OT: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl........and Pitt......

[pitt-girl]

Anyone see this movie yet? Before I get to the "Pitt" part of the post, our group was a bit mixed on opinion. All agreed it was VERY well done - fabulous acting for the most part including the relatively unknown younger actors (Earl is a standout), extremely realistic dialogue and when it was funny, it was laugh out loud funny. Great references for anyone who have watched movies over the years. My grade is a solid B to B+, but the last act, although as well done as the rest of the movie, kind of left everyone a bit surprised. Not with the ending per se, but the tone of the movie took a much different turn. I get why, but it was a bit jarring. Having said all that, given the drek this summer (apologies to the few good offerings), I HIGHLY recommend it and can see why this small movie has exploded. Go see it.

Now to the Pitt part - this was filmed in Pittsburgh. You can't miss it as Pittsburgh is mentioned many times including signs for UPMC Children's Hospital. Schenley High School was reopened for filming and it was referenced as such. (Look also for the scene when they are eating popsicles - arguably the funniest bit of the whole movie - it was filmed at the corner of Robinson and Terrace St., up the hill to Trees Hall.) Here's the head scratcher - although other schools are named during the movie including Penn St and Princeton, Pitt is continually referred to as "Pittsburgh State". WTF? In one of the scenes they actually call it Pitt, but the formal name they use is Pittsburgh State. Why wouldn't they use the real name? Did Pitt not allow them? Again it's not like they used fake names for other schools. It has to be intentional. Curious why.

Anyone who has seen it - thoughts?

 

[geeman2001]

Maybe Steve Pederson was their techincal advisor

Certainly is puzzling ... can't imagine Pitt itself would put up an obstacle to use it's official name in a film, particularly for a more "artistic" movie like that. A few years back there was a movie set in Pittsburgh called "She's Out Of My League," a funny but fairly crude comedy, and it included a scene where the lead character shot hockey pucks indoors at a guy who was wearing a very-official (at the time, as it had the Block logo) Pitt football helmet. In fact my thought at the time was they would have almost certainly preferred to use a Steeler helmet (better national recognition) but probably the Steelers put up some obstacle to it ...

 

[pitt-girl]

Maybe Steve Pederson was their techincal advisor

Certainly is puzzling ... can't imagine Pitt itself would put up an obstacle to use it's official name in a film, particularly for a more "artistic" movie like that. A few years back there was a movie set in Pittsburgh called "She's Out Of My League," a funny but fairly crude comedy, and it included a scene where the lead character shot hockey pucks indoors at a guy who was wearing a very-official (at the time, as it had the Block logo) Pitt football helmet. In fact my thought at the time was they would have almost certainly preferred to use a Steeler helmet (better national recognition) but probably the Steelers put up some obstacle to it ...

"She's Out of My League" is a classic. Very, very funny. And yes, the brother character was a former Pitt football player. Great scene.

 

[eastcoasthoops]

"She's Out of My League" is a classic. Very, very funny. And yes, the brother character was a former Pitt football player. Great scene.

Slap Shot Regatta

lol...very underrated movie

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Anyone see this movie yet? Before I get to the "Pitt" part of the post, our group was a bit mixed on opinion. All agreed it was VERY well done - fabulous acting for the most part including the relatively unknown younger actors (Earl is a standout), extremely realistic dialogue and when it was funny, it was laugh out loud funny. Great references for anyone who have watched movies over the years. My grade is a solid B to B+, but the last act, although as well done as the rest of the movie, kind of left everyone a bit surprised. Not with the ending per se, but the tone of the movie took a much different turn. I get why, but it was a bit jarring. Having said all that, given the drek this summer (apologies to the few good offerings), I HIGHLY recommend it and can see why this small movie has exploded. Go see it.

