Everything Is Big in Texas: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{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 [
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.
Economically, Texas is comparable with India and Canada. It is the home to 58 companies of the Fortune 500, more then any other state in the US. Economics is mostly regional in the state, helping to define the regional identities of many residents. East Texas has a large timber industry. North and West Texas are defined by agriculture and petroleum extraction. Dallas has defense manufacturers and the silicon prairie. Austin has the silicon hills, the government, and music industry. Houston excels in shipping, petrochemicals, and aerospace industries (thank you NASA). [[Tourist Trap|San Antonio is very rich in history]] and is home to several major military bases, but [[Demoted to Extra|El Paso always escapes]] [[Scrappy Level|mention]].
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[[Info Dump|Keeping all of the above in mind]], it is fair to say that Texas is no backwater. Unfortunately, Hollywood writers are about as concerned with reality as [[Family Guy|Glenn Quagmire]] is with getting to know a lady first.
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
▲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.
And [[Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud|tornadoes]]. Don't forget the tornadoes.
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* [[DFW Metroplex]]
* [[Greater Houston]]
* [[Mexico Called. They Want Texas Back.]]
* [[Other Cities in Texas]]
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== Advertising ==
* A Geico commercial features the Geico Gecko traveling around the US. He went to Texas, and he talked about how everything is bigger there, such as the hats, the steak, and the hair.
== Anime and Manga ==
* The Deimon Devil Bats of ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' fight against as Texas team, the NASA Aliens, all of whom (Except for Panther and the younger Gonzalez brother) are extremely huge. QB Homer Fitzgerald and the elder Gonzalez are both particularly advanced examples. One of the chapters involving their game with the Devil Bats is even called "the Muscles of the Americans." Not to mention their coach, Apollo, was horribly racist.
** Worth pointing out, though, the coach's being Texan has nothing to do with his being racist - it ties into his backstory {{spoiler|where his own coach passed him up in favor of a black player}}. And yes, [[Character Development|he gets better]].
{{quote|
Monta: "...Cause it's Texas?" }}
** As implied by their name, though, the NASA Aliens are themed around space travel, playing directly into the fact that Texas is the foremost center for study and advancement in that area. They even quote Neil Armstrong's "one giant leap" line before stepping onto the field!
** Excluding the coach, the rest of the team is portrayed as friendly, loyal, and boisterous, despite appearing very intimidating.
*** Ironically, the only character in Eyeshield 21 that completely fits the Texas stereotype is Japanese, the coach for the Seibu Wild Gunmen. He's essentially a reverse weaboo, owning a variety of guns and a giant ranch in Texas.
* New Texas in [[
* Osaka in the dub of ''[[
** A similar approach was taken with ''[[
== [[Comic
* After Marvel's ''[[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]'' storyline, each US state got its own superhero team. Texas got the Rangers, a group which includes three cowboy-themed heroes, an Indian-themed hero, and Armadillo, who is a big armadillo.
** Rangers was a pre-existing team - they formed from local heroes to stop the Hulk in the early 80s. Doesn't make them less [[Captain Ethnic]] about it.
* One of the enemies of ''[[
** Several Earth-C versions of Texas cities were also mentioned in the series, including "San Antoadio" (San Antonio) and "Hogston" (Houston). Taxes also was the home of historical landmark the Alamole (Alamo).
* 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]].
== [[Film]] ==
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* In the 1956 blockbuster ''[[Giant]]'', Bick is taking his new bride Leslie on a railroad trip to his cattle ranch in Texas. When she looks out the window at the passing scenery and wonders when they'll get to Texas, he announces that they've been ''in'' Texas for several hours already.
** Also, in the beginning of the movie, David asks how much big is Bick's property. He guesses 20-50 thousand acres. Bick reluctantly says that he has 595 thousand acres of land.
* The 2005 remake of ''[[Film/The Longest Yard|The Longest Yard]]'' takes place in this
* ''[[No Country for Old Men]]'' has a very unstereotypical Texas.
* Taken to extreme levels in ''[[North]]'', to the point where the Texan family that North visits tries to fatten him up because they pride having the biggest of ''everything''.
{{quote|
* ''[[Office Space]]''
* ''[[Pee
** [[Schmuck Bait|* clap clap clap* DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
* ''[[Real Steel]]'' features a [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] version of Texas where the oil derricks have been replaced with wind turbines<ref>[[Truth in Television]] -- Texas produces more than 10 gigawatts of wind power, more than double the next largest wind-power state, Iowa, in output. Wind farms have practically become the new oil industry.</ref> and county fairs feature fights between bulls and giant robots.
* ''[[Reality Bites]]''
* In ''[[
* "Tex" Conway in ''[[Robot Jox]]''. Despite being a futuristic gladiator, he's a stereotypical Texan, complete with gut, comical accent, down-homey colloquialisms, and ten-gallon hat. However, he somewhat averts the trope by {{spoiler|being a nefarious double agent for the Commies}}.
* ''[[Secondhand Lions]]'' manages to show rural Texas without being stereotypical, and does it beautifully.
