The City vs. the Country: Difference between revisions

These are two very common plots in fiction and naturally occur quite often in real life too. But their execution is extremely different and often leads to a [[Double Standard]].

Alice is a sweet [[Country Mouse]] who grew up in a sparsely-populated rural area, either on a farm or simply a small town in the middle of nowhere. Either of her own desire or against her will she moves to the big city. She doesn't like it because it's so much bigger, city people [[Apathetic Citizens|aren't]] as [[Close-Knit Community|friendly]] and they look down on her because they consider her a backwoods hick. This kind of plot is usually resolved by Alice getting to move back to the country and appreciating it more if she originally hated it.

Bob is a [[City Mouse]] who lives in a big city with lots of friends and loves to go everywhere. He's likely very independent and materialistic as well. Almost always against his will, he is moved to a much smaller area be it the suburbs or a small town. He will hate it because it's boring, there's nothing to do, and country people are completely different from city people. If it's a farm he'll resent having to help out on the farm. By the end of the story he'll have learned [[An Aesop]] and come to like his new home, realising it is much better than his old life.

{{examples}}

* In ''Big Business'', which is a [[In Space|1980s update]] of ''[[The Comedy of Errors]]'', two hick sisters come to town to protest an [[Evil Corporation]]- that unbeknownst to them, their sisters (one of each set of twins was [[Switched At Birth|Switched]] ''and'' [[Separated at Birth]]) work for. A rare case of one of them being more comfortable in the city and deciding to stay.

* This is the plot for the [[Babe]] sequel, "Babe: Pig in the City" for both Babe and the farmer's wife.

* In ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'' the Country Mouse visits her friend the City Mouse and is terrified by the city, swearing never to go back again because the country is simpler and safer.

* ''[[The Bell Jar]]'' has Esther Greenwood struggling to survive in New York City.

* This is the premise of ''[[Black Beauty]]'' when the titular character ends up in London driving cabs. Of course it's completely justified since he's a horse and would be better suited living in the country.

* ''[[Perfect Strangers]]'' was mostly about [[Country Mouse]] Balki Bartokomous moving to Chicago and living with his American cousin Larry Appleton, Balki remains a [[Fish Out of Water]] throughout the series, but unlike other examples, Balki takes to city life quite well.

* The video for The Script's "For The First Time" has a young Irish couple living in New York for work and missing Ireland. At the end of the video they buy tickets to move back home.

* ''Bernice Bobs Her Mullet'', a [[All Musicals Are Adaptations|musical adaptation]] of ''[[Bernice Bobs Her Hair]]'', has Bernice from a hick town visiting her cousin in the City (pretty much the opposite of the original story, though the rest of the plot is exactly the same).

* In ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'' Lila moves from a farm to the big city and is immediately resented and made fun of by the other kids. Subverted when she stays in the city and the other kids warm to her.

* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode 'The Cutie Mark Chronicles', Applejack relates how when she was younger she decided to leave Ponyville and live the sophisticated life with wealthy relatives in [[No Communities Were Harmed|Mane]][[Big Applesauce|hatten]]. She returned home once she realized she didn't fit in and was happier on the farm.

* In the ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'s Berry Bitty Adventures'' episode "A Star is Fashioned," Raspberry Torte goes to Berry Big City to talk with a fashion designer about her designs, and is given her own studio in the city. However, when she returns to pack up her things, the behavior of city folk juxtaposed to the behavior of her small-town friends makes her change her mind and decide to stay, even though this means giving up fame and fortune.

* ''[[Arachnophobia]]'' has a young doctor and his family move into a small town. The townspeople immediately resent him for being from the city.

* ''The Nephew'' has an American teenager moving from New York to a remote and conservative Irish island. After clashing with his uncle he decides to go back to America but eventually is convinced to stay.

* In ''Sweet Home Alabama'', a woman from [[Sweet Home Alabama]] who has become a fashion designer in [[Big Applesauce]] has to go home to sever ties with her [[Childhood Marriage Promise]] {{spoiler|who she actually married and he never signed the divorce papers}} before she can marry her New York fiance.

* ''millenium@drumshee'' has English brat Emma get moved to the South of Ireland and not getting a long with the locals at all. She eventually bonds with a local girl on their mutual love of dogs and becomes happier there.

* James Qwilleran of ''[[The Cat Who]]...'' series by Lillian Jackson Braun is a big-city journalist who moves to a small town in Moose County under the terms of his Aunt Fanny's will. Several early novels in the series detail his adjustment (and that of his cats Koko and Yum-Yum).

* In ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' Ted and Stella debate over whether Stella and her daughter will move to New York or Ted will move to New Jersey to live with them. Stella wins. {{spoiler|Subverted when Stella and her daughter move in with Tony in the city}}.

* ''[[Everwood]]'''s premise is that of a New York City doctor moving his family out to rural Colorado after his wife's death.

** Balki meets his cousin Bartok, a [[Country Mouse]] who became a [[City Mouse]] named Bart, and lost his old world accent and mannerisms. Bart comes looking for money, which Larry believes is Bart trying to take advantage of Balki, but Balki gives him the money anyway; this leads to an emotional moment as Balki wrote the check to "Bartok", as he doesn't know "Bart", and Bartok regrets losing touch of his old [[Country Mouse]] self.

* In ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'', Elly and John like to send their teenaged children to a farm owned by some of their relatives over at least ''one'' summer break for each child. In this case, they're deliberately [[Invoked|Invoking]] [[Break the Haughty]]. Notably, the only one of the trio who comes to ''enjoy'' working on the farm is [[The Unfavorite]] April, who ''still'' suffers the usual [[Humiliation Conga]].

* Cherry Jam from ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'s Berry Bitty Adventures'' is a variation, as she purposefully chose to perform a gig in Berry Bitty City because it was a small town, and ended up liking the place so much that she made it her new home. She specifically points out the friendliness of the BBC residents over those of Berry Big City.

* The implication that [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-20-2008/pfriend-or-pfoe- urban Americans] are not as [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-20-2008/quiz--are-you-a-real-american- "American"] or [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-october-20-2008/governor-palin-clarification "patriotic"] as their small-town relations is a well-known [[Berserk Button]] of ''[[The Daily Show]]'''s [[Jon Stewart]] (as well as many urban Americans). The attitude itself can be found as far back as [[Thomas Jefferson]], who maintained that America ought to be a primarily agrarian nation for democracy to survive (he lived before urbanization became a widespread phenomenon, so it's a bit more excusable).

[[Category:The City Vs The Country]]

[[Category:The City vs. the Country]]