As a Pittsburghian, I have thoughts on the Pitt
Hometown pride can make or break a show. Or, in the case of The Pitt, it can take a really good show and make me just a little mad about it.
So I heard whispers of the new HBO series and didn’t realize the show was set in Pittsburgh. I thought it was something else entirely. But alas, I put the show on knowing it was Noah Wyle back in a hospital and saw those yellow bridges I know so well. I was so happy! Finally, my hometown will be celebrated in all its Yinzer glory.
Wrong. To be fair to The Pitt, it is set in primarily one location with each episode being an hour of a day. Think 24 meets ER. Great, I am sold. What I am not sold on is the city they set this show in. Sure, in theory, you have to make a show accessible to everyone but why set it in a city as specific as Pittsburgh then? Not a single person there speaks Pittsburghese?????
Dr. Robby (Wyle) walks into work wearing a Pittsburgh hoodie he wears most the episodes and one guy had a Steelers shirt on (that he made fashionable) and I am sorry but that is not my hometown. Not enough people complaining about Mike Townsend or pretending like the Pirates are going to make the play-offs for my taste! We deserve to see actual Pittsburgh on screen!
A character said “youse”
There are some things so beautifully tied to Pittsburgh that you just know where someone is from based on it. We abbreviate sentences we don’t need to, we call people “jagoffs,” and our version of y’all is “yinz.” It is a whole thing. Often, you’re not known as being “Pittsburghian.” You are a Yinzer.
Our accents are horrible and hard to understand and everyone wears black and gold for the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins, and there are french fries in food they probably shouldn’t be in. That’s what makes my hometown so special to me. She’s weird but she’s mine.
When I watch The Pitt, I do not see the town I love dearly. What I do see is small attempts at representing a very vibrant city.
I don’t need the doctors to have Pittsburgh accents. I can pretend they’re from somewhere else. But you are telling me all these people are coming into the ER with standard American accents? Not one “gow-in”? I did not work for years to get RID of my accent for a show set in my town to ignore them!
Honestly, I finally understand everyone mad at shows like The Bear. Look even Mare of Easttown did some work on the Philly accent! So why must we continue to disrespect my beloved Pittsburgh in this way?
To you, this may seem like a nothing complaint. But to me, this show could be perfect but I am constantly reminded that this is supposed to be my hometown and yet no one acts like they are from Pittsburgh!
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