Now to the Pitt part - this was filmed in Pittsburgh. You can't miss it as Pittsburgh is mentioned many times including signs for UPMC Children's Hospital. Schenley High School was reopened for filming and it was referenced as such. (Look also for the scene when they are eating popsicles - arguably the funniest bit of the whole movie - it was filmed at the corner of Robinson and Terrace St., up the hill to Trees Hall.) Here's the head scratcher - although other schools are named during the movie including Penn St and Princeton, Pitt is continually referred to as "Pittsburgh State". WTF? In one of the scenes they actually call it Pitt, but the formal name they use is Pittsburgh State. Why wouldn't they use the real name? Did Pitt not allow them? Again it's not like they used fake names for other schools. It has to be intentional. Curious why.

Anyone who has seen it - thoughts?

Usually, you dont see schools in Pitt's class used in the main plots in movies. Its usually Ivy schools, Stanford, Northwestern, etc. I mean how many movies have you seen where Rutgers or Ohio State or Wisconsin were the part of the main plot of the movie. My guess is for those kind of schools, its just industry-standard to make it a fake school. Now, its probably OK to name a school in the movie, "Hey, my buddy is home from Rutgers from the weekend" but I cant see that being part of the main plot.

Pitt was kind of in the main plot of the movie College Road Trip a few years back. The main character (Raven Symone) stayed with her friend's sister at Pitt although it wasnt filmed in Pittsburgh. They called it "Pitt" but it wasnt a big part of the plot.

 

[geeman2001]

Usually, you dont see schools in Pitt's class used in the main plots in movies. Its usually Ivy schools, Stanford, Northwestern, etc. .

Or the glorious Grand Lakes University!

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I think Geeman nailed it. They must have consulted with Steve Pederson.

 

[Pittparade]

I saw the movie two weekends back. I did not mind it at all. I did wonder why the reference to the local school at Pittsburgh State. My guess is that the less informed that watch the movie will actually believe that Pittsburgh state is accurate.

The locale was mostly city based ---- eastern neighborhoods/Oakland etc... However, it looked like Earl's home was in Braddock. Am I mistaken on that assumption?

Another PR battle and nightmare!

 

[PantherBeliever]

Maybe they were referring to Pittsburg St university in Kansas? Home to one of the greatest actors of this generation Gary Busey?

 

[JED_72]

I saw Me and Earl and the Dying Girl on Saturday following seeing Testament to Youth (very good). Of the two, I preferred the latter to the former but liked and enjoyed both. It is always fun seeing familiar Pittsburgh sites displayed in very good widely distributed films.

My take on the reference to "Pittsburgh State" was as a euphemism for the (any) hometown "state u". Rachel's recommendation was thoughtful since Greg was indifferent about attending college. Essentially, Rachel suggested "hometown u" as a place to bide time: Saving money and time by living at home while taking classes and figuring out what, if anything, to do next.

Perhaps a reference to "Pittsburgh Community College" would have been equally effective conveying the thought and not causing those of us familiar with the names University of Pittsburgh and Pitt to question the name used. My guess is few others really noticed the choice of names.

I don't think the reference had anything to do with Pitt allowing or not allowing use of its name in a film script.The name used fit the circumstance.

Unrelated, but similar were the several references to Penn State in the Pittsburgh based film "Perks of Being a Wallflower". One of the characters was "wowed" by an acceptance letter to PSU.

 

[JED_72]

Usually, you dont see schools in Pitt's class used in the main plots in movies. Its usually Ivy schools, Stanford, Northwestern, etc. I mean how many movies have you seen where Rutgers or Ohio State or Wisconsin were the part of the main plot of the movie. My guess is for those kind of schools, its just industry-standard to make it a fake school. Now, its probably OK to name a school in the movie, "Hey, my buddy is home from Rutgers from the weekend" but I cant see that being part of the main plot.

Pitt was kind of in the main plot of the movie College Road Trip a few years back. The main character (Raven Symone) stayed with her friend's sister at Pitt although it wasnt filmed in Pittsburgh. They called it "Pitt" but it wasnt a big part of the plot.

How about Richard Benjamin in the film "Good Bye Columbus" about a disaffected OSU graduate coming home to work in the family business.
Overall, I agree with you . . . but your reference to Ohio State brought back the recollection of that film.

