A horrible portrayal of Arizona. - Raising Arizona (1987) Discussion

[–] BillyBarue 19 years ago

You S@ck

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[–] shocker-9 19 years ago

You sw@llow.

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[–] clath86 19 years ago

I suppose the reason it made so much money was that is was very very funny. Of course I an not from or know little about Arizona so perhaps thats why the portrayal of the location didnt bother me. Anyway great movie even with the inaccurate portrayal of Arizona and its people.

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[–] Hands_of_Fate 19 years ago

I think you should get over it. This movie is quite brilliant. You should really learn to have sense of humor, and realize its just a movie. I really find it hard to pity you cuz I'm from the South. Our states are mocked and stereotyped way more than any in the South west. Do you ever here talk show hosts ripping on people from Arizona? Also can you actually confirm that there aren't any citizens of of Tempe that talk like hicks?

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[–] khlan1 16 years ago

I've been living in Tempe for the past three years and I can confirm that plenty of people talk like hicks.

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[–] KBMommy 14 years ago

@ Hands of Fate - Exactly!!

I think the OP was also confused about the title - it is not about the state or the people of Arizona. "Raising Arizona" is because of the baby. I don't want to spoil anything for folks who haven't seen it, but they just happen to be in Arizona. It's hilarious, i love this movie! I did have to watch it twice to love it (the first time i was in a room full of people) but it has been a fave since '88.

I guess people need more obvious comedy now. It is sad how far the bar has been lowered.

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[–] horrorshowmovie 16 years ago

I live in Minnesota, and I enjoyed Fargo

maybe you should lighten up

regional quirks should be made fun of, it stops us from taking everything so seriously

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[–] tamaplayer09 15 years ago

Fargo was North Dakota. . . .

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] bmacias 15 years ago

i've been to minnesota, and everyone DOES talk like that!!!

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[–] KTope 15 years ago

I've been to Brainerd and several surrounding communities. Quite a few people speak nearly identical to the characters in Fargo.

I think the point is, with a few notable exceptions, people in urban areas speak with fewer quirks, people in rural areas speak with more. Probably the biggest exception to this rule is Boston, I swear they talk like that just to fvck with people.

I am Jack's IMDb post.

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[–] laurieweb 14 years ago

Older people, perhaps. I have a former classmate who talks like that (majorly -- it's freaky, and it comes from lots of time spent around Norwegian family members with thick accents, some of whom didn't speak English) but otherwise almost all people I see anywhere I go in Minnesota who are around my age (53) or younger (and many older as tall) talk with the fairly nondescript general U.S. English accent associated with the Midwest. I grew up in Erskine, Minn., maybe three hours from Brainerd, and live in Bemidji now, two hours from Brainerd.)

When someone says Minne-SO-ta (with the really round O), I notice. Because although we're "known for it," most of us don't say it. :)

Also, the Scandinavian influence up here in northern Minnesota would definitely be in line with the Fargo area, while Minnesota in general is slightly more German than Scandinavian. And I don't know what the Germans are supposed to sound like. :)

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[–] chadwebsterjohnson 14 years ago

The movie took place, for the most part, in Minnesota. The kidnappers met in Fargo, North Dakota. The regional jokes were made at the expense of Minnesotans and were quite hilarious. (I'm from Minnesota.)

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] nutsberryfarm 11 years ago

now you tell me.

Where there's smoke, there's barbecue!

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[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 9 years ago



Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried

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[–] jennyblueyes 13 years ago

Raising Arizona was one of the funniest movies ever made! Are you mental?

"You smell like pine needles, and have a face like sunshine"

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[–] 9 years ago

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[–] raytech-790-178703 8 years ago

You are a *beep* moron: it was a comedy and very good to watch. Go back to your cave.

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

Coen Bros. movies are not offered as realistic portrayals of places. The plot always takes place in a heightened universe, where everything is grossly exaggerated -- from jarring accents to garish or strange-looking sets -- and a lot of things occur, which would be inconceivable in real life.

