Movies That Make the Local Tourism Board Cringe Quiz

Answer: Mumbai

Mumbai, formerly Bombay, is India's financial, cultural hub and the most populous city. Mumbai's metropolitan area has a population of over 20 million. Despite the fact that statistically Mumbai enjoys one of the highest standards of wealth in Asia, Mumbai also suffers from massive overcrowding and a vast disparity in living conditions between rich and poor. Many of the poorest Mumbaiites live in a vast slum called Dharavi. It is the slums of Dharavi that are referenced and depicted in "Slumdog Millionaire".

"Slumdog Millionaire" is the flash-forward/flashback story of a young Indian man who grew up in the Dharavi slums and gets a chance to win 20 million rupees by playing an Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Jamil Malik, the contestant, arrives at the answers to the question by shifting through the often painful memories of his childhood. In various flashbacks, we see the death of Jamil's mother during a riot, the abject poverty and reliance on crime or prostitution to survive, as well as the horrendous sanitation issues prevalent in the Dharavi. "Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Academy Awards and seven BAFTA Awards including both Academies best picture for 2009. However, many within India criticized the film for its negative portrayal of Mumbai, and for perpetuating stereotypical perceptions of the treatment of India's lower classes.

Answer: Man on Fire

Please note that the picture is of a stuntman performing in a controlled environment. No men were on fire or harmed in the making of this question.

Mexico City is a massive metropolis with a metropolitan population of over 21 million. Mexico City can be gorgeous combining French, Spanish and Aztec architecture in a unique, colorful style. Great wealth is juxtaposed against densely packed teeming slums. As in other parts of Mexico and Latin America, there is a fair amount of drug related crime, kidnap for hire and police corruption. At least that reputation is what drew the producers of the 2004 thriller "Man on Fire" to film their movie in Mexico City.

2004's "Man on Fire", like its predecessor from 1987, is based on the eponymous 1981 novel by A. J. Quinnell. The 2004 version starred Denzel Washington as former CIA agent John Creasy. Depressed from an operation gone bad and battling alcoholism, Creasy takes work as a personal security provider for the only child of a local wealthy Latin American entrepreneur. When the child, played by Dakota Fanning, is kidnapped Creasy stops at nothing to seek the return of the girl and vengeance on her kidnappers. Creasy takes a suicide journey through the underbelly of the City, where he must dodge lawless kidnappers and corrupt law enforcement. Eventually, Creasy returns the girl to safety and kills all those responsible.

Answer: Detroit

Detroit Michigan was once one of the US's most affluent cities. As the hub of America's automotive industry, the Motor City was a cultural and economic center in America's Midwest. With the shifting of world automotive demand and the loss of affluent residents to the surrounding suburbs, Detroit declined rapidly in the 1970s. Urban decay left thousand of homes abandoned and street crime made Detroit one of the most unsafe cities in North America.

Hollywood has seized upon the problems in Detroit and made the locale its "go to" place for scenes of urban decay and crime. Nowhere is this phenomenon better represented than in 1987's "Robocop". The plot of the movie involved cleaning up Detroit's crime-ridden streets that have become too dangerous for even the police. When the movie was remade 25 years later, Detroit's image had not changed and once again the City needed a cyborg to help make it safe. Other recent films that do not necessarily show Detroit as a premier destination, include "8 Mile" (2002), "Four Brothers" (2005) and "Gran Torino" (2008).

Answer: Paris

Even the stupendous sights of Paris can be made to look grimy and jaded by skilled film-makers. Paris is the city of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre, and deserves every bit of its reputation for romantic beauty. However, Paris is also a city with a metropolitan population of over 12 million people. Paris is not immune from the effects of crime and poverty and some of this affects the tourists who flock to the city. The importance of tourism to Paris, coupled with the City's immense popularity, combine to make the plot of "Taken" all the more ominous.

In "Taken", the teenage daughter of a former CIA operative (Neeson) is kidnapped by an Albanian organized crime, white-slavery ring that preys on attractive tourists. Neeson travels to Paris to find his daughter. The Paris Neeson visits is not the postcard part of the City, but old tenements and dark streets filled with poor immigrants, criminals and indifference to human life. In "Taken", the French police are either corrupt or more concerned with maintaining the appearance of safety than stopping the human trafficking ring. "Taken" was a tremendous success, but might have caused some parents to rethink plans to let their children travel to France unchaperoned.

Answer: Boston

If Detroit is the American city of choice for urban decay, then Boston has to be the "go to" city for North American organized crime movies that feature Irish gangs. Boston is one of North America's oldest cities and has a city population of less than 700,000, but a metropolitan population of over 4.5 million. In support of the stereotype, over 15% of Boston's population is of Irish descent and many remain in the lower socio-economic area of South Boston.

Like Detroit, Hollywood has type-cast Boston as a city overrun by Irish-American criminal organizations. "The Departed", 2006's Oscar winning Best Picture, is set in Boston as is the gritty 1973 mob film "The Friends of Eddie Coyle". Films like "Mystic River", "Southie", "The Town", "Gone Baby Gone" and even "Good Will Hunting" also use the poor ethnic neighborhoods of Boston to depict dangerous places that tourists are better to avoid.

