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Author: TreeofStars

Mar 15th 2011 at 9:21:07 PM

I may have to agree with "Did Not Do The Research" or "Just Don't Care," but I have another sub-trope that this encompasses which might be "Built on Misconceptions" (not actual trope).  Perhaps yours could be the umbrella that encompasses all of these tropes with an emphasis on setting continuity?

The first idea that comes to mind for this is "The Great Iowa Desert," and "Everyone in Iowa farms."  In the case of Iowa (and other places too most likely), it's "Your Cannon is Confusing the Tourists" (note: also not actual trope).  Many, many misconceptions about Iowa have been portrayed in movies and the like.  The only one that got it right was Field of Dreams (and Twister, which in a reverse was filmed in Iowa but supposedly in Oklahoma).

Examples: the newest Star Trek's parts set in Riverside, Iowa.  When young Kirk is driving around on his motorcycle, we see:
1. A scrub desert (there's no desert in Iowa)
2. Completely flat (only one part of Iowa is flat, not the part by Riverside, and none of it is as flat is in those scenes)
3. A large, large canyon.  (There are no canyons like that in the US outside of the Southwest.)
4. No river (unless it was off-screen in the canyon)

In Shatner's one-season reality show set in Riverside (Sorry, I can't remember the name right now), the makers of the show had the main character, a farmer, buy and dress in overalls for the duration of the show to fit the image needed for the show; he had never actually owned a pair before that.  So, they're inaccuracies built into the plot for the sake of making it seem more real to the viewer, in this case. ("What You Think It's Like is What You Get" or a "Make it Real" phenomenon, it could be called.)

In the upcoming movie Cedar Rapids: despite being in Cedar Rapids, and about an insurance conference, it appears to have no hints of the world outside the conference center at all (and was not filmed at its namesake).

This, and what you're talking about, may carry over to characters as well.  Oftentimes in movies or shows, a type of character that appears from somewhere else is given a stereotypical character trait which they carry because people believe it's true (or it makes people believe it's true).  It's creating a setting from afar---inaccurately, as you describe.  I don't know if that's already a trope, but examples of this character-made setting-inaccuracy are

1. Minnesotans saying "Eh?"  Only people from one region say this, and very few Canadians do.  Some people in South Dakota do, actually.
2. Token Iowans farming or caring about farming (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (remake), in which the main character has just come back from talking dirty dealings and, in the men's room, meets the young "Iowa Representative" who's gun-ho about the new Farm Bill)
3. All people from the American South having drawls or being into Southern Charm.
4. Everyone from Illinois is from Chicago (minus the Simpsons).
5. Anime: The Osaka/Kansai accent

Just some ideas off the bat.  I like your trope, hope you can fit it in somewhere, even if it's a sub-trope.  (Maybe call it "Just Didn't Care About Your Town" or "Your Town is What I Say It Is"?...there's probably some "it shall be" trope like that though?)