California≠Hollywood/Fame/Fortune/Success

As I go through life, I am increasingly struck by common misconception in the world outside of California that the entire state is filled with Los Angeles and Hollywood, the rich and famous, and magnificent beaches. This is not true. It is a falsehood publicized by many TV shows, and the first one I can think of is Hannah Montana. Sorry to bash on the Disney Channel and Miley Cyrus, (not really) but they spread lies. Lies about California and lies about living near LA and lies about life on the beach. I’m not resentful. Or jealous. In this post, I just thought I’d illuminate the truth about life inside California. As a lifelong California resident, and someone who’s lived in different regions of the Golden State, I feel qualified to make these statements.

So, the biggest misconception/deception I’ve come across is that California is basically all Hollywood/LA. This is not true. If you have ever examined a map of the state, you may notice that it’s huge. In fact, California is the third-largest state in the U.S.

And while California is also the state with the most people, and maybe the state with the largest amount of famous people, a normal person will rarely, if ever run into celebrities while walking California’s streets. Since CA is so big, it’s typically divided into 2 or 3 portions by those who live there, to avoid confusion. I like to think of California as Northern California (NorCal, to natives), Central California, and Southern California (SoCal). There is no CenCal, because that just sounds dumb, and to be honest, Central Cal is the least cool (cool as in popular or awesome or fashionable) segment of the state. Speaking in terms of climate, Central Cal and SoCal tend to have more extreme winters/summers, and major heat in the summer months. NorCal…not so much. It tends to be more mild in the summers there, and the farther north you go, the more like Oregon it becomes. It’s greener, it rains more often (most of CA is desert, actually), and so on. Central California, composed chiefly of the huge Central Valley and dominated by agriculture, has a massive inferiority complex. I live in Central California right now, in the dead center of the state (Fresno), and it’s like Fresno/Central Cal is the middle child. It doesn’t quite measure up to the fame and celebrity of San Francisco/Sacramento/NorCal or that of LA/San Diego/SoCal. To be quite honest, I actually like Fresno, but that’s a discussion for another time. I’ve been sidetracked. The point is, California is huge, and it’s not all like Hollywood. Also, if you didn’t know this, LA/Hollywood is exceedingly hot in the summers, not at all glamorous in the sense that TV/movies make it seem.

Moving on: California is not all beach. This ties in with my last point, that CA is a huge state. While it is fortunate to have a very large coastline, it is not all on the beach. For one, there is a huge climate difference between SoCal and even Central Cal beaches, that’s not even to mention the gap between SoCal and NorCal beaches. It makes sense: the further south you go, the more tropical the climate is. Beaches in SoCal are hot sunny, while those farther north are cool and cloudy, more rocky, and less-frequented by surfers.

Way up north in the state, almost to Oregon, the beaches are not really swimming/bathing beaches at all. They’re more along the lines of whale-watching-from-the-cliffs-at-the-edge-of-the-ocean status. Those are the kinds of beaches that Lewis and Clark ventured to. Even though some of California’s beaches are less-than-ideal for sunbathing and surfing, plenty of Golden State residents find their way to the coast when the going gets hot. But you have to drive, usually for hours. All my life, the beach has been at least an hour and a half away. This factor is eased somewhat by the winding drive through the scenic Coastal Ranges. I’m not saying that CA is a bad place to live or even a tough place to live. I love living here. I’m just saying that not everyone lives on the beach.

My final point of refutation is the idea that California is filled with the rich and famous. Such a statement is like saying that all of New York is filled with Manhattan-level businesspeople, or that all people in Washington, D.C. are politicians, or that everyone in San Francisco is gay or liberal, or that only farmers live in the Midwest: it’s just not true.

Certainly, the bulk of America’s celebrity population may possibly own property or spend a significant portion of their lives/summers in California, but don’t forget that normal people live here. Maybe this is part of our consumer, celebrity-focused culture in America, that people forget how normal and regular and supposed-to-exist ordinary, middle-class people are. But I think that’s a topic for another post. California is replete with ordinary people like you and I, who live their lives in relative anonymity by going to work, studying at school, procrastinating on homework, taking walks with pets, shopping for groceries, brushing their teeth, playing hide-and-go-seek with the neighborhood kids, and all those mundane things that make up real life. Celebrities are unusual in the fact that they seem to have continual drama and obscenely large salaries. Most people aren’t celebrities, which I guess is what makes the definition of celebrity, right? I suppose it’s possible that you might spot a celebrity if you hang out in the right places in California. But is that really what matters?

I’ll close up my ideas with a hope that you have been entertained and educated by this post. And I hope I haven’t scared you away from this lovely state. Truly, CA is a wonderful place to live and visit! (Which is probably why all the celebrities live here…)

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