MovieChat Forums > Footloose (1984) Discussion > Whitest Town In America?

Whitest Town In America?

posted 10 years ago by he88
13 replies | jump to latest

I hadn't seen this for many years, but towards the end it occurred to me that there was zero diversity in this town. Then again it appeared there might only be one religion in town too. Ok.... It was a small town, but it was big enough for a good size school, a library, and a police force that could afford two cops on patrol. Real small towns can't afford all that.

My guess is that they couldn't very well show a closed society that outlaws dancing and music (Not too sure that's legal either), and then show minorities living there as if they were accepted. It would seem like too much of a stretch.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 10 years ago

They were in rural Utah. If there were any minorities in town, it would more than likely be Mexicans or Native Americans.

[–] jondoe888 9 years ago

Oh, give it a break. There are plenty of towns with no blacks. Or nothing but whites. Not every show has to include a black, a gay, and drugged out teens. Maybe they all lived in the next town over, where dancing was mandatory???

[–] he88 9 years ago

My comment was more about the directing and producing of the "Fictictious" account rather than what might be a reality. I live in ND where some actual small towns were all white (And might be still as the farming communities die out). I'm from one of the major cities in ND. Even though we did have some diversity because of the Air Base near by it really wasn't too diverse. So I can understand where some of that comes from....But this too wasn't a real small town if it had a police force and a huge high school. Most small towns have a cop...The real small towns have the county sheriff....

I guess I just notice this from time to time...I'm a trucker and I've eaten in the town around where Andy Griffith grew up and fashioned his comic bit, and eventually sit com about. If ever there was a black person on the sit com it must have been a quick walk through because I don't recall one. There's a large African American population throughout NC so the idea non would ever be present in Mayberry.......Just a sign of the times

[–] chas437 9 years ago

There are plenty of towns with no blacks. Or nothing but whites

That was the case in the 80s, but in 2015, you'd be hard pressed to find a town with at least a 5-10% Hispanic population.

[–] nerevar59 9 years ago

I lived in Lehi, and there were 1 or 2 blacks. It's Mormon. The Walmart is like shopping at Stepford. It's eerie.

[–] bishop-69757 9 years ago

Also very little crime and most kids had fathers

[–] TeenGangDeb 9 years ago

A school and a library exists in every town. You ever been anywhere in the middle of the country? Tons of white folks.

++++++
Love means never having to say you're ugly. - The Abominable Dr. Phibes

[–] he88 9 years ago

I'm from ND, I drive truck all over the country.....And do a bit of research....With all the extreme cuts going on in education the rural areas are hurting so bad that often several towns combine into one school that all the others have to son mute to daily. The idea that they all have schools and libraries is out dated by about forty years

[–] Milkdoesabodygood 9 years ago

At least it ain't Long Island where a lot of serial killers come from, them crazy white peoples.

Spoiler alert for them spoil sports out there! Y'all like spoiled milk, stop crying over it!

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] wesperkins 9 years ago

I think it's more realistic to have the town all white, which then was not a far stretch for a town that size and location, than to have thrown the token minority just to include one. It always amuses me when you see a beer commercial or something include the token black person, because they feel like they have to. If there were blacks in town, they most likely wouldn't be hanging out with the cast, so not seeing them in the movie is not far fetched. We don't have to be so PC that we include every race in every movie. No one is complaining about the number of white people in New Jack City, or that we didn't see enough Hispanics represented in Footlose. Idk if the town had any black citizens, but to feature one just for the sake of being PC when they wouldn't have been hanging out with the group is silly, to me. If a movie is dealing with subject matter that leaving a group out makes no sense, then yes, something could be wrong. But not having a black person in a movie about a small Baptist town, where they race tractors and are fundamentalist Christians isn't the movie to pick the fight over.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 9 years ago

Bottom Line: If it's not in the rural south and parts of the southern Midwest, blacks are a rare species in small towns. Even in rural Michigan they're rare and look at the big cities in that state!