How is your region portrayed in pop culture?

You describe a reason why, I think, shows and movies featuring Indiana as a setting often have struggled, or why Indiana isn't even chosen as a setting at all. Other than mass indifference, the reason for Indiana not being terribly successful as a pop culture reference is because the state is so different from place to place. It's Rust Belt north, more Southern in the south, Corn Belt elsewhere, and influenced by three cities that aren't even in the state -- Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville. Through perhaps Hang Time was so artistically and popularly successful because it at least picked out one common thread -- basketball.

Speaking of basketball, no matter what else is out there, probably the most familiar pop-culture depiction of Indiana is and will always be "Hoosiers," and having Indiana natives behind its production helped make the story an inspiring tale and made otherwise flat farmland look beautiful, instead of the movie being about a bunch of huckleberries with no other reason for living.

 

I have to say when I hear "Midwest" visions of Indiana is usually what comes to mind first.

 

This. Although most Yoopers (not I) don't disprove much from that movie either. LOL Being Escanaba-born and Marquette-raised, I can attest that I have seen people like that in the movie.

 

If you like the play, DON'T read the book. I have no clue how they took THAT book and made it into THAT musical.
The book is f-ed up!

 

I'm a Hoosier transplant (from the U.P. of Michigan). I would call it Mid-West. Once you get south of Indianapolis though, it's the South to me. The accent is partly a southern drawl; guns and meth are commonplace and sweet tea starts to become a common drink. That's the South to me.

 

Seems like every movie set or filmed in Indiana has had a sports theme: Hoosiers, Breaking Away, Rudy, Blue Chips, League of Their Own, Winning. Has there ever been a non-sports movie set there?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_set_in_Indiana

I think this includes ones that were filmed there as well.

 

Meth is a southern trait? I was not aware of that.

And, as someone with relatives in Evansville, I guess you're right. There's definitely a Southern drawl type accent and southern feel down there. So, yeah, I guess down low the state feels a bit southern, and up high more rust belt, but the majority middle is very midwestern.

 

A few Hoosiers have said the true Mason-Dixon line is U.S. 40 (or I-70, which runs within 5 miles of 40 for pretty much its entire length between Breezewood & St. Louis). Although my friends from the Region claim U.S. 30
is the real Mason-Dixon line.

Southern Indiana is *definitely* South, as many of the inhabitants migrated north from Kentucky & Tennessee many generations ago. Along I-70, most of the settlement came from the East (Pennsylvania/Quakers/Germans) and so the culture is a lot less Southern and more, well, Midwestern. The northwest is very industrial and Rust Belt-ish. It's almost like you live in three or four different states as culturally diverse as the state is.

And yes, we love our sports . Hoosiers, Breaking Away, League of Their Own, Eight Men Out, all filmed in Indiana. Indiana is probably the most-saturated state in terms of population/land-area when it comes to access to major-college and major-league sports. Three BCS-level colleges, plus the NFL/NBA in Indy, plus Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville are all within 30 miles of the state borders.

 

Breezewood, Pa., Town of Motels?

 

Ah, Breezewood. Oasis in the wasteland that lies between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

 

When the land goes flat, the Midwest begins. Ohio is in the Midwest.

When you see the Rockies, the West starts.