6 Places You're Picturing Utterly Wrong (Thank Pop Culture!)

6

The "Grim Ghetto" Of Hell's Kitchen Is Probably Out Of Your Price Range

Netflix's exceedingly gritty Daredevil adaptation faithfully takes place in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York. This made sense when Daredevil first appeared in the 1960s, because back then, Hell's Kitchen really lived up to its name. You had violent gangs roaming the streets, crack dens on every corner, rampant prostitution, poverty, etc. And that's exactly how the area is portrayed in the modern Netflix series.

Marvel Television

But today, that depiction is as divorced from reality as the plot of Iron Fist is divorced from entertainment.

Over the years, Hell's Kitchen has really gotten its act together. Crime is down 64 percent compared to 40 years ago. Murder is down 75 percent, burglaries 85 percent, and car thefts have fallen a whopping 92 percent. Honestly, the employment opportunities for evil ninjas in the area are pretty dismal.

Roger Rowlett/Wikimedia Commons

With crime down so low, the property values in Hell's Kitchen have skyrocketed, a process helped by the wide range of cultural amenities available in the area, including easy access to Broadway, nightclubs, and LGBT-friendly businesses. A studio apartment costs about $300,000 to own, though the median price is three times that, and rents start at $1,600/month. Family homes are all in the $3-4 million range. That's why most of the criminal acts committed in Hell's Kitchen today (which the residents prefer to call "Clinton") are property crime. Basically, Hell's Kitchen doesn't need Daredevil. It needs ADT.

5

Appalachia Is Not The Murderous Yokel Capital Of The World

Appalachia is an American cultural region that stretches from the southern end of New York down through northern Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. According to Hollywood, it's exclusively populated by poverty-stricken hill folk whose main hobbies are inbreeding, hunting humans for sport and/or meat, then making you squeal like a pig. While Deliverance is the most famous example of this regional stigma, it also shows up in Hunter's Blood, Wrong Turn 1 through ... 6? (Wow, they kept it going that long? You'd think at least one of those turns would've been right.)

4

The Kremlin Isn't Some Disney Church

The Kremlin, as seen in everything from establishing shots of network spy shows to the cover of a recent Time magazine, is the seat of Russian government, and looks like a supervillain palace designed by the inventor of those nesting dolls.

A. Savin/Wikimedia Commons

3

The Leaning Tower Of Pisa Is Empty Inside

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built with too shallow a foundation, which caused it to, well... lean. For hundreds of years, architects tried to hide that fact, by adding columns that were taller on one side than the other. This went on for nearly 200 years, and only stopped when the problem became too obvious to cover up. So they ditched it. Yes, while the Leaning Tower of Pisa may look classy and beautiful on the outside, it's totally empty on the inside:

CAHKT/iStock

That's because the whole thing is just a boring old bell tower. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is not its own thing: It's a very small part of the Square of Miracles, which also includes the Pisa Cathedral and Baptistry.

Bob Tubbs/Wikimedia Commons

2

Slovakia Is Not Some Gloomy, Murder-Warehouse Wasteland

Slovakia gets a bad rep in movies. According to films like EuroTrip, Slovakia is a poor, ugly, post-Soviet reenactment of Hell where a nickel is enough to buy an entire hotel... but not hope. The Hostel franchise thinks Slovakia's primary industry is renting out dilapidated warehouses so rich businessmen can torture innocent people to death.

Let's look at the facts: Slovakia has a national GDP per capita of $31,200. Now, the U.S. has a per capita GDP of $57,300, but let's not forget that Slovakia is barely the size of a Texas Walmart. So while Slovaks make less money than Americans, they use it more wisely, with only 12 percent of the population living below the poverty line, compared to America's 15 percent. Slovakia is also one of the top five countries on the planet in terms of income equality. America is in the bottom third.

So the poverty thing is a myth, but what about the torture? Surely the torture stuff is accurate! Shockingly, no: Slovakia sports a lower crime rate than the United States. In fact, Slovakia is in the highest tier for efforts to combat human trafficking. In 2016, human trafficking in the United States rose by nearly 36 percent. Slovakia might not be paradise on Earth, but it's nothing like the torture-warehouse anus of Europe that movies make it out to be. Hell, it's actually the 40th happiest place on Earth. Why? Lots of reasons, though having one of the lowest beer prices in Europe probably helps.

1

The Alamo Is Mostly Gone, And What Remains Is Wildly Out Of Place

The bloody 1836 battle between the defenders of the Alamo Mission in modern-day San Antonio, and the superior forces of General Santa Anna has been featured on film dozens of times. It's an icon of the Wild West, and this is pretty much what everybody pictures when they think of it:

SeanPavonePhoto/iStock

But just like with the pyramids, that image features some very strategic cropping. This is what the Alamo looks like when you zoom out a little:

samdiesel/iStock