 

[pitt-girl]

Usually, you dont see schools in Pitt's class used in the main plots in movies. Its usually Ivy schools, Stanford, Northwestern, etc. I mean how many movies have you seen where Rutgers or Ohio State or Wisconsin were the part of the main plot of the movie. My guess is for those kind of schools, its just industry-standard to make it a fake school. Now, its probably OK to name a school in the movie, "Hey, my buddy is home from Rutgers from the weekend" but I cant see that being part of the main plot.

Pitt was kind of in the main plot of the movie College Road Trip a few years back. The main character (Raven Symone) stayed with her friend's sister at Pitt although it wasnt filmed in Pittsburgh. They called it "Pitt" but it wasnt a big part of the plot.

Having seen the movie, I honestly don't think that's it. Without giving any of the plot away, the protagonist of the story (Me in the Me and Earl), was applying for college and being in Pittsburgh and local was a big part of it. And they referred to it as Pitt, but then Pittsburgh State. It appeared to be very deliberate IMHO. Weird. I'd really like to get an opinion from someone else who may have seen it.

 

[pitt-girl]

I saw Me and Earl and the Dying Girl on Saturday following seeing Testament to Youth (very good). Of the two, I preferred the latter to the former but liked and enjoyed both. It is always fun seeing familiar Pittsburgh sites displayed in very good widely distributed films.

My take on the reference to "Pittsburgh State" was as a euphemism for the (any) hometown "state u". Rachel's recommendation was thoughtful since Greg was indifferent about attending college. Essentially, Rachel suggested "hometown u" as a place to bide time: Saving money and time by living at home while taking classes and figuring out what, if anything, to do next.

Perhaps a reference to "Pittsburgh Community College" would have been equally effective conveying the thought and not causing those of us familiar with the names University of Pittsburgh and Pitt to question the name used. My guess is few others really noticed the choice of names.

I don't think the reference had anything to do with Pitt allowing or not allowing use of its name in a film script.The name used fit the circumstance.

Unrelated, but similar were the several references to Penn State in the Pittsburgh based film "Perks of Being a Wallflower". One of the characters was "wowed" by an acceptance letter to PSU.

All well and good, but then why did they refer to it as "Pitt"? I mean everything else they used was accurate - Lawrenceville, UPMC Children's, etc., along with other schools mentioned when they were going through the manual. It really got under our skin after the third or fourth time.

Honestly, I have never heard of "Testament to Youth". I have to look it up on IMDB.

 

[NTOP]

Having seen the movie, I honestly don't think that's it. Without giving any of the plot away, the protagonist of the story (Me in the Me and Earl), was applying for college and being in Pittsburgh and local was a big part of it. And they referred to it as Pitt, but then Pittsburgh State. It appeared to be very deliberate IMHO. Weird. I'd really like to get an opinion from someone else who may have seen it.

Haven't seen the movie, but perhaps Gallagher has plans to annex Centre County?? Rename it Jonestown II??

 

[geeman2001]

All well and good, but then why did they refer to it as "Pitt"? I mean everything else they used was accurate - Lawrenceville, UPMC Children's, etc., along with other schools mentioned when they were going through the manual. It really got under our skin after the third or fourth time.

Honestly, I have never heard of "Testament to Youth". I have to look it up on IMDB.

My guess, and only that, is the researcher/fact checker(s) very obviously weren't local, but looked up and found the university is "state affiliated" and/or concluded that "state" schools located in a city might carry such a designation (like San Diego State, maybe?).

Otherwise, dunno.

