Hollywood Gets it Wrong, Again

So, I mentioned that we moved here to Temecula a couple of months ago. There’s a movie out, claiming that it was filmed here in Temecula. Read this short article and my comments will follow:

By JEFF HORSEMAN
The Press-Enterprise

Sal Rosales is a car salesman in Temecula. But that's about all he has in common with Don Ready, the fictional protagonist of "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard."

At The Movie Experience in Temecula, Rosales and Scott Messier took in the crude comedy, which opened Friday. Afterward, the two said they enjoyed the film, which more than earned it’s R-rating with enough profanity, sex jokes and just plain sex to fill an auto mall.

"The movie (took) any type of stereotype of a car salesman and ... put it in a movie," said Rosales, who works at Toyota of Temecula Valley with Messier, a sales manager.


While Temecula was the setting for a plot about traveling car sellers hired to save a sinking dealership, the city took a back seat to characters played by a group of familiar actors, led by Jeremy Piven of "Entourage" fame.
The movie actually was filmed in Alhambra, not that "The Goods" aimed for accuracy. There are references to "downtown Temecula" -- whatever that means -- and a scene at a strip club. Temecula doesn't have any.
At one point, an "angel" says Temecula is "not even (expletive) Fresno." No one from the movie or its distributor, Paramount Vantage, was available for comment.
Dan Taylor, deputy director of the Inland Empire Film Commission, said Alhambra was likely the filming location because it's within 30 miles of Hollywood. Unionized crewmembers get daily per diems and lodging for films outside the 30-mile zone, he said.
In the real Temecula, most auto dealerships line a stretch of Ynez Road. Auto sales comprise 16 to 18 percent of Temecula's sales tax base, and dealers donated nearly $700,000 in 2007 to local charities and school sports teams, according to city figures.
When asked about "The Goods," Temecula Mayor Maryann Edwards started rattling off Temecula's goods -- selected as one of the top 100 places to live in America by a national real estate Web site; low crime rate; top-notch schools and Wine Country and attractions aplenty.
"If (the movie) doesn't fit with those guidelines, I'd say it's not a fair representation of Temecula," said Edwards, adding she avoids R-rated movies and catches a flick "maybe once a year."
Reach Jeff Horseman at 951-375-3727 or jhorseman@PE.com



MY TAKE:
Okay. My husband works in Hollywood off and on, my oldest son and youngest daughter work in Hollywood, so you could say that I know a little about the town and the attitude of some of the people, (I’ll just say this, most of the people that work there), believe that L.A. is the center of the damn universe. And, (this is coming from somebody that does not think there’s a there there), I’m tired of hearing the Hollywood machine make fun of anyone and anything that does not fit into their narrow view of the world.

Given the choice, and we did have the choice…when we made our move, we considered several options in and around L.A., and we chose Temecula. Why? It’s still somewhat rural out here, but there’s a lot to do. Lots of restaurants, wine country, the weather is pleasant, and the real estate is super-affordable. For what it costs to live in a nice house here in the Temecula Valley, you would have to settle for a hovel in L.A. The sense of community is very strong out here. It’s a family oriented area. My husband has noted, many, many times over the years, people in the Hollywood community tend to think that residing in The Inland Empire, and Orange County is akin to choosing to live on Mars. “You live where?” They like to ask, with a frown on their face. (Even when we lived in L.A. County, not thirty miles away, they would act as if he’d chosen to live in Nome, Alaska.)

In the article above, a line from the movie is quoted saying that Temecula isn’t even f#*&ing Fresno. Fresno is a farming town located in Central California. Hollywood LOVES ragging on poor Fresno. I’m sure the citizens of Fresno are sick and tired of being picked on. They’re accustomed to being picked on. But Temecula?

What’s so great about L.A./Hollywood, anyway? Maybe it’s the freeway gridlock? The Botox/martini parties? The smog? The high ratio of plastic surgeons to the general population? The gangs? The homeless that flock downtown and piss on the streets and in doorways? The flash-in-the-pan starlets that like to climb in and out of cars in front of flash-in-the-pan nightclubs, flashing the paparazzi with their private parts? The over-crowded beaches with sewage pollution?

Chalk it up to ignorance; Hollywood gets it wrong, again.


All Rights Reserved. © 2009 by Elizabeth Bradley.