I'll look for it, Mighty.
You're still a little bit too young to see it. But when you hit true middle age, you'll realize that the year you graduated high school and the ensuing summer was one of the most memorable of your life.
In my case, that was 1977. And it was a particularly memorable summer, aside from the fact that I had just graduated high school. The Bronx was burning, it was hot as Hell, the blackout, the Son of Sam, the Yankees, and a dozen other reasons only added to it for me. Most memorable summer of my life. Hands down.
I'm glad this movie came up. It jogged my memory over something I've wondered about for years. In the movie, about 15 minutes in, they have this establishing shot of "the neighborhood". It's right after Richie first shows back up. They have the overhead shot of the DA Beach Club and then the dead-end up against the Sound where they hang out and deal weed.
Anyway, they make a very specific point of showing the street signs of this intersection where the beach club and the hangout is. Except in the movie, the go out of their way to show LAYTON AVENUE and CLARENCE AVENUE. The only problem is, in real life, that's the corner of RANDALL and CLARENCE -- not Layton.
I've always wondered why they went out of their way to re-arrange these street signs during the taping.
And I'm not crazy. Go back and watch the movie. It's right after the scene where Richie wakes up in his underoos, with 1010 WYNS on and asking his step-dad for 20 bucks.
The only thing I could think of is that at one point, they mention "shutting down" the Layton Avenue bridge. Maybe Spike wanted it to seem like that bridge led directly to the dead-end hangout. In real life, it's actually a few blocks over from Layton. Layton has a similar dead end, but there's a pizza shop, no beach club and not as big of an apartment building.
Anyway, great movie, despite the stereotypes. And I wouldn't get up in arms about that anyway. I'm Irish; show me one piece of Hollywood that doesn't portray us as breaking down in confession, drinking away the last paycheck, getting sun burned every time we walk by a glare through a window, having mothers who cook shitty food, and running fools' errands for someone smarter. The thing is, a lot of it is true. That's why stereotypes exist, and paint a picture of certain people and places in time. If we're going to celebrate diversity -- which I think we should -- then we need to celebrate the differences. Otherwise, we're really only celebrating a homogenized version of what the people touting diversity want to see. Although crude and sometimes unfair, I think Spike's depictions make good movies. They at least spark conversation.
