Do you think that this movie made Minnesota look like a wasteland and that are the men are a$$hole. I do not think they made a good interpretation of men and the state. What do you think ? (I know this has probably been posted already, and please keep it clean)
shareI've lived in Minnesota now for almost three years, and even though I've never ventured up to the Iron Range- where this movie took place- I would say that it probably did make the state look like a bad place.
But for all the generationalizations, it's a state where people are fairly complicated. In Minnesota, people are not as friendly as they advertise themselves, but nor are they as cold and distant as this movie portrays them to be.
There's a joke about Minnesota. An introvert stares at his own shoes and an extrovert stares at the other guy's shoes. That's really the biggest problem with people here- that they are not open by nature.
As someone who moved here from the East Coast, I'll say this: No, Minnesotans are not bumpkins. But, they're not like yuppies in LA or New York, either.
I heard that Prince was pretty pissed at the portrayal of his homeboys.
"Fuggedabout Joe the Plumber, what about Don the Jeweler?".
The movie was an exaggerated version the the events. I'm not saying the harrassment didn't exist, but the rape and whatnot were in the movie for added effect and didn't actually happen. Yes, the movie is based off a book but movies and books are always an interpretation.
Growing up on the Range, I do have to say, people are stuck in their ways. There isn't much room for change. People just do not accept it. Obviously, I'm generalizing as a whole. There are extremely open people, but really, people are pretty stuck.
As far as Minnesota looking like a "wasteland"... That is what Northern MN looks like in the winter. There isn't a ton of money up there. Roads aren't plowed as often as they should be. Things end up looking dirty. It's very old, so therefore the houses are. We didn't grow up in cute little villages in the mountains. We lived in mining country. Mine pits and pick ups are what it's all about up there.
So were the men a$$holes? Yes, absolutely for what they did. But is it a bad representation of men and the state? For the Iron Range, and the men who were involved perhaps, but no, not the state as a whole. Hell, I even thought the accents were pretty right on...
Notwithstanding the fact that Minnesotans are cold, distant and mean-spirited in a quietly reserved way, men don't treat women any worse than they do elsewhere.
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