Kansas Never Plays Itself: How movies lie when they take us places

About this episode

Rolf Potts explores how Kansas has been imagined and distorted in cinema and television, examining the impact of cinematic shorthand on our collective imagination.

In this feature-length video essay that explores the role places play in storytelling, Rolf examines how Kansas -- his home state -- has been imagined, distorted, and mythologized in cinema and television for more than a century. Blending archival film clips, historical analysis, and deeply personal narration, Kansas Never Plays Itself traces how cinematic shorthand shapes our collective imagination. The video essay invites viewers to reconsider what it means for a location to “play itself” — and what’s lost when the real landscapes and communities behind our most beloved stories remain unseen. Sneak preview of the video essay is online here. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro: Not in Kansas Any More Movies and TV shows mentioned: The Wizard of Oz (1939); Showdown at Abilene (1956); Gunsmoke (1955-1975); Dances with Wolves (1990); Kansas (1995); Capote (2005); The English (2022). 2:00 - Part 1: No Place Like Home (or, Hollywood can’t tell the truth about places) Movies and TV shows mentioned: Suits (2011); Law & Order: SVU (2006); Elementary (2019); The Affair (2014); Slumber (2017); Vancouver Never Plays Itself (2015); Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003); Panic in the Streets (1950); Wichita…

People in this episode

Host: Rolf Potts

Topics covered

• cinema
• storytelling
• place representation
• cultural analysis
• mythologizing locations

Keywords

• Kansas
• cinema
• storytelling
• cultural representation
• film analysis
• mythology
• place
• media

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Wizard of Oz, Showdown at Abilene, Gunsmoke, Dances with Wolves, Kansas, Capote, The English, Suits, Law & Order: SVU, Elementary

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