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Everything Is Big in Texas: Difference between revisions
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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 [http://www.k5rcd.org/TEXAS%20EUROPE20SIZE%20COMPARISON%20MAP.jpg 268,820 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''.
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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** 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).
* ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]''. 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]].
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{{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.}}
* ''[[Office Space]]''
* ''[[Pee
** [[Schmuck Bait|* clap clap clap* DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS]]....oh '''[[Damn You, Muscle Memory!|DAMMIT]]'''.
* ''[[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.
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* 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 ''[[MASH]]'' 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.
* ''[[The Good Guys]]'' was set in Dallas, and they portray it as pretty diverse culture- and accent-wise (both the good and bad guys).
* [[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.
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* The comic ''Torio'' had [http://torio.comicgenesis.com/d/20070205.html Jimmy Benson], 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 ''[[Freefall]]'' in the figure of Tex, the Texan. [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff600/fv00600.htm Though he speaks of their big stuff, he himself is... shall we say, height-challenged, a full head shorter than Sam's] [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff700/fv00603.htm artificial skeleton presents him as.]
* Although [[Something
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* ''[[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 ''[[Exo Squad]]'', the [[General Ripper|blustering, impetuous, and ultimately incompetent]] Captain Matthew Marcus has a Texas drawl. Oddly, he is one of only two characters to not have a generic American accent.
* 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.
* In ''[[The Flintstones]]'', Fred has several relatives (most notably his wealthy Uncle Tex) from its prehistoric counterpart of "Texarock" (though the name was interchangeably used with "Texas").
* Similar to Rich Texan, ''[[The Fairly
** In another episode, the fairies decide to settle a matter with "a butt kicking, rip snorting, Texas cage match!"
* Clay from ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'' comes from Texas. He always wears a cowboy hat, uses down home country sayings, [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]], and is the largest of the group. Whenever Texas is seen, it's all desert, with Clay's dad owning a beef ranch. Even the Shen Gong Wu found there, the Star Hinabi, is known as the Lone Star until it's discovered and is marked as Texan.
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[[Category:Bigger Is Better]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
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