History Main / ExoticBackdropSetting

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'' is about a murder that takes place in Egypt, but all the murder suspects and other major charaters are non-Egyptians (and mostly British at that), and the murder is committed for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the setting. The murder could have just as easily taken place on a ship near Britain, and nothing would have changed but a few exotic details of the setting.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The Creator/JackieChan film ''The Medallion'' is set in Dublin but everyone Chan meets are English or Chinese - there are no Irish characters at all beyond extras or bit parts.

Someone from "our country" goes to "their country", but only has significant interactions with other people from "our country."

Sometimes in fiction, the setting of a story has a significant impact on the shape and themes of the story. Other times, it's just scenery. The exotic location and colorful locals are just there to give a feeling of foreignness, and all the focus characters are from the target audience's culture or others not native to the setting.

Often involves SceneryPorn.

* ''{{Film/Casablanca}}'': all the main and supporting characters are from out of town, and the main setting is an American-style nightclub. Native Moroccans are seen only as extras on the outdoor scenes.
* Half of the film ''Haywire'' is set in Dublin but the heroine is American, her companion is British and their contact is apparently French with no substantial Irish characters in sight. [[spoiler: In fact the film then subverts things when the 'British agent' turns out to be an Irish hitman.]]

* In ''Film/{{Inception}}'', the English-speaking protagonists (all of whom are English, American, or Egyptian) meet in Mombasa. We don't see a single named Kenyan person.

* Each episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland Total Drama World Tour]]'' takes place in a different location across the globe (China, Egypt, Australia, etc.) However locals are rarely seen or heard, and even more rarely have an effect on the plot.

* In ''Film/{{Inception}}'', the English-speaking protagonists (all of whom are English, American, or Egyptian) meet in Mombassa. We don't see a single named Kenyan person.

* Many of the ''Film/JamesBond'' movies have at least some of this--Bond goes to some exotic location, we see the pretty scenery and maybe a little of the local customs, but all the important people are other foreigners and members of the intelligence community. ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' is a notable exception, in which the ThemePark Version of [[TheBigEasy New Orleans]] culture was a large part of the story and relevant to the portrayal of several characters.

* The JackieChan film ''The Medallion'' is set in Dublin but everyone Chan meets are English or Chinese - there are no Irish characters at all beyond extras or bit parts.

* DorothyParker's short story "The Cradle of Civilization" is about two New Yorkers in France, being served drinks by a French waiter and talking about all the American parties they've been to, there.

* The foreign episodes of ''InspectorMorse''. Partly justified in that Morse and Lewis can only question British nationals or people who've committed crimes in the UK.

* PaulMcCartney and {{Music/Wings}} recorded ''Band on the Run'' in Nigeria, just because EMI owned a studio there and [=McCartney=] thought it would be an exotic place to record in. The locals actually protested because they thought [=McCartney=] wanted to be a MightyWhitey stealing their native music for his own profit, but he explained to them that he didn't want to use any of their traditional songs.

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC: Literature]]

[[AC: Live Action TV]]
* The foreign episodes of ''InspectorMorse''. Partly justified in that Morse and Lewis can only question British nationals or people who've committed crimes in the UK.

[[AC: Music]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* Each episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland Total Drama World Tour]]'' takes place in a different location across the globe (China, Egypt, Australia, etc.) However locals are rarely seen or heard, and even more rarely have an effect on the plot.

* AgathaChristie's ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'' is about a murder that takes place in Egypt, but all the murder suspects and other major charaters are non-Egyptians (and mostly British at that), and the murder is committed for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the setting. The murder could have just as easily taken place on a ship near Britain, and nothing would have changed but a few exotic details of the setting.

* Many of the ''JamesBond'' movies have at least some of this--Bond goes to some exotic location, we see the pretty scenery and maybe a little of the local customs, but all the important people are other foreigners and members of the intelligence community. ''LiveAndLetDie'' is a notable exception, in which the ThemePark Version of [[TheBigEasy New Orleans]] culture was a large part of the story and relevant to the portrayal of several characters.

* In ''{{Film/Inception}}'', the English-speaking protagonists (all of whom are English, American, or Egyptian) meet in Mombassa. We don't see a single named Kenyan person.

* Each episode of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaWorldTour'' takes place in a different location across the globe (China, Egypt, Australia, etc.) However locals are rarely seen or heard, and even more rarely have an effect on the plot.

* Many of the JamesBond movies have at least some of this--Bond goes to some exotic location, we see the pretty scenery and maybe a little of the local customs, but all the important people are other foreigners and members of the intelligence community. ''LiveAndLetDie'' is a notable exception, in which the ThemePark Version of [[TheBigEasy New Orleans]] culture was a large part of the story and relevant to the portrayal of several characters.

* In {{Film/Inception}}, the English-speaking protagonists (all of whom are English, American, or Egyptian) meet in Mombassa. We don't see a single named Kenyan person.

* Each episode of ''TotalDramaWorldTour'' takes place in a different location across the globe (China, Egypt, Australia, etc.) However locals are rarely seen or heard, and even more rarely have an effect on the plot.

* ''{{Film/LostInTranslation}}'': Fits the spirit of the trope, if not the letter; while the main characters frequently interact with local Japanese people, none of the natives are major characters, and much of the storyline could be transplanted to any other exotic culture with only ''which'' exotic customs are being observed by our protagonist changing.