Answer: New York

Of course, it is not possible to leave New York off a list of cities that can be portrayed harshly in films. To be fair, there are simply a lot of movies that are set in New York and some are bound to be less than flattering. New York has been featured in crime movies for as long as there have been movies. "Lights of New York" (1928) was Warner Brothers first full-length talking movie, and was about a boy who gets mixed up on the rackets in Prohibition era New York. The 1930s and 40s featured New York as the birthplace of gangs and gangland violence, epitomized by James Cagney "Angels with Dirty Faces" (1938). In the Oscar winning 1971 thriller "The French Connection", the dirty and dark streets of New York are essential to the film's mood.

New York is often the location of choice for Italian-American themed crime dramas such as "The Godfather" and "Mean Streets". New York's Harlem and Upper East Side which are predominately populated by minorities are frequently portrayed as unsafe, drug riddled and controlled by violent street gangs. Movies such as the "Shaft" franchise, "New Jack City" and "American Gangster" perpetuate this view of New York.

Answer: Black Hawk Down

Mogadishu is the capital and largest city in the African nation of Somalia. The city is at the center of 2001's "Black Hawk Down". Somalia in general, and Mogadishu in particular suffered tremendously during a prolonged civil war that left the country in a lawless state for most of the 1990s. Mogadishu was all but destroyed by the fighting. Slowly, over the past 10 years, a more stable government and international investment have produced a renaissance for the city with new construction and an increase in commerce.

"Black Hawk Down" was a fictionalized telling of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. The battle pitted US forces, supporting a UN peacekeeping mission, against troops loyal to Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid. The film, as the title suggests, deals less with Somali politics and more with rescue efforts for US Army Rangers who were shot down in Black Hawk helicopters during the battle. Mogadishu is portrayed as a bombed and burnt out city, where tanks and armed men patrol the streets. "Black Hawk Down" won two Academy Awards and was a critical and financial success.

Answer: Los Angeles

At the center of the US film industry, Los Angeles and its surrounding areas have served as the setting for hundreds of movies. Movies glamorizing Los Angeles as Tinsel Town start with silent films such as "Hollywood" (1923)and "Show People" (1928), and continue into the current era in movies like "Hollywood Homicide" (2005) or "The Player" (1992).

However, more recent movies have given voice to racial and ethnic issues that showcase the city as a far less desirable place to live. 1991's "Boyz in the Hood" was a seminal tale of the pressures to join gangs and commit violence faced by young African-American men in Los Angeles. "South Central" (1992) is an unrelenting tale of the cycle of violence amongst Los Angeles' young African-American population.

The unrelenting violence and hardship of life in South Central LA is displayed as well in "Menace II Society" (1993). More recent, "End of Watch" (2013) presented a cynical and jaded view of life in LA.

Answer: Brazil

The 2006 film "Turistas" is an example of two trends in horror movies. The first is the repeated depiction of extreme gore and violence in film. This trend is unflatteringly called torture porn. The "Saw" franchise of movies epitomizes this sub-genre. The second trend is to draw victims from unsuspecting tourists or travelers. 2005's "Hostel" combines the tourist in danger genre with a heavy dose of torture porn.

"Turistas" hits all the new tropes of these new trends. Breathtaking views of the rain forests near and around the Amazon River are transformed into dark hiding places for the commission of deadly deeds. The plot of the movie is quite simple. Attractive American tourists, including buff Josh Duhamel and the lovely Olivia Wilde are backpacking in Northern Brazil. After stopping at a party, the tourists are drugged, kidnapped and removed to a secret cave in the jungle. In the cave, they are systematically used as live organ donors as a form of social ecology, to help the poor in local Brazilian hospitals. Not surprisingly, the film received a critical avalanche of negative reviews including protests from loyal Brazilians. In response to the backlash, star Josh Duhamel appeared on the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and apologized to the Brazilian people for the content of the movie.

Answer: Sydney

Sydney is both the capital of the Australian State of New South Wales and is the most populous city in Australia. Sydney is considered one of the world's most beautiful cities, with a below average crime rate. Sydney is a cosmopolitan city with a number of significant ethnic populations including a large Middle Eastern émigré sector. The culture clash between immigrants and Anglos living in the Sydney suburb of Guildford fuels the tension in "The Combination". The movie details the difficulties a Lebanese Australian has when he begins a relationship with an Anglo girl, while trying to steer clear of the racial violence and drug culture of his hometown. "The Combination" is notable because of the frank depiction of racial violence in Sydney's suburbs. For a brief time after the movie's release, theatres in the Sydney area temporarily pulled "The Combination" due to several incidents of violence that had erupted at showings of the film.

A number of movies have dealt with Australia's checkered history of contentious race and ethnic relations. 2002's "Rabbit-Proof Fence" is a harrowing tale of life in the Moore River detention center during the 1930s. "Rabbit-Proof Fence" details the horror of the lamented period in Australian history, referred to as the Stolen Generations, when mixed race and Aboriginal children were often removed from their families to be "improved" by better assimilating into the dominant Anglo society. "Romper Stomper" (1992) is notable not only for its frank depiction of neo-Nazi youth gangs in the Melbourne area, but for the remarkable performance by a young Russell Crowe as the lead.