Freestate Amsterdam: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

[[File:180px-Flag_of_Amsterdam.optimizedFlag of Amsterdam.pngsvg|framethumb|Rated XXX. No, seriously --[["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer|''that's'' their city flag]].]]

Amsterdam is the modern Sodom and Gomorrah. You can do everything in Amsterdam. You can do drugs till you drop, explore the wildest boundaries of sexual debauchery, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and have your fries with mayonnaise]].

The rest of the Netherlands is pretty much just one field of tulips after another with the [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_RotterdamPort of Rotterdam|odd windmill]] here and there; from the way people talk about it, you'd figure the Netherlands and Amsterdam were different countries.

There is at least a grain of truth in this, since the Netherlands do have fairly lenient soft-drug laws and a thriving sex industry... and the Dutch do eat far more mayonnaise than most countries. However, Amsterdam is hardly more liberal than other major cities in Europe, and in many aspects more restricted. Holding an open can of beer on the street is officially illegal (although it will rarely if ever get you a fine), smoking a joint outside is frowned on by the locals. The red light district doesn't differ all that much from the ones in, say, Brussels or Hamburg - except the prostitutes in Amsterdam at least look happier. Magic mushrooms have been banned (though the mayor flat-out refuses to order police raids to check and [[Exact Words|Truffles are not banned]] ). And the sex museums, dildo shops and weed shrines? That stuff's just for tourists. The city has no stoner subculture to speak of (you either smoke or you don't, but it doesn't make you part of a social group) and most of the true hippies are stranded Americans looking for some change. Mentioning weed to most people over 50 (or Christian) gets pretty much the same reaction as it would in the States. As for the wooden shoes - nobody really wears them anymore. There are some small rural villages (e.g. Spakenburg) where people still occasionally dress in traditional clothing, of which wooden shoes can be a part - but for the rest, the only places where you'll see the things are kitschy souvenir shops.

Note about the flag: Rated XXX, that sounds pretty cool, but actually it's much older -- eacholder—each of those Xs are St. Andrew's crosses, in honor of the city's patron saint. The official explanation of the three crosses is that they represent the biggest threats in Amsterdam's history: fire -- becausefire—because medieval houses were made of timber and stand next to each other, increasing risks of huge fires -- flood -- becausefires—flood—because the River Amstel often flooded -- and plague --flooded—and becauseplague—because the canals were filthy and one could contract all kinds of diseases from the water therein. Another theory goes that the crosses were part of the coat-of-arms of an old noble family, who were patrons of the town of some sort, and so the town adopted their design in its own coat of arms, but it is not known which family that was. (Probably not [[The Family for Thethe Whole Family|that one]].)

* In the movie ''[[Eurotrip (Film)|Eurotrip]]'', the characters go on a placebo high after eating brownies they thought contained marijuana, but they were just regular brownies. Another character's first positive sexual encounter occurs there, while yet another is viciously sodomized in an S&M brothel, by [[Xena: Warrior Princess]]. Subverted throughout, as it's clearly the tourists' stupidity on show here rather than the Free State.

{{quote| '''Kumar''': You know what's legal in Amsterdam, right?}}

* The ''Pizza'' round-the-world delivery arc involves a trip to a more realistic version of Amsterdam... where the delivery is put in jeopardy (again) when the cast [[Intoxication Ensues|get high]].

* Surprisingly, considering the ''[[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]]'' series' tendency to have 007 visit [[The Theme Park Version]] of any given country (see ''[[Octopussy (Film)|Octopussy]]''), when he visits in ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (Film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' all he really indulges in is a rather vicious fight in a lift.

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* One game of ''Greatest Hits'' in ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'' started with Drew Carey taking suggestions for "a city where you would go to have a great time". Amsterdam is one of the suggestions called out, and judging from the players' and even the audience's eventual reactions, [[Genre Savvy|they all know what kind of time one would have there.]] Sadly they went with Paris. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKqC8verxPM 2:30 here.]

{{quote| Drew: (mock drunken singing) "[[Bawdy Song|Ohhh the whores of Amsterdaaaaam...]]"}}

== [[Music]] ==

== [[Web Original]] ==

== [[Western Animation]] ==

[[Category:FreestateUseful AmsterdamNotes/Europe]]