is bigger in the Lone Star state, and it is true that the cats are the size of dogs and the dogs are the size of European cars. But Texans themselves are of normal proportions, with normal-sized dreams and loves, who just happen to own cars that are the size of twenty-five European cars."''|'''John Hodgman''', ''[[The Areas of My Expertise]]''}}

In real life, Texas is a diverse state in terms of geography and culture. It can easily be divided into five different regions culturally, with climates ranging from the near desert like conditions of the panhandle to the humid coastal subtropics along the shoreline. [[DFW Metroplex|Dallas]], [[Greater Houston|Houston]] and San Antonio count as three of the US's top ten most populous cities, with the state capital of Austin and the cities of Fort Worth and El Paso rounding off the list of cities that can be described as ''big.'' The state itself is ''huge'', being [httphttps://wwwtexasalmanac.k5rcd.orgcom/TEXAS%20EUROPE20SIZE%20COMPARISON%20MAPindex.jpgphp?q=topics/facts-profile 268,820596 sq. miles] with a population of about 24.3 million. This makes it roughly half the size of Alaska with sixty times the population - and several times larger than many entire countries. For example, it is approximately three times as large as the ''entire United Kingdom put together''.<ref>Mind you, it's only slightly larger than Manitoba, two-thirds as large as Ontario, and less than half as large as Quebec, all of which are provinces in [[Canada]]. But, hey, [[Canada Does Not Exist]], right?</ref>

In terms of culture Texas plays host to some of the largest Hispanic and Asian American communities in the South Eastern United States. The state's ranks of professionals, business leaders and politicians draw from all racial and religious groups who can produce people with the ability, which basically means each and every one of them. Many government institutions retain their form from the days of the Republic of Texas and Reconstruction Era. Politics is personality based as much as anything else from the state's history of being in the Solid South, leading to such politicians as [[Kinky Friedman]], a self described Jewish Cowboy and entertainer whose campaign slogan was "Why the hell not?", popping up from time to time.

As such, Texas will inevitably be represented as a backward state, a mashup of the [[Deep South]] and [[The Wild West]]. No Texan will be able to speak for five seconds without mentioning the oil industry, the beef industry or high school football. (See the Rich Texan from ''[[The Simpsons]]''.) In almost any depiction, they'll come off as well meaning but ultimately ignorant and/or jingoist; more recent media might portray Texas, somewhat justifiably, as an extremely strong right-wing enclave filled with religious fanatics. (Compare with [[Eagle Land]].) Though some Texans act the stereotype intentionally to mess with non-Texans, especially when out of state. It's practically a sport.

=== {{examples|Texas Is So Big It Spawned These Sub-Tropes ===}}

* [[Mexico Called. They Want Texas Back.]]

=== {{examples|The Vastness of Texas Contains These Works ===}}

{{quote| Sena: "Um...Why is there a cow on the beach?"<br />

* Osaka in the dub of ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' is given a Texas accent, Houston in particular, because both Texans and Osakans share the stereotype of being loud, obnoxious country hicks. (Osaka herself, of course, is the complete opposite.)<ref> Worth noting, the English-dub voice actress, Kira Vincent-Davis, is a native of Houston, where the anime was dubbed, so at least you know the accent is legit.</ref>

** A similar approach was taken with ''[[Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai]]/Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi]]'', which is set in Osaka.

== [[Comic BookBooks]] ==

* In ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)|Preacher]]''. Jesse Custer makes a point of refusing to steal horses, as some obscure Texan point of honor.

** [[Truth in Television]]: in a culture centered around free-range cattle ranching, like in the old West, cattle and horse thieving were more likely to get you hanged than murder, rape and bank robbing. Some of those old laws are still on the books, although mostly ignored these days.

* ''[[Blue Beetle]]''. Jaime Reyes, the third Blue Beetle, lives and works in a reasonably-accurate version of [[Other Cities in Texas|El Paso]]. One storyline on [[The Illegal|immigration along the Texas border]] was met with [[Internet Backdraft|mixed reactions]].

* The 2005 remake of ''[[Film/The Longest Yard|The Longest Yard]]'' takes place in this setting--rathersetting—rather, in the fictional Allenville Penitentiary. The only civilization shown aside from the prison is a high school football field and ... a trailer. Also of note is the warden's political advisor, who dresses exactly like a Southern dandy.

{{quote| '''Pa''': Well, I figured we'd get up early and eat, then dig for oil and eat, then go to a roundup, rustle us up some doggies, and then grab a bite to eat.}}

* ''[[Pee Wee-wee's Big Adventure]]'': THE STARS AT NIGHT, ARE BIG AND BRIGHT...

** [[Schmuck Bait|* clap clap clap* DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS ]]....oh '''[[Damn You, Muscle Memory!|DAMMIT]]'''.

* An episode of Bones was set on the Texas/Oklahoma border where a body was found. A pair of troopers from their respective states take potshots at each other while Bones takes a look at the corpse:

* An episode of ''[[MASHM*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'' has Col. Potter quickly and accurately deduce that a patient is from Texas because said patient, though unable to speak, offered his hand up for a handshake.

{{quote| ''After disarming a trap set by Sheldon and rearming it against him:''<br />

* The comic ''Torio'' had [http://torio.comicgenesis.com/d/20070205.html Jimmy Benson]{{Dead link}}, a perpetually-grinning, belt-buckle-flaunting Texan who even spoke in bigger letters than the rest of the cast (compared to [[Shrinking Violet|Crispin]], who had trouble maintaining capital letters). He was based on a couple of Texan roommates the author had, neither of whom would ever shut up about how awesome Texas was.

* Although [[Something *Positive|Davan, Peejee and Aubrey]] live in Boston they all hail from Texas and the strip makes frequent sidetrips there.

{{quote| 504. If the party is to frequently meet with Queen Victoria, I cannot play a Texan.<br />

870. I will not use my vast personal knowledge of Dublin, Texas to get an unfair advantage in the campaign.<br />

973. Shotguns are not a traditional part of Texas funerals.<br />

* The [[Affably Evil]] oil tycoon [[Meaningful Name|Rich Texan]] in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' acts as a stereotypical [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|rich Texan]], complete with the accent, white cowboy boots, and white ten-gallon hat. He's also very trigger-happy with his [[Guns Akimbo|double pistols]].

{{quote| "Back in Texas, we call ice cream 'Frozen Cowjuice.'"}}

* In ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'', One of the Fractured Fairy Tale Shorts once did a variation of the Tom Thumb story, where after living with his giant parents for so long the titular characters went off to find his fortune, only to find out that everyone else was his size; he wasn't very small, his parents were huge because they were from Texas.

* Similar to the Rich Texan, ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' has Doug Dimmadome, a part time [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] that owns a good deal of Dimmsdale, has an "odd southern drawl", and wears cowboy gear with a [[Nice Hat|coyboy hat]] that occasionaly is so big that it goes past the top of the screen, no matter how far a shot he's in.

* An episode of ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' had Scrooge going to Texas because of his city's depleted oil supply. You expect everything in Texas, oil businessmen, cowboys etc.

* [httphttps://healthweb.archive.org/web/20190915124321/https://www.msn.com/weighten-lossus/Health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100257787>1=31036 Five of the top ten fattest cities in America are in Texas.]

* Rick Perry, former 2012 Republican candidate for President, takes this trope to [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]] levels. Another example is another former President, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].

* Molly Ivins talks about her state in [https://web.archive.org/web/20141016093833/http://www.thenation.com/article/texas-america?page=full "Is Texas America?"], an article for ''The Nation magazine.