Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

[mithen]

 --How does the physical environment of your story reflect or contrast with your characters' internal landscapes?

Back to Gotham and Metropolis again! It's such a classic case of the setting being practically an outgrowth of the characters' personalities. The story I'm (hypothetically) working on is a steampunk version, so Gotham's a little more ornate and grimy (though really, the canon version of Gotham is pretty steampunk at its base!). Bruce embodies Gotham at both the high society, glittering top level and the dark underbelly full of shadows beneath it, while Clark's Metropolis is a much more evenly sunny experience--not so many dark dirty corners there (fitting for its avatar).

How is your setting reflecting, and reflected in, the characters you're writing right now?

Comments

[svgurl]

9-1-1 is set in LA and I think the city itself represents freedom for Eddie, in a way, because he chose to move there and created a home and found a family for himself. The city's environment and Los Angeles's attributes doesn't play as big of a part or have an impact. On the other hand, El Paso, where he's from, is so tied to his family and while it has some good memories, it gives him a lot of tension. It looms even larger in my story, since Christopher went back there and he never wanted to live there again but now he worries he may have to, if his illness doesn't finish him off first.

[mithen]

LA is one of those interesting cities that so often symbolizes NOT being somewhere else more than it means anything itself, if that makes sense! The contrast between LA and El Paso is pretty dramatic...

[bradygirl_12]

New York City is a supportive background to Frank of Naked City. He grew up in an Italian neighborhood with plenty of family around. Like many NYPD cops, he grew up in the city, so he knows it well.

Adam was given very little background, but we know he too grew up in the city. He never mentions his family so his college education could have come from money or the G.I. Bill, we don't know.

The city was the star of the show, as on-location filming was rare in TV in those days. The locations played major parts in the stories. It underscored the background of the main characters in that time and place.

The show is a wonderful time capsule. Many changes, but some things stay the same. 🤩

[mithen]

I don't know why I always think Naked City is in LA! I must be getting it confused with Dragnet or Adam-12.

Looking at your answers to recent questions, it's so fascinating to me how little information 1960s/70s TV shows gave about their characters! HUGE chunks of background are totally left up to headcanon, I kind of love it. Can you imagine a cop in a show nowadays never mentioning his family at all?

[bradygirl_12]

Ha, yes, they made us work for canon years ago, though as late as 1990 Law & Order's early episodes rarely mentioned the cops and lawyers' home lives. In later seasons they brought in more personal background, but for a long while focus was strictly on the case.