MovieChat Forums > The River (2012) Discussion > Insulting.

Insulting.

posted 12 years ago by edubugras
16 replies | jump to latest

This TV show is supposedly set in the Amazon, a river located in Brazil.

Brazil.

We speak portuguese in Brazil, not Spanish. A one-minute google search will tell you this.

The river in this show is not the Amazon. As a matter of fact, all the filming was done in elther hawaii or puerto rico.

This is an absolute joke. It's honestly insulting as a Brazilian citizen to see the nonexistent amount of effort that was put into researching the place where this is supposed to take place. There is not a single shot of the actual Amazon river throughout the entire TV show. People are speaking the wrong language.
I greatly respect Steven Spielberg, but seeing this be released to the public without a single crew or cast member noticing any of these two glaring flaws makes me lose a bit of faith in him as a producer.

This is the equivalent of saying that my movie will take place in Paris, then filming every single scene in London with everyone speaking english because hey, Europeans all speak English, right?
Latin America doesn't exclusively speak spanish.

I find all this lack of effort insulting. Minimal effort is all it takes.

[–] Chinstrap 11 years ago

There's a lot about this show that's completely stupid (and yet it's exciting enough that it kept my attention for the whole season which I just rented on DVD), but this isn't really one of them. The Amazon river actually crosses through three countries, two of which are Spanish-speaking (Columbia and Peru). It's true that most of it is in Brazil, but it's still possible they could have been navigating a part which is in one of the two other countries. They never actually say on which part of the Amazon the show is supposed to take place.

As for filming it in Puerto Rico and Hawaii rather than in South America, that's not uncommon at all. I live in Toronto which variously poses as Boston, Chicago, New York and other big American cities in American productions. Locations are chosen based on the availability of local crews, the cost of production in a given place (including exchange rates and tax breaks provided to production companies), and the the difficulty of mounting a production in a given place. Torontonians are now pretty used to seeing US mailboxes and license plates on streets where they are shooting an American production.

[–] essex9999 9 years ago

It's true that most of it is in Brazil, but it's still possible they could have been navigating a part which is in one of the two other countries. They never actually say on which part of the Amazon the show is supposed to take place.

So, it's three years later, but I just watched the series on Hulu, and, actually, they do tell us where the show is supposed to be taking place. In the first episode, in an early scene, there's a title on the screen that says "Tocantins, Brazil."

Tocantins is a real state in Brazil; part of it is really in the Amazon rainforest.

While it's not a stretch to believe that Jahel and her father are from a Spanish-speaking country (although how did she become so knowledgeable about local lore?), it was pretty silly that the one non-indigenous local we saw - the guy with the supply boat - spoke Spanish rather than Portuguese. Being offended about this is a bit an overreaction, though.

[–] jorge-mf-santos 8 years ago

Tocantins river (or state) is completely inside Brazil, thousands of miles from any Spanish speaking country. Tocantins is a river from East Amazon, not Amazon river. GEEEZZZ, use Google Maps, please.

[–] DrProfessor 11 years ago

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edubugras added to your Ignore list

You need a Darwin award for both your lack of intelligence, and major ignorance about geography, and TV production.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Son_of_Satan-666 11 years ago

@moviedude exactly. You're right dude, f\/ck these maggots. .

DEAN (to SAM) : YOU LEFT ME TO ROT IN PURGATORY

[–] AlexMiller76 10 years ago

Spartacus would speak Thracian, not Latin. But your basic premise is flawed. It's not easier to teach Spanish than it is to teach Portuguese for the simple fact that you don't need to teach the cast the language. You only have to teach them how to pronounce the words properly. The fact that they're speaking Spanish and not Portuguese is a rather significant screw up. If you were watching Schindler's List and the Nazi's were speaking French instead of German, would you find it bothersome?

Filming the show in places other than the Amazon is not a big deal, though. It's just cheaper to film elsewhere.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] xibalba33 9 years ago

It may not be easier to teach Spanish, but it is a hell of a lot easier to find Spanish speaking actors in the U.S. Also, to expect a relatively low budget American tv show to actually film in the Amazon is just absurd. You're splitting hairs.

[–] gediminas-morkys 9 years ago

You have some guts to say the river is LOCATED in Brazil, I'll give you that. The real people (not colonists) around that river never spoke Portuguese. So shoo, pest.

[–] prydain17 9 years ago

That's like saying it's "insulting" because The X-Files filmed in Canada yet took place all over the United States. Which of course is utterly silly.

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"Betty's voice brought darkness to the land." - Amanda Tanen

[–] mlauzon 8 years ago

It only filmed in BC for a few seasons, then moved production to CA.

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[–] mgreen9715 9 years ago

It's science FICTION. I seriously doubt anyone would expect this show to make everything factual.

[–] mlauzon 8 years ago

Technically, it's fantasy.

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[–] jl201 8 years ago

Insulting that this show was cancelled.

[–] 8 years ago

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