Hollywood Distortion Alert

A visitor query:

"I have been told about a world's largest nonstick fry pan in Illinois. Have you ever heard of it?"

Just another pernicious distortion from Hollywood. In the movie "Michael," John Travolta stars as the Archangel landed in Iowa, and leads a pilgrimage to the World's Largest Twine Ball and the Nonstick Fry Pan. The Fry Pan is identified as located between Iowa and Illinois. The real one is actually in Pittsfield, ME, a fixture of the Central Maine Egg Festival. The Twine Ball referred to is probably the one in Darwin, MN -- the drive is artistically shortened. Worse -- Darwin's is currently the world's third largest twine ball!

The movie "Fargo" also takes liberties with roadside reality, by fabricating a huge (and murderous-looking) Paul Bunyan statue in Brainerd -- home of a friendlier talking Bunyan statue.

David Lynch's The Straight Story, which netted Richard Farnsworth an Oscar nomination, makes small use of West Bend, IA's Grotto Of The Redemption. The Grotto is mentioned several times in the first act, and then Farthsworth's character, Alvin Straight, briefly drives past on his John Deere tractor on his way to Wisconsin.

In the movie, the grotto is called "The Grotto," (even on road signs, which is inaccurate), and never "The Grotto Of The Redemption." Which our critic finds unusual, since the whole movie is about redemption. Perhaps there were clearance issues (Pepsi logos are also conspicuously covered up). Perhaps calling something "Of The Redemption" is too on-the-nose for today's hip crowd. We don't know. We do know that he drives his tractor past a truck with a giant ear of corn on it, but when Straight stops in Prairie du Chien, WI, he is so anxious to reunite with his estranged brother, he forgets to stop and visit the Fort Crawford Medical Museum and the Transparent Twins. Further, of all the people commenting on Straight's unusual mode of transportation, not one talks about the only surviving copy of John Deere's death notice.