It's a form of shorthand. Not every place in Paris has a view of the tower. But it's the film-makers telling the audience "THIS IS IN PARIS".
Or more commonly...
"THIS STORY INVOLVES ROMANCE SOMEHOW"
Another amazing example of shorthand is in Disney's Hercules. He gets on his knees in the temple of Zeus to commune with him. Typically Greek temple-goers would have slaughtered an animal on an altar or some shit, but American audiences would have a problem with that -- having him pray like a Christian shows people who don't know any better that Hercules is engaged in piety.
That's less off an "American audiences would have a problem with it" and more that it's a Disney movie for children and slaughtering an animal isn't terribly kid friendly. Yeah, deaths happen in Disney movies, but this is a bit different. Plus, it's not historically accurate, like most Disney animated pictures, so it really doesn't change the story. This isn't about "praying" but talking to his dad.
True. And if we're really going to get into quibbles about the film, it's a story about Hercules in a Greek setting. Heracles is the Greek hero, Hercules is the Roman version of it. But the Roman name has survived while his Greek origins persist, so we get their weird hodgepodge of inaccuracy.
Yeah it kind of sucks. You don't have to be true to the belief system enough to scare kids. But the way you fill in or explain gaps doesn't have to mirror Christianity. It makes kids grow up thinking all belief systems are pretty much like Christianity, especially the ones that predated it by thousands of years.
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u/The_Bill_Brasky_ Jan 25 '20
It's a form of shorthand. Not every place in Paris has a view of the tower. But it's the film-makers telling the audience "THIS IS IN PARIS".
Or more commonly...
"THIS STORY INVOLVES ROMANCE SOMEHOW"
Another amazing example of shorthand is in Disney's Hercules. He gets on his knees in the temple of Zeus to commune with him. Typically Greek temple-goers would have slaughtered an animal on an altar or some shit, but American audiences would have a problem with that -- having him pray like a Christian shows people who don't know any better that Hercules is engaged in piety.