Sadder commentary is that it obviously didn't faze any local reviewers (or any other local journalists) to question it (at least none I saw). Nor did any extras or locals working on the film, who no doubt heard the words spoken during filming, ever thought to correct it. If a character kept saying "the Pittsburgh Steelmen" instead of "Steelers" during movie dialogue, surely some local working on the film would point out the error...and even if it survived THAT scrutiny, the subsequent local reviewers would have honed in on it afterward. Pitt is simply taken so for granted (in an unbeloved way) as a local entity, I guess, that the repeated misnomer didn't arouse any thoughts at all among the locals.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

This is completely unrelated to this thread...but it is about a movie I saw this weekend. It is something we have all saw likely, and I certainly seen it a few times, but it was reairing late at night and I watched. With no one else around. I found myself uttering out loud, to know one, at 1:30AM, "this is just a f**king great movie". Schindler's List. Just unbelievable, the scene that made me do that was one of the exchanges between Aemon Goth (Ralph Fiennes) and Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). Fiennes was just awesome in that movie.

 

[pitt-girl]

My guess, and only that, is the researcher/fact checker(s) very obviously weren't local, but looked up and found the university is "state affiliated" and/or concluded that "state" schools located in a city might carry such a designation (like San Diego State, maybe?).

Otherwise, dunno.

Sadder commentary is that it obviously didn't faze any local reviewers (or any other local journalists) to question it (at least none I saw). Nor did any extras or locals working on the film, who no doubt heard the words spoken during filming, ever thought to correct it. If a character kept saying "the Pittsburgh Steelmen" instead of "Steelers" during movie dialogue, surely some local working on the film would point out the error...and even if it survived THAT scrutiny, the subsequent local reviewers would have honed in on it afterward. Pitt is simply taken so for granted (in an unbeloved way) as a local entity, I guess, that the repeated misnomer didn't arouse any thoughts at all among the locals.

The author of the book the film is based on is from Point Breeze. He was heavily involved in production and in fact his actual childhood home was used as the home for the lead character. So again, it really makes no sense.

 

[geeman2001]

Truly

The author of the book the film is based on is from Point Breeze. He was heavily involved in production and in fact his actual childhood home was used as the home for the lead character. So again, it really makes no sense.

Truly doesn't, knowing that.

Barring any really weird conflict with Pitt then (the Rooneys own the term "Pittsburgh" as well as Script, or such urban legend come to live), really no other answer, than some odd bug up his ass about the university.

The usual suspects would include ... turned down for admission? Started at Pitt but couldn't hack it? Disgruntled former employee? Used to live in Oakland, so has psycho Pitt hate? Thinks Pitt doesnt "pay it's share" of tax? Pro-union (aka, hates UPMC)? Anti-apartheid (back before Pitt divested)? Bitter over the stupid expulsion of Durand Johnson (no, wait, that would be me)? Or the most obvious, Nit and/or Eer blood?

 

[pitt-girl]

Truly


Truly doesn't, knowing that.

Barring any really weird conflict with Pitt then (the Rooneys own the term "Pittsburgh" as well as Script, or such urban legend come to live), really no other answer, than some odd bug up his ass about the university.

The usual suspects would include ... turned down for admission? Started at Pitt but couldn't hack it? Disgruntled former employee? Used to live in Oakland, so has psycho Pitt hate? Thinks Pitt doesnt "pay it's share" of tax? Pro-union (aka, hates UPMC)? Anti-apartheid (back before Pitt divested)? Bitter over the stupid expulsion of Durand Johnson (no, wait, that would be me)? Or the most obvious, Nit and/or Eer blood?

Hmmmmmm......you could be onto something here.

 

[NTOP]

Truly


Truly doesn't, knowing that.

Barring any really weird conflict with Pitt then (the Rooneys own the term "Pittsburgh" as well as Script, or such urban legend come to live), really no other answer, than some odd bug up his ass about the university.

The usual suspects would include ... turned down for admission? Started at Pitt but couldn't hack it? Disgruntled former employee? Used to live in Oakland, so has psycho Pitt hate? Thinks Pitt doesnt "pay it's share" of tax? Pro-union (aka, hates UPMC)? Anti-apartheid (back before Pitt divested)? Bitter over the stupid expulsion of Durand Johnson (no, wait, that would be me)? Or the most obvious, Nit and/or Eer blood?

Or Ptomaine from the "O"??

