It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: Difference between revisions
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Whenever anyone goes to [[The Big Easy|New Orleans]], it's nearly always during [[Masquerade Ball|Mardi Gras]]. If it isn't actually Mardi Gras, then the [[Denouement]] will occur in a costume/parade storage warehouse. This is probably due to the writers having no sense of geography. |
Whenever anyone goes to [[The Big Easy|New Orleans]], it's nearly always during [[Masquerade Ball|Mardi Gras]]. If it isn't actually Mardi Gras, then the [[Denouement]] will occur in a costume/parade storage warehouse. This is probably due to the writers having no sense of geography. |
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This goes for any city or country with a famous festival; for instance, a large number of episodes set in Mexico take place during ''Dia de los Muertos'' or ''Cinco de Mayo'', a large number of episodes set in [[Toros Y Flamenco|Spain]] take place in Pamplona during the ''Fiesta de San Fermin'' (of "the running of the bulls" fame, complete with seemingly obligatory [[Thundering Herd]] of ''toros''), and any episode set in Brazil or Venice wanders into Carneval. And while the trope isn't really applicable to [[Big Applesauce|New York City]], there are still a disproportionate number of stories set in the city during the Feast of San Gennaro, or during the Macy's Parade, or in Times Square on New Year's Eve. San Francisco seemingly hosts an excessive number of Pride Marches; one might think that the entire LGBT community is unemployed, or that they have somehow managed to make parade-marching into a source of income. (Hey, it's the U.S.A., and California. It's what we ''do''.) It's also usually Chinese New Year whenever a show's characters end up in Chinatown, and cities with large Irish |
This goes for any city or country with a famous festival; for instance, a large number of episodes set in Mexico take place during ''Dia de los Muertos'' or ''Cinco de Mayo'', a large number of episodes set in [[Toros Y Flamenco|Spain]] take place in Pamplona during the ''Fiesta de San Fermin'' (of "the running of the bulls" fame, complete with seemingly obligatory [[Thundering Herd]] of ''toros''), and any episode set in Brazil or Venice wanders into Carneval. And while the trope isn't really applicable to [[Big Applesauce|New York City]], there are still a disproportionate number of stories set in the city during the Feast of San Gennaro, or during the Macy's Parade, or in Times Square on New Year's Eve. San Francisco seemingly hosts an excessive number of Pride Marches; one might think that the entire LGBT community is unemployed, or that they have somehow managed to make parade-marching into a source of income. (Hey, it's the U.S.A., and California. It's what we ''do''.) It's also usually Chinese New Year whenever a show's characters end up in Chinatown, and cities with large Irish communities—Boston and Chicago, for example—play host to frequent St. Patrick's Day Parades. However, it's never Bon when characters visit Japan, nor is it the 4th of July when characters visit America... |
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Logically, you would think this trope would not apply if the characters are visiting a given area specifically to attend its popular festival, but this is often the ''only'' time said area is ever mentioned in fiction, as if people don't have mundane lives in New Orleans. |
Logically, you would think this trope would not apply if the characters are visiting a given area specifically to attend its popular festival, but this is often the ''only'' time said area is ever mentioned in fiction, as if people don't have mundane lives in New Orleans. |
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== Film == |
== Film == |
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* In the movie version of ''[[The Fugitive (film)|The Fugitive]]'', Richard Kimble evades capture in Chicago by losing himself in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Funnily enough, this scene ''wasn't'' in the original script - Kimble was going to escape the federal building just as the doors closed between him and Gerard instead - but the crew decided to include it into the story when St. Paddy came while shooting was ongoing in Chicago, thus [[Mind Screw|making this a Real Life occurrence of the trope]]. |
* In the movie version of ''[[The Fugitive (film)|The Fugitive]]'', Richard Kimble evades capture in Chicago by losing himself in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Funnily enough, this scene ''wasn't'' in the original script - Kimble was going to escape the federal building just as the doors closed between him and Gerard instead - but the crew decided to include it into the story when St. Paddy came while shooting was ongoing in Chicago, thus [[Mind Screw|making this a Real Life occurrence of the trope]]. |
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* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', the League is first assembled in London, in a very wet and foggy ''July'' as a title-card makes clear; and their first assignment takes them to Venice, during Venice's signature festival, Carnival. This, of course, is the exact same holiday as Mardi Gras or |
* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', the League is first assembled in London, in a very wet and foggy ''July'' as a title-card makes clear; and their first assignment takes them to Venice, during Venice's signature festival, Carnival. This, of course, is the exact same holiday as Mardi Gras or Shrovetide—the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, thus the day on which Catholics overindulge in vices and partying before beginning their Lenten fast. Ash Wednesday is 40 days before Easter, therefore Carnival ''never'' falls in late summer in the northern hemisphere. |
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* The [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] movie ''[[Moonraker]]'' also has a Carnival scene in Rio. And ''[[Thunderball]]'' has a Junkanoo ("Our local Mardi Gras") scene in the Bahamas. |
* The [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] movie ''[[Moonraker]]'' also has a Carnival scene in Rio. And ''[[Thunderball]]'' has a Junkanoo ("Our local Mardi Gras") scene in the Bahamas. |
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** Averted in ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'', of all things. It's actually not Mardi Gras when Bond visits [[The Big Easy]]. The parades of people dancing on Bourbon Street are [[wikipedia:Jazz funeral|funeral processions]]. |
** Averted in ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'', of all things. It's actually not Mardi Gras when Bond visits [[The Big Easy]]. The parades of people dancing on Bourbon Street are [[wikipedia:Jazz funeral|funeral processions]]. |
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== Literature == |
== Literature == |
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* It even works for [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture |
* It even works for [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]s: in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld/Witches Abroad|Witches Abroad]]'', Granny, Nanny and Magrat have a stopover in a vaguely Spanish small town, and end up caught in the middle of a "running of the bulls" knock-off known only as The Thing with the Bulls. When they get to Genua, it's in time for the local equivalent of Mardi Gras, also known as Samedi Nuit Mort ("[[Saturday Night Live|Saturday Night Dead]]" [[Bilingual Bonus|in French]]). |
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* On the edge of this trope is a party in ''[[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', where the conditions are just right to keep the party going endlessly. |
* On the edge of this trope is a party in ''[[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', where the conditions are just right to keep the party going endlessly. |
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* Talon gets run over by a Mardi Gras float actually driven by the god Bacchus in Sherrilyn Kenyon's [[The Dark Hunters|Dark Hunter]] series. |
* Talon gets run over by a Mardi Gras float actually driven by the god Bacchus in Sherrilyn Kenyon's [[The Dark Hunters|Dark Hunter]] series. |
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