** On the DVD commentary for ''[[Secondhand Lions]]'', [[Michael Caine]] describes a Texas accent as a bunch of words all leaning on each other.
* Part of the ''[[X-Files]]: Fight for the Future'' movie is set in Dallas. There is one scene which takes place in a desert and shows [[Special Effects Failure|the Dallas skyline in the background]]. In reality the area surrounding Dallas is a prairie; if you want to get really techical it's [[DFW Metroplex|just more cities]].
* ''[[Whip It]]'' takes place in [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?|Bodeen, Texas]] and Austin. Amusingly it was mostly filmed in Michigan.
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* One of the many pilots who passed through the Stalag 13 underground was a large and enthusiastic Texan. He wore a cowboy hat (yes, while flying his plane), used many Texan colloquialisms and was very amused by meeting actual foreigners such as the British Newkirk and French LeBeau.
* Gordon Bullit in the fourth season of ''[[The OC]]'' is a walking, talking Texan stereotype.
* 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:
** Bones: "It looks like she carried a half-full canteen..."
** OK Ranger: "Definitely from Texas..."
* An episode of ''[[
* ''[[
* [[Friday Night Lights]] is set in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas. While the show focuses on high school football (and its all-important status in the small town), it also covers issues prevalent in Texas and the nation at large; race relations, extreme poverty, pregnancy, religion, alcoholism, parental abuse and other issues surface with regularity.
* General Hammond, of [[Stargate SG
** Of course, that particular PWRG (the Jaffa [[Old Master]] Bra'tac) referred to ''everyone'' as "X of Place of Origin": he called Colonel O'Neill "O'Neill of Minnesota" on at least one occasion.
* Both averted and played straight in Dr. Sheldon Cooper of ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''. Sheldon himself is from the Gulf coast of Texas and is about as non-sterotypical a Texan as you can imagine. However, he seems to hold most Texans in disdain for being examples of the trope.
** Sheldon tries to invoke this trope in one episode when his friends prank him, saying Texans know how to get revenge. It fails.
{{quote|
Leonard (to Sheldon): You might be from Texas, but I'm from [[New Jersey]]. }}
* ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'' roundhouse kicks this trope into next week.
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has the evil front for Primatech Paper here in Volume 1, though it becomes less significant when the Bennetts move to California in Volume 2.
* ''GCB'' is set in Texas, and is about as stereotypical as it can get.
== [[Literature]] ==
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** Quincey and his Texas descendants show up in other vampire-killing media surprisingly frequently. The [[Castlevania]] series is one particular example.
* Anthony Trollope's ''The Way We Live Now'' has a subplot about a railroad being built in Texas, which, to the primary cast of English aristocrats, might as well be on the surface of the moon. As entrepreneur Paul Montague puts it (in the TV miniseries, at least): "Parties in Texas usually descend into fisticuffs and gunplay." There's also the evil Texan woman Mrs. [[Meaningful Name|Hurt]]le, and [[Funny Foreigner]] Hamilton K. Fisker.
* [[
* David Weber's "The Shadow of Saganami" in the Honorverse has Montana, which deliberately styles everything after what they imagined Earth's Texas to be. They also freely acknowledge that some things are inaccurate, but they cheerfully implement everything in Montana as the way things * should* have been in Texas.
* ''For Texas and Zed''
* ''[[The Ayes]] of Texas'' and it's sequels in which Texas becomes an independent nation.
== [[Music]] ==
* [[The Austin Lounge Lizards]]' ''Stupid Texas Song'' is one long indulgence of this trope.
== [[Theatre]] ==
* In ''[[The Most Happy Fella]]'', the [[Beta Couple]] sing a number about how everything is big in Dallas, where they're from, "but the rest of Texas looks a mess."
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'' has a stage where "Colonel" Bob, a goofy Texas oil tycoon, has to look for a new source of "Texas tea" before his gold-digging wife will let him come home.
* ''[[Battle Fantasia]]'' Takes place in a fantasy world with your typical western European fantasy kingdom, a steampunk Dwarf kingdom, Magic talkin rabbits... and a masked gunslinger from Texas... Right.
* [[Team Fortress 2
== Web Comics ==
* 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.
* Subverted in ''[[
* Although [[Something
== Web Original ==
* [[Rooster Teeth]], the creators of [[Red vs. Blue]], primarily consist of Texans. In fact, the main, if not top badass is also from Texas. And her Freelancer ''nickname'' is Agent Tex/as. {{spoiler|Her real name is Allison.}} RT's webcomics lampshade this frequently, with one instance of them blindfolding themselves and drinking different beers, to see if they could tell the difference between Budweiser and Lonestar. Two of the three couldn't.
* ''[[
* [[Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do In An RPG]] has lots of stereotypes of Texans, but considering the author is a Texan, they seem to be badges of pride.
