Oh, come on; Bostonians aren’t that unfriendly, are we? And if Tina Fey and Amy Poehler think we are, they can go. . . explain to local civic and politicial leaders the value of sending a more welcoming message to the world.
During Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, hosts Fey and Poehler had a few laughs at Boston’s expense as they described director Ben Affleck’s Iranian-hostage-crisis drama “Argo.” “Ben’s first two movies took place in Boston,” Fey said, “but he moved this one to Iran because he wanted to film somewhere that was friendlier to outsiders.” It was funny. But it stung, too, because it echoes a frequent complaint among newcomers — that the city’s chilliness toward strangers makes it harder to build a life here. Poehler, who grew up in Burlington, followed up by putting on a broad Boston accent and feigning a chip-on-her-shoulder attitude: “You’re not better than me,” she told Affleck.
Comments
Say the transplants on the Globe editorial board.
This is the eay it is and if you don't like it you're a bastid. :-)
Of course, the Bostonian response will be to double-down on hostility, insularity and parochialism.
It was just a joke. Generalizations are always wrong anyway.
As a southern transplant who has lived in New York, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts as employment has demanded, I can say that three of those places are the most hostile and parochial places I have ever encountered, and New York is not one of them.
JLErwin3 - As a reader who has read your comment I can say your southern manners, deep understanding of sarcasm, charming sense of humor, and passive aggression are delightful.
Tough for a leopard to change its spots. We are what we are. For those of us who don't believe this is true go out west, Colorado for example, and you won't believe the difference.
I've lived in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and grew up in the 'burbs of Boston and I can't say that any one of these cities is any more or less friendly than the other.
GOD PLEASE, wash all the troubled away!
Compare us to the Pacific Northwest and you'll see an amazing difference. People there manage to be friendly without being interfering. It's really wonderful. Still-- I'm not leavin' Bawstin fuh anywaayah.
It's so true. New Yorkers will fall over themselves to give strangers good directions. I have heard Bostonians admit to giving strangers deiberately false directions just for kicks.
Massachusetts citizens are not friendly to strangers or to themselves. We have a regional xenophobia. Work for a large company and walk through the hallways and you'll find people avoiding eye contact by dropping their heads! It's like being on a subway. It happens everywhere in New England.