I’ve been watching Top Chef for years, and for years I’ve been grumbling that they need to host a competition in Seattle. So I was super psyched when Bravo announced that the show’s 10th season will be set in the Emerald City!
But I started reading up on the local press coverage of filming. And was, let’s say, troubled by what I read. From Seattle Weekly’s Hanna Raskin:
[T]he show’s producers are notoriously uninterested in the true culinary character of the cities they feature, and even less interested in engaging the people who live in those places. Top Chef treats its shooting locales like motel rooms serviceable for a one-night stand.
And
Although Texas ponied up $400,000 for the privilege of serving as a Top Chef host, the state which viewers saw was a goofy caricature that was unlikely to lure anyone to the Lone Star State. The impression created by Top Chef was that Texans ride horses and eat beef in unbearable heat. … “No one in Houston really cared about the show,” Kathaine Shilcutt, my counterpart at the Houston Press, e-mails. “In fact, most people I know actively boycotted watching it because they were so furious at being overlooked.”
I remember thinking much the same about the episodes filmed in Texas. Though the show went to great lengths to film in several different cities (hitting Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas), the take-away from any on-the-spot filming was that Texans were rednecks with big hats who wouldn’t hesitate to scream, “Texas chili doesn’t have beans!”
Dr H reminded me, too, of when Top Chef returned to New York for a previous season. For all the local dining or exploring the cast did, it might have been filmed in New Jersey.
Why would Top Chef bother traveling to film on location if it never intended to engage the local community, or branch out beyond stale stereotypes of whatever corner of the country bucks up the dough to host?
This reminded me of setting, and how important it is to get right. To use the city or region in which your story is set as more than a shabby, two-dimensional backdrop built with lazy preconceptions and a condescending lack of attention to detail. Have you ever watched a movie or read a book set in your hometown, and either delighted or cringed over how it was portrayed? If you set your novel in a real place, many readers will have that experience.
You really don’t want to get that wrong.
The good news? You don’t have to splurge on plane tickets to get the feel of a place.The answer is the same every time: research, research, research.
Have a Twitter account? I guarantee there are some people on there who live in your setting, and would love to chat about it! 1
If you want to get the exact point of view that your character has, walking their streets, try to find images in the Google Street View Gallery.
No matter how large or small the community, you can be there is some kind of newspaper, or community newsletter, or blog that focuses on the issues important to those citizens (Google is your friend!). Take a day or two to peruse and get an up-to-date refresher on what concerns that community.
The long and short of it is, if your characters exist in a world made of trite stereotypes and cliched tourist traps, they’re more likely to fall into similar tropes themselves. Don’t sell yourself, or your characters, short!
What about you?? Have you ever had a major gripe with how your hometown was portrayed? Where have you set your WiP? What kind of resources have you discovered to get a better sense of setting?
- I once asked a question about Texan homecoming traditions on a Sunday night… and got something like 5o responses! ↩
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this post! And I also love Top Chef. My manuscript is set in NYC, but I’ve never been there, although I did grow up in a big city (Washington DC). I did a lot of research to make sure I knew where places were and how to get there. I asked people questions and read books about the City. Research is key to perfecting a setting.
It sounds like you’ve covered your research bases for New York for sure! (And I so love Top Chef… though I complain, I am TOTALLY going to watch this season :) )
Love this post! I think The Mortal Instruments series did a really good job of incorporating NY. Sometimes, getting too flowery with the scenery and background city gets boring and distracting (I’m looking at you, Steinbeck,) but Cassandra Clare did it right while staying true to the city and its neighborhoods. If she had said Clary was from the Upper East Side or somewhere not Brooklyn, it just wouldn’t have made sense.
That’s a PERFECT example! Clare incorporates local restaurants and streets that really exist, which gives her fantasy world a lot of real life grounding. I think overall it enhanced the sense of setting for the series, for sure!
I love Top Chef, and I seriously have never noticed that they didn’t interact with the local flair. But as I’m reading your post it’s like my brain finally saw what my eyes never did and I am in complete shock.
What the hell is wrong with them?! Why DON’T they cook up local cuisine or work with local restaurants or chefs, or anything of the sort?! Now I’m just a little pissed off at them!
(And, as a side note, I have only read a few novels set in my home town, but it was just like, “They lived in Sacramento.” and that was it. A little disappointing.)
Aw man, Sacramento getting no love! That stinks. And yeah, it really is a bit disappointing about Top Chef… they get some local chefs involved, but they are so focused on keeping things secret that they lose a lot of the local involvement that I think would only enhance the show. :/ (But, like I said in a previous comment, though I complain it’s definitely not going to keep me from watching, lol!)
I loved this post–what a great analogy. I get scared writing about a setting I’m not familiar with, even if I do my research. I like being able to smell and hear and feel a place. It’s not always possible, but when it is I’m all about traveling where I want to write.
I totally agree about ideally being able to travel to those places. I’ve been lucky enough to do that, and it really does make a difference!
Yes! Research is so key, and setting can be such a wonderful part of a novel – be it just for mood or as an integral part of the worldbuilding. And also THIS SO MUCH: “The long and short of it is, if your characters exist in a world made of trite stereotypes and cliched tourist traps, they’re more likely to fall into similar tropes themselves.”
Loved this post! Hope you don’t mind, but I linked it in a worldbuilding post of my own. :)
Yay! I don’t mind at all, I’m so glad you liked it!! :)
Wow. Yeah, I can see how people would be mad about having their state misrepresented so much. And great suggestions for location research. Of course, it’s tempting to set a book in, say, Hawaii, so you have an excuse to visit, but Google is a lot cheaper than a plan ticket. Speaking of, now I kind of DO want to set a book in Hawaii…
Ooh! And one more thing that helps with destination research is Pinterest. Lots of beautiful and interesting destination photos on there.
Awesome suggestion—Pinterest is a really great resource! And oh man, now I want to write about Hawaii too! Meet you in Lanakai!
Yes! I guess it helps to ask “why here?” when you’re coming up with a setting. I love books where the story couldn’t have taken place anywhere else because the location captured the feel of the story so well. For instance, I can’t imagine The Scorpio Races occurring on a different island without cliffs or this old-timey feel. Great post.
That’s such a great point Tracey. I agree, when the setting is completely integral to the story, that adds a kind of magic IMO. TSR is a great example of that!