“Portlandia” is a satirical poke in the ribs at the Rose City and its more spoofable attributes. It’s a comic portrayal showing a town populated by compulsively organic foodies who interrogate their restaurant server on every detail of the chicken they’re about to order; aggressive bicycle commuters; humorless proprietors of feminist bookstores; and self-righteous animal activists. These jokes are nothing new to Portlanders, who poke fun at themselves for plenty of the same things. And national media have written stories that make it sound as if the entire city is fixated on recycling, coffee, beer and farm-to-table dining. “Portlandia” brings a parody version of that Portland to a national audience.
For those of you who don’t know much about Portland (it’s the place where the ’90s never really died)…”Portlandia” ought to serve as a humorous introduction. I watched the pilot on Hulu last week, and I loved it. Hey, you may not be able to tell if they’re laughing at you or with you, but if you can’t laugh at yourself….
Yeah, it’s over the top and silly, but there’s an underlying ring of truth to it, as in any good satire. I’ve never sat in a restaurant and inquired as to the bona fides of the chicken I was considering ordering, but there are people here who take their food VERY seriously…. You can fire a shotgun in any direction and be almost guaranteed to hit a coffee shop (and, in some parts of town, a microbrewery)…. Portland’s gray and dreary from October through March, and it does have a (not undeserved) reputation as a city still mired in the ’90s…. Grunge, the music at least, may have died in the rest of the country, but it’s still alive and well here…. Being a barista isn’t a job; it’s a career path…. Bicyclists are considered to sit at the right hand of God in something close to a “Scandinavian Socialist utopia“…and God help you if you’re driving a car and you hit a bicyclist…. Portland is the gateway to the mecca of organic winemaking, and a place where a convicted felon can build a successful business baking some of the best bread imaginable…. Locals worship at the altar of “local”….
I could go on, but to borrow a phrase from some Chamber of Commerce somewhere, “things look different here”. Most of us who live here can probably look at “Portlandia” and see the humor in it. I suppose some folks might be offended, and some might fear that more publicity might cause more people to move here, butI think most Portlanders can laugh at what amounts to an inside joke. Right; if you can’t laugh at yourself, you’ve got bigger problems that a tongue-in-cheek TV series filmed on a shoestring budget.
Of course, it’s on IFC…so it’s not like anyone’s actually going to see it…right??