A number of things in Coen Bros. films are shown to symbolize something other than their plain appearance. Notice of example, that many of their characters, while being rustic and poorly uneducated, possess impressive collegiate vocabulary and speak in elaborate compound sentences which you wouldn't expect in people who seem so unsophisticated. To heighten the effect, the Coens make them speak with heavy accents and inject occasional linguistic anomalies (like Homer Stokes in OBWAT screaming "Is you is, or is you ain't, my constituency?"). The combination of linguistic complexity and rural accent is my favorite Coen trademark. Why do the Coens do that? Well, because it just sounds so funny, and it sticks in the memory. Also perhaps it's done to show that appearances can be deceiving -- i.e., even someone with a hick accent can be heard philosophizing like Plato, so there is more to people than meets the eye.

Recall the "hayseed" in the Bank of La Grange lecturing he robbers about the impossibility of simulatenous freezing and dropping to the ground? There is no town called La Grange in Arizona, to my knowledge. Why do the Coens create a fictional town with that name and write a scene with this ridiculous exchange? Because Joseph Louis LaGrange was a French mathematician who calculated the positions in space where a small object can remain fixed in relation to two larger objects. Whew! Does it say anything about Arizona, Tempe, or people in the southwest? I doubt it. Why is it there? Because it's neat, that's why.

Don't worry, Arizonian -- everyone gets made fun of. There is still a chance the Coens will make a movie about Brooklyn.

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[–] shocker-9 19 years ago

I realize the film was satire, but maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I actually thought it was - you know - funny.

Maybe I'm a little overly-sensitive about the depiction in "Raising Arizona", but you have to understand that when this movie was released (1987), it was duiring a year when Arizona was suffering through economic and political turmoil because of the governor we had at the time - Ev Mecham. His rescinding of Arizona's MLK holiday, along with his derogatory comments about blacks, gays, Jews, and working women caused Arizona to be the laughingstock of the nation - and also forced many businesses and conventions to boycott the entire state, which in turn, caused a major economic downturn. On top of that, when "Raising Arizona" hit the box office that year, its portryal of Arizonans in general - exaggerated as they were - really increased the negative feelings toward Arizona even more.

Strictly my opinion here, but a good rolling-on-the-floor comedy would be the kinds of movies Jim Carey usually stars in ("Liar Liar" and "Me, Myself, and Irene"). Even the more subtle humor in movies like "Rain Man" or "Forrest Gump" - movies with a more positive message - are the ones I enjoy.

Falsely classifying people of particular states or regions in negative, demeaning ways is not humorous - it's lying. Again, just my opinion.

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[–] tyurbrner 18 years ago

"Maybe I'm a little overly-sensitive about the depiction in "Raising Arizona", but you have to understand that when this movie was released (1987), it was duiring a year when Arizona was suffering through economic and political turmoil because of the governor we had at the time - Ev Mecham. His rescinding of Arizona's MLK holiday, along with his derogatory comments about blacks, gays, Jews, and working women caused Arizona to be the laughingstock of the nation"

Well maybe then the satire was right on the money.

Also, as others have stated the movie is not really about Arizona as much as making fun of the domestic family situation and that type of Leave It to Beaver family unit.

The West has been used as the setting for all kinds of movies about criminals and criminal activity.

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[–] Dunbar22 17 years ago

Shocker writes:

"... a good rolling-on-the-floor comedy would be the kinds of movies Jim Carey usually stars in ("Liar Liar" and "Me, Myself, and Irene"). Even the more subtle humor in movies like "Rain Man" or "Forrest Gump" - movies with a more positive message - are the ones I enjoy."

That's funny, funny stuff. Personally, I love that Shocker lists the "rolling-on-the-floor" comedies of Jim Carrey to be "Liar, Liar" and "Me, Myself and Irene". What a wacky guy he is. You, good sir or madam, have a very thin sense of humor. You don't like to peel back the layers much, do ya now? No wonder you didn't like R.A....I'm guessing that you're one of the hayseeds represented in this movie, aren't you? and you resent that, don't you?

