WHERE IS METROPOLIS?
WHERE IS METROPOLIS?
| Go to Next Question | Nearly every episode that features some type of
"skyline" shot seems to generate debate as to where Metropolis
"really" is located or what city Metropolis "really" is. Candidates
have included, among others, New York City, Cleveland, Toronto and St. Paul, MN (okay,
some are less serious than others). The short answer, of course, is that Metropolis isn't "really" anywhere. It is a fictional city and nothing more. Some list members have commented that Metropolis and Gotham City are two different dramatic interpretations of New York City, with Gotham City representing its "darker" side and Metropolis its "lighter" aspects That having been said, Metropolis in the world of "Lois & Clark" is clearly a city on the U.S. East Coast. In the Premiere episode, a map is shown to illustrate Clark flying from Metropolis to Shanghai for "take out" dinner. The Metropolis on this map is somewhere on the East Coast, roughly in the area of Delaware. But Metropolis plainly is NOT New York City. In the first season episode, "Man of Steel Bars," commenting on the weather, Lois says: "Its twelve degrees in New York, there's eight inches of snow in Chicago, and we're having a run on sun block." And in "When Irish Eyes Are Killing," an address is listed as "Metropolis, New Troy." It is also worth noting that a number of "real" cities have been used as backdrops for Lois & Clark. Outside of the "windows" of the Daily Planet set are huge photographs of the Chicago and San Francisco skylines to give the illusion of being in a tall, downtown building (the San Francisco backdrop is behind the window in Perry White's office). Other readily identifiable sites and skylines used in the show have included downtown Chicago and Los Angeles (several flying scenes) and the San Francisco waterfront ("The Phoenix"). Baltimore's Camden Yards baseball stadium also masqueraded as a Metropolis baseball stadium in "The Prankster." If you are interested in more detail on the place of Metropolis in the DC Comics "universe," I recommend Tom Galloway's extensive, scholarly treatment of the subject in the DC Comics Q&A he wrote for the rec.arts.comics.misc newsgroup. A quick way to find this discussion is via the unofficial Superman Web Page. A similar discussion, contained in David T. Chappell's Superman FAQ is also available on the Superman Web Page. |
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