Rhode Island in popular culture
The state of Rhode Island is often depicted in popular culture, partly due to its natives the Farrelly brothers and former residence of the creator of the television show Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane. The following is a list of popular culture in Rhode Island.
Television
- The Showtime series Brotherhood is set in Providence.
- The Fox animated sitcom Family Guy (1999 – 2002; 2005 – present) is set in the fictional town of Quahog.
- The NBC series Providence is set and named for Providence.
- Doctor Doctor was set in Providence.
- On FOX's popular X-Files (1993 – 2001) TV series, Fox Mulder's family lives in Chepachet, a small town in the northern area of the state. His mother retires to Quonochontaug, an even smaller community in South County.
- Ghost Hunters is set in Warwick.
- Canterbury's Law is set in Providence and the surrounding areas.
- In the Star Trek universe, there exists a ship called the USS Rhode Island NCC-72701
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force Season 1 Episode 2, one of the leprechauns says he is from Rhode Island.
- 30 Rock Season 5 Episode 3 introduces Queen Latifah as a State representative from Rhode Island, specifically mentioning Smithfield, Providence, and Brown University.
Film
- The ABC Show Body Of Proof which takes place in Philadelphia, is filmed all around Rhode Island, mainly Providence. Including multiple JWU property's.
- Portions of the 2008 romantic comedy 27 Dresses were filmed in several locations throughout the state of Rhode Island, notably Mills Tavern in downtown Providence, Club Hell in Providence, and several beaches and mansions in Newport and Chepachet.
- The 1990 Academy Award-winning film Reversal of Fortune (Jeremy Irons - Best Actor in a Lead Role) told the true story of Claus von Bülow's trial for attempted murder against his wife, Sunny von Bülow. The events depicted in the film took place in Newport.
- The Academy Award-winning 1974 drama The Great Gatsby based on the classic American novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, and Edward Herrmann was filmed in Newport, RI at the Rosecliff Mansion on Bellevue Ave.
- The critically acclaimed 2007 drama Evening, which featured an ensemble cast starring Claire Danes, Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette, Natasha Richardson, Hugh Dancy, Glenn Close, and Meryl Streep was filmed partially in Rhode Island. The film was primarily set in Newport and included large portions filmed at Gooseberry Beach.
- The 2003 independent film Getting Out of Rhode Island is set in Rhode Island.
- The 1994 film Federal Hill takes place in the eponymous neighborhood of Providence.
- The 1998 romantic drama Meet Joe Black starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt was filmed partially at Warwick's Aldrich Mansion.
- Most of the 2007 comedy Dan In Real Life starring Steve Carell and Dane Cook is set in Rhode Island.
- Scenes from the 1997 film Amistad (film) were shot in Newport, Rhode Island
- The 2007 family film Underdog (movie) was filmed in Providence. Filming locations included Hope High School on the East Side of Providence. For the final theatrical cut of scenes in which Underdog flies through city streets, buildings in Providence's downcity district are combined with computer-generated buildings to create a completely original look.
- The 2009 documentary film Happy Endings?, filmed in Rhode Island, follows women in Asian massage parlors and the debate to change the prostitution laws in Rhode Island where prostitution is "legal behind closed doors".[1]
- In 2008 the movie The Clique was filmed in Rhode Island
Many films by the Farrelly brothers are filmed and/or set in Rhode Island.
Other
- John Updike's novel The Witches of Eastwick, also made into a Jack Nicholson movie, is set in Rhode Island and its early pages include a brief, acerbic description of that State.
- Jincy Willett's acclaimed novel, Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather, takes place during a Rhode Island hurricane.
- The Justice League of America's first headquarters was depicted in the comic books as being in a cave in the fictional district of Happy Harbor, in Rhode Island.
- The massively multiplayer online game City of Heroes is set in the fictional city of Paragon City, Rhode Island, on the state's coast overlooking the Atlantic.[2] An expansion to the game also features another fictional Rhode Island town, Salamanca.
- The popular videogame Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is focused around the happenings in a mansion in Rhode Island.
- Caitlín R. Kiernan's dark-fantasy novel Daughter of Hounds is set primarily in Providence, but also features such other Rhode Island locales as Woonsocket and Kingston.
- Guitar virtuoso Guthrie Govan has a song on his solo album named "Rhode Island Shred"
- The Eagles' song "The Last Resort", from their album Hotel California opens with the line "She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island."
- Several books by young-adult author Edward Irving Wortis, better known by his pen name Avi, are set at least partially in Rhode Island. Something Upstairs, The Man Who Was Poe, and Newbery Honor book The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle are among these. Wortis himself lived in Providence until the mid-1990s.
- Keith Smith's autobiographical book Men in My Town is set in Rhode Island.
- Jodi Picoult's novel My Sister's Keeper was set in Rhode Island
See also
References