 

[CrazyPaco]

I saw Me and Earl and the Dying Girl on Saturday following seeing Testament to Youth (very good). Of the two, I preferred the latter to the former but liked and enjoyed both. It is always fun seeing familiar Pittsburgh sites displayed in very good widely distributed films.

My take on the reference to "Pittsburgh State" was as a euphemism for the (any) hometown "state u". Rachel's recommendation was thoughtful since Greg was indifferent about attending college. Essentially, Rachel suggested "hometown u" as a place to bide time: Saving money and time by living at home while taking classes and figuring out what, if anything, to do next.

Perhaps a reference to "Pittsburgh Community College" would have been equally effective conveying the thought and not causing those of us familiar with the names University of Pittsburgh and Pitt to question the name used. My guess is few others really noticed the choice of names.

I don't think the reference had anything to do with Pitt allowing or not allowing use of its name in a film script.The name used fit the circumstance.

Unrelated, but similar were the several references to Penn State in the Pittsburgh based film "Perks of Being a Wallflower". One of the characters was "wowed" by an acceptance letter to PSU.

I haven't seen the movie, but I think this is essentially it. I think it is just simple screen writing liberty. You have to think that the screenwriter is trying to provide the connotation of colleges in natural vernacular. Few people actually refer to schools with their full title "University of XXXX" in casual conversation. They say XXXX or the nickname. And I know this has come up repeatedly, but few outside the region know that "Pitt" = a college.

On the other hand, these days, Pitt isn't a place where one "bides time." Nor should it be thought of as such, so perhaps the screenwriter did Pitt a favor.

 

[JED_72]

I agree. One thing I did not want portrayed was Pitt as the local "fall back or safe" school. So I didn't take the Pittsburgh "state" as a slight on the Pitt we know.
Perhaps, I didn't hear the references to Pitt others mentioned. I recall hearing "Pitt" one time but can't be certain it wasn't mentioned more.

The contrast I made, not too artfully, was the PSU references in Perks of being a Wallflower in which the acceptance fulfilled a dream. To the contrary Pgh State wasn't a distant wish for Greg . . . Nothing was.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

What was the name of the school in the book? If it was Pittsburgh State and Jesse Andrews (the author) portrayed it as a fall back or safety school, its very likely that he had too much respect for Pitt to label it as such or was even afraid of legal action of a bad portrayal. Could have been that he thought that Pitt was too good of a school to make the story seem authentic.

 

[pitt-girl]

What was the name of the school in the book? If it was Pittsburgh State and Jesse Andrews (the author) portrayed it as a fall back or safety school, its very likely that he had too much respect for Pitt to label it as such or was even afraid of legal action of a bad portrayal. Could have been that he thought that Pitt was too good of a school to make the story seem authentic.

I never read the book, so I am not sure. You may be correct.

Well, either way, I highly recommend this movie. There are not many good movies out there right now, but this is. In fact I'm a bit surprised it was released in the summer and not the fall, which is generally the time when the best advanced screened movies are released (closer to the Oscars).

 

[pitttat]

I believe I can be of some use on this topic.

I graduated from Schenley with the author, and we still get together. The production team actually used my families house on Dunseith Street during filming last summer on Dunseith and Robinson as an office since the author knows my family, and they wanted AC in the summer heat. In the end, Pitt did not approve the use of their name in the film. They felt that the story (particularly the book plot) did not show the school in a good light and chose not to grant the film their naming rights. Because of this fact, they chose to use Pittsburgh State in the film.

 

[pitt-girl]

I believe I can be of some use on this topic.

I graduated from Schenley with the author, and we still get together. The production team actually used my families house on Dunseith Street during filming last summer on Dunseith and Robinson as an office since the author knows my family, and they wanted AC in the summer heat. In the end, Pitt did not approve the use of their name in the film. They felt that the story (particularly the book plot) did not show the school in a good light and chose not to grant the film their naming rights. Because of this fact, they chose to use Pittsburgh State in the film.

THANK YOU. I'm so happy I finally know the reason. Obviously, this was our gut reaction coming out of the movie. It just felt too deliberate.