'Paper Towns' trailer is not just for Indiana natives
Posted Friday, March 20, 2015 at 11:39 AM Central
Last updated Friday, March 20, 2015 at 12:39 PM Central
by Tim Briscoe
As someone who has lived his entire life in Indiana, I've become accustomed to the state's cultural protocols. As Hoosiers (yes that's what we call ourselves) there are a few things we are expected to do.
When it comes to sports, the Colts and Pacers are king. If you live south of the I-70 interstate highway, you're a fan of Indiana University basketball. North of it and you follow the Boilermakers of Purdue. Larry Bird is your all-time sports savior even if Reggie Miller and Peyton Manning held the title for a while. Oh, and we have a little car race each May.
I don't think Indiana has a state anthem but if we did, it would be sung by John Mellencamp. I believe it's state law for every jukebox to contain at least one of his songs. Weeknights at 11:35 p.m., your TV is tuned to CBS for The Late Show with David Letterman. When he retires later this year, all state flags will be at half-mast.
A true Hoosier's bookshelf should have at least one novel by Kurt Vonnegut. However, there's a new author rising the ranks to a similarly beloved status. His name is John Green. He's our top export of late. Hopefully you've heard of him outside Indiana.
He has written several novels. His most recent is perhaps his most famous. The Fault in Our Stars was a New York Times bestseller. It was adapted into the very successful 2014 film of the same name starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. The movie made over $120 million at the domestic box office and $306 million total worldwide.
Green's 2008 novel Paper Towns is next in line to get the big screen treatment. The first trailer just dropped. Regardless of your state residency, it's worth a watch:
Paper Towns stars Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne. Wolff was also in TFIOS. (Yes, that's the hip way to refer to The Fault in Our Stars.) Delevigne is a British model in her biggest acting role so far. While I am bound to like Green the author as a Hoosier, I am not required to like his movies. This one honestly looks better than TFIOS. Perhaps its my lifetime of unrequited love. Wah wah, sad face.
Director Jake Schreier made the critically acclaimed 2012 film Robot & Frank. I think he has another hit on his hands with Paper Towns. It arrives in theaters on July 24.
Incidentally, writer John Green also happens to be a YouTube star. He may be more famous for that than the book thing. He does videos with his brother Hank and another fun series for magazine Mental Floss. Check out his neat video on 107 regional slang words -- including some from Indiana. One that he failed to mention: Hoosiers don't refer to a basketball thingy as a hoop or basket. We call it a basketball goal. No exceptions.
Regardless of the "goal" omission, we're all pretty proud of John.