{{quote|
870. I will not use my vast personal knowledge of Dublin, Texas to get an unfair advantage in the campaign.
973. Shotguns are not a traditional part of Texas funerals.
1008. Texans do not get revolvers as a racial weapon proficiency. }}
* About one half of [[Survival of the Fittest|SOTF-TV]]'s characters (the other half being from a [[Sucky School]] in [[Motor City|Detroit]]) are from a wealthy private school in Bryan, Texas. While the stereotype hasn't come up as much as you'd expect, it has received [[Lampshade Hanging]] both in and out of character.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The [[Affably Evil]] oil tycoon [[Meaningful Name|Rich Texan]] in ''[[The Simpsons (
* ''[[
** One episode had Hank pandering to a visiting New England investor to use Strickland as its propane supplier. The investor expected this trope and kept pestering Hank about cowboy hats and boots and used words like "russlin'" and "twisters". The investor eventually went with Strickland's competitor Thatherton because he acted the stereotype.
* On ''[[
* ''[[
** The gun/alcohol thing is especially funny to people in Texas, since the alcohol laws there are draconian to the point that the TABC is known in the bar industry as the Beverage Nazis.
*** The main complaint about Texans in that episode was that they are racist and homophobic. [[Sarcasm Mode|Because every single person in Texas shares the exact same sentiments, and those sentiments in no way exist in any of the other forty-nine states or other nations of the world.]]
**** Keep in mind, the ''primary'' purpose of the episode was really for the writers to deliver a very scathing, personal (and hyperbolical) attack on President [[George W. Bush]], so this episode was really one of ''Family Guy'''s most flagrant examples of [[Writer
* Sandy Cheeks from ''[[
{{quote|
** Subverted when she goes after the Alaskan Bull Worm. [[SpongeBob]]'s idea of big is MUCH bigger than Sandy's.
*** Because, you know, [[Don't Explain the Joke|Alaska is even bigger than Texas]].
* ''[[The Busy World of Richard Scarry]]'', featured a parody of ''Hans Brinker'' (the story by an American writer about a Dutch boy who plugged a hole in the dike with his finger). There was a fat tourist from Texas waltzing about, taking pictures of windmills and tulips, while making comments about how everything was bigger in Texas. When the hole in the dike turned out to be too big to be filled with just Hans' finger, he and his friends save the day by stuffing said tourist into the hole.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* Similar to
** In another episode, the fairies decide to settle a matter with "a butt kicking, rip snorting, Texas cage match!"
* Clay from ''[[
** Also subverted on several occasions with the same character. Clay uses Tai Chi as his fighting style, is of at least average intelligence(and on a number of occasions is hinted at being a [[Genius Bruiser]] knowledgeable in a number of esoteric fields), and is insulted by the idea that because he [[Just a Stupid Accent|speaks with a Texas accent]] it automatically marks him as dumb.
* An episode of ''[[
* 80's cartoon ''[[
** Just to emphasize: the setting is the ''planet'' of New Texas. Doesn't get much bigger than that.
* The [[Bugs Bunny]] ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' cartoon "Oily Hare" is set 531 miles from "[[DFW Metroplex|Dollar$]], Texa$" and 20 miles from "Deepinahearta Texa$". The short was made in 1952, when the oil money was just starting to flow into the state, hence the dollar signs replacing the letter "S".
== Real Life ==
* Late Cretaceous Texas was home to ''Alamosaurus'', the largest dinosaur in North America and one of the largest dinosaurs of its time. Add in Deinosuchus, a [[Attack of the
* If you ever go to Cave of the Winds in Colorado and are from Texas, you will get confronted with this stereotype. At one point in the tour, they'll stop at a particular formation and ask the group if anyone's from Texas. If you raise your hand, they say "This shows you that not everything's bigger in Texas!", leaving you with some form of confusion or annoyance.
** Isn't that the one where they make Texans throw their business cards in a pit?
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** In the college game, Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, where the Longhorns play, is also the epitome of this trope. The stadium holds ''more than 100,000'' fans (but it's not even the biggest stadium; that one belongs to Michigan).
* Inverted in Texas Hill Country deer, which are tiny.
* [
* Most of the popular anime you all know...was dubbed right here in this state. That's right, [[Fullmetal Alchemist]], [[
** Most of the ''other'' popular anime you all know was also dubbed in Texas, by [[ADV Films]]. (Although after ADV's financial troubles, many of their titles were transferred to FUNimation.)
* Four words: [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]].
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* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluishorange/508621722/ This road sign] alongside I-10.
** And at least a few Texans aren't going to find that sign much to comment on. I mean, it's ''only'' 857 miles.
* Until it [[What Might Have Been|lost its funding]] in 1993, Waxahachie, Texas was the planned home for the [
* 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]].
* The Texas State Capitol building is 11 feet taller than the US Capitol building. Don't tell me size doesn't matter!
* 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.
** Ivins practically built her career on talking smack about Texas, and made no secret of her belief that she was one of the only intelligent people from there.
* Inverted with [[Audie Murphy]], at only 5'5".
** Audie wasn't small; he was ''[[Badass|condensed]]''.
* The [
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Bigger Is Better]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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