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[–] thisforensicscene 17 years ago

having a bad taste in humor is one thing. being a total relentless *beep* (what is it with the censorship on this site?) to people who haven't offended you other than having different opinions is another

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[–] coolbluegreen 15 years ago

shocker-9, you have horrible taste in movies. Really, really horrible. You watch movies it pained me to sit through. You also don't understand that the Coen brothers are NOT <<Falsely classifying people of particular states or regions in negative, demeaning way.>>

They have created an impossible, alternate universe, where bizarre, unreal things happen (that generally symbolize something in our world) and set it in our universe. This time they picked Arizona.

I live in Arizona and all I can say is I hope you've left. It's been four years; you may have.

Oh, you wanna know what's funny? Young Frankenstein. The Princess Bride. Dick. Those are funny films. The Strangers with Candy television show -- THAT was funny -- and beyond you. Don't even bother with David Sedaris. He's made me laugh until I cried, but I am sure he would offend you, too.

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[–] jamesl9 15 years ago

Um, an actual Arizonan here and your post is complete bs. Evan Mecham didn't put Arizona in a bad light, it put Evan Mecham in a bad light. Arizonans were outraged and quickly forced the old coot's resignation. Nobody thought Arizona was freaking Arkansas or anything. The absurd depiction of Arizona in the movie-and it IS absurd-was no doubt because the Cohen bros. know nothing of the State.

Just a few screaming inaccuracies....everyone in film spoke with a Southern accent. Arizona is, of course, not in the south, it's Southwest and there are NO accents, except a straight standard American accent. Second, 'suburban Tempe' is Phoenix, a huge modern city and Temp- is home to Arizona State University and isn't filled with trailer parks but coffee bars, Bennetton stores, condominiums and college students.

The accent part really drives me nuts because it's such a glaring inaccuracies-everyone speaking with freaking Alabama accents. But, it's the only flaw in an otherwise perfect film.

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[–] shocker-9 19 years ago

As a side note, you're right about La Grange - there is no such town in Arizona.

That whole La Grange scene was actually filmed in an old western tourist attraction called Reata Pass - and the location where the hayseed bank was supposed to be is really a steakhouse. Reata Pass is located in a desert area north of Scottsdale.

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

By the way, shocker, I find Arizona very lovely.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] magical_sockpuppet 19 years ago

Psh.
You must not live here.
Arizona is the ugliest place I've ever been.
I hate it here so much.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] techtaketwo 15 years ago

this is the best explanation i have read of coen brothers film humour. i've personally never found the coen brothers comedy stylings funny - but at least now i can appreciate their modus operandi. thank you

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[–] barrerarama 14 years ago

@Redisca - that was an eloquent response to this post! Couldn't agree with you more!

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

Oh, PTA, long time no see. And to think that you were worried about my circulatory system. Why, you stalking me on this site by combing through my comments on other movies is the epitome of pathetic.

P.S. As for your happiness over the fact that I spelled out everything for "you morons" -- believe me, the pleasure is all mine.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

Yeah, right. Out of thousands of users posting here every day, and out of hundreds of comments posted about this particular film, you just miraculously happened to stumble upon the one sole comment that I wrote. As for film studies class -- I never needed one, which I can't say about you.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

Oh, what the hell, why not return the courtesy.

Bu-bye
Tschüß
Adieu
Adiós
Poka
Ciao
Adeus

If you wish, bu-f'ing-buy, with cream and sugar on top.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

More repetitiveness. I'm just trying to find a language that you understand, since the meaning of "bu-bye" is obviously escaping you. You have something to say about Raising Arizona?

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

Bu-bye kozlik

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

Oh, they asked you to violate this site's rules and spam this board by way of entrapment? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. In any event, as I have promised you on the Spartan board, one more "bu-bye" out of you, I'll report you both for spam and obsenity.

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[–] clath86 19 years ago

You two know each other?

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[–] Redisca 19 years ago

Clath, I started a humorous thread about Spartan. PTA took it very much to heart.

