It’s always fun when Toronto gets mentioned south of the border, but take a gander at this gullible post from New York magazine about HBO shooting Grey Gardens on the shores of Lake Ontario. By what miracle of motion picture production did they recreate Long lsland–like sand dunes and hot weather in the igloo village known as Toronto?! Sheesh.
Curiouser and curiouser: the blog post’s implicit understanding that New Yorkers are somehow more insulted by having Toronto serve as their double than some other town. It’s as if to say that Boston, Providence, even Omaha can stand in for the Big Apple, but Toronto is only fit to play Cleveland. Or Hoboken. Apparently, Toronto is that boring in the minds of Noo Yawkers. No wonder our tourism industry’s in trouble.
• Why HBO’s Grey Gardens put the Hamptons in….Toronto? [New York]
Honestly, why is it that so many Americans always think the weather is so different in Toronto than in New York or any other northeastern U.S. city? I mean, generally, on a daily basis, we have the exact same weather as New York or Chicago. But every year at the film festival (which happens at the beginning of September, my favourite time of the year as far as weather), there are at least a few uninformed Americans showing up in parkas and snow boots, surprised at what beautiful weather we have in Toronto. Don’t they look at maps or websites before they travel? I mean does anyone travel to anywhere the U.S. (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter) without having at least some idea of what the weather’s going to be like?
“Sheesh” is right! Although I’d use another word for it.
May 27, 2009 at 2:28 am | by Rob