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[–] TheGhostShark 19 years ago

Jeez, you guys completely sucked the life out of this thread. I actually enjoyed the original comments by Redisca, but the juvenilia of the rest of the posts was just sad.

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[–] clath86 19 years ago

I see, that clears that up then.

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[–] shocker-9 19 years ago

alethon00 -

Full o' crap is what you are!

Your assumption about most Arizonans being tanned, blonde, and redneck is an exaggeration - just like this stupid, senseless movie. If you really beleive everything you wrote, then you must be hanging with the wrong crowd.

Every state in the union has SOME rednecks - even California and New York; but how many popular films depict Californians and New Yorkers as being rubes? None that I can think of!

I can't speak for every single one of the 5.5 million Arizona residents, but I for one am not against Mexicans or immigration as long as they're legal. Maybe all the badmouthing you're hearing about Mexicans pertains to the ILLEGAL ones.

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[–] Josephine7 19 years ago

Shocker-9, I agree with you for the most part. Well, it's not like I was DEEPLY offended by the portrayal of our state, but it was kind of annoying that everyone in the film had southern accents, and that Tempe was a full of a bunch of trailers in the middle of no where. I'm not going to deny that we don't have hicks here, though...cause we do...a lot of them. But there are a lot of good people, too, and I hope people like alethon00 will try and remember that before making judgments about an entire state. Raising Arizona is just not my type of humor, I suppose, but I still have an appreciation for the originality of the script and the characters and I thought Holly Hunter was really great.

We call Mexicans, Oompa Loompas, do we? Heh, okay.

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[–] jamesl9 15 years ago

I've lived in Arizona most of my life and have never seen a native hick there in my life. The only hicks I've seen in Arizona were, shocker, not from Arizona but from out of state, southern hick accent and all.

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[–] Christine88 19 years ago

Shocker-9, you have to not take the movie seriously. I'm in a similar boat as you are: the Cohan brothers parodied my state as well. Ever seen Fargo? I'm from Minnesota and I can assure you that people from here are not all exactly as they are depicted in that movie. Like in Raising Arizona (which I love by the way), the way people talk is very much exaggerated, as well as their personalities.

So, while you don't have to find it funny, just take this movie as a parody and shrug it off. Believe me, most people won't think that Arizona is just a bunch of rednecks hicks living in trailers in the desert.

Alethon00 wrote:

most Arizonans are hicks and they speak like rednecks they are mostly blonde people with heavy tans and speak with the ugly redneck accent. if you dont believe me watch fox 10 news that show is full of dark skin white rednecks, that call mexicans oompa loompas but they are as close to them then they think.
they are always talking trash about mexican people, and always giving immigration a ugly image, while keeping their ugly tan and accent.

First off, how very prejudice of you. Second, when you say "watch fox 10 news" I assume you are refering to your local FOX television station and the local news program they air. If so, that's incredibly idiotic of you to reference it because most people reading your moronic statement don't watch your local station. For example, my FOX station is channel 9, not 10 and they rarely talk about Arizona or the people living there so how can I see how they protray Arizonans as being "hicks [who] speak like rednecks [and] are mostly blonde people with heavy tans and speak with the ugly redneck accent." (which they don't)?

From your lord and master,
-Christine

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] nylentone 19 years ago

I love this movie; it actually made me want to visit Arizona. And I liked it and lived there for awhile. I lived in a trailer, out in the desert, with neighbors who lived in trailers and were rednecks. I think the "suburban Tempe" comment in the movie was supposed to be a funny way of saying out in the middle of nowhere, like calling your singlewide a mansion. I guess if you don't have a sense of humor you shouldn't watch comedies.

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[–] findanddestroyatlantis 17 years ago

Exactly. The location described as "Suburban Tempe" acompanied by a shot of a desolate landscape populated by a few trailers was a joke. If the OP or any other whiners here didn't understand that that was a joke then they should stick with their Jim Carey movies.

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[–] Sgt_Floyd_Pepper 18 years ago

Well Christine, dude, you can breath a sigh of relief about the protrayal of your state(Minnesota) in Fargo, It was about North Dakota.

Yeah I know I'm more than a year late.

-Not everyone; just maybe 99.999999% of them deserve to be flatheads.

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[–] Volante-3 17 years ago

Except the only scene that took place in ND was the opening exchange in Fargo. All the rest was in Minneapolis/St. Paul and Brainerd. (At least, in name)

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[–] Chif 19 years ago

You do realize that a good chunk of this was filmed in Apache Junctoion?

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[–] fletch-53 19 years ago

Exactly! HI's trailer was out in Lost Dutchman State Park out by Superstition Mountain and Weaver's Needle! People should calm themselves down! It's SUPPOSED TO BE ENTERTAINMENT!

Ulysses Everett McGill: Well I don't want FOP, godammit! I'm a Dapper Dan man!

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[–] danceswithunderwear 19 years ago

I live in Arizona and I love this movie.

I'm sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but going to this site to complain about it seems like the actions of a person who has a little to much time to spare. Stop your bickering and watch a movie you ENJOY.

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[–] rowan_red 19 years ago

I enjoyed Redisca's post about LaGrange. I learned something from it! Cool. But the original poster needs ... something! (I don't drink, or I would suggest a nice glass of wine.)

He or she seems to be wound up a bit tight over something that happened in 1987. I don't think Arizona is suffering too much now from that experience. Why are you?

As I watched Raising Arizona, I wondered if it wasn't more Mississippi than Arizona. I've been to Arizona, and don't remember those accents. But I didn't consider it to be a travelogue, so who cares?

For pete's sake, get a sense of humor, lady!

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[–] firstreindeer 19 years ago

You know, now that you mention it, I do remember the anti-Arizona movement that happened as a result of this film. It was horrible - everyone in America, walking around, thinking Arizona was full of baby stealers, jail breakers and Randall Tex Cobbs's. I tried to stay above it all, but I do admit that every time I met a stupid person with a southern twang who had just stolen a baby, a part of me would think, "I wonder if they're from Arizona." Anyway, thanks for having the guts to point out the blatant Arizonist nature this film seems to condone. I just hope that someday we as a a nation can realize that not all people from Arizona are idiots, just ... some of them.

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[–] badhabits 19 years ago

You hit the nail right on the head, firstreindeer, I can't tell you how many times I would offer friendly directions to tourists only to have them tuck their babies into a duffel bag and run screaming in the opposite direction. Everyone in America, walking around? Funny sh*t, man.

But seriously, the appeal of Raising Arizona is the blatantly awkward and intentionally ignorant portrayal of a relatively misunderstood geographical region. With the state population booming, this movie has easily become a point of pride for me, remembering back to when all of the mini-malls where plastered with blunt red paint and shaped like adobe huts, when twenty minutes down any street would lead to undeveloped dirt fields, when Smitty's ads were filmed in some assh*le's kitchen, when we almost gave-up the Super Bowl just because we didn't want Martin Luther King Day (not that we're racist, we just hate giving government employees a break).

I love that it is based on some idiot's general idea of Arizona, not any factual or rational material. The good 'ol boy, redneck, trialer park, hick, cowboy town where every one owns a gun and talks with some nondescript regional accent is hilarious, flat out. Even the damn bank that gets robbed is at least thirty minutes away from anything that would constitute a town.

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[–] rowan_red 17 years ago

I'm bumping firstreindeer's reply to the OP. It's one of the funniest things I've ever read, and deserves to be resurrected two years later:

You know, now that you mention it, I do remember the anti-Arizona movement that happened as a result of this film. It was horrible - everyone in America, walking around, thinking Arizona was full of baby stealers, jail breakers and Randall Tex Cobbs's. I tried to stay above it all, but I do admit that every time I met a stupid person with a southern twang who had just stolen a baby, a part of me would think, "I wonder if they're from Arizona." Anyway, thanks for having the guts to point out the blatant Arizonist nature this film seems to condone. I just hope that someday we as a a nation can realize that not all people from Arizona are idiots, just ... some of them.

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