Indiana, Oh, Indiana

So the Simpson had a really great reference to Indiana in their last episode. In it, the nuclear power plant gets outsourced to India, and Homer goes along as the single union member they need to keep it legit. Upon arriving, this conversation takes place:


Homer: Wait, this isn’t India! Where’s the University of Notre Dame, the Indy 500, Wrigley Field, Dodger Dogs?

Woman standing next to him: You ignorant American. You have confused India with Indiana, Indiana with Illinois, and the Cubs with the Dodgers.


I love it. In honor of this magical Simpsons moment, I guess now is the appropriate time to talk about how much fierce and bizarre Indiana pride I have. Despite it being a red state with, to be honest, not that much going on. Or maybe it's because it's a red state with not much going on that I feel the need to defend it. I will say this. Indiana, though red, has a significant blue tinge: the farm aid vibe, Unigov, one of the more tolerable Republican senators (hi Lugar!), one of the less tolerable Democratic senators (hi Bayh!) though his dad was great, and the home state of Eugene V. Debs. I will not mention all the horrible things Indiana has done politically. I also like that Indiana represents a sort of middle America vibe, from Middletown on out. Anyway, if you would like to pretend that you are also from the glorious Hoosier state, here is a list of movies that are about or include scenes from Indiana:

Hudsucker Proxy
North by Northwest
Hoosiers
Going all the way
Breaking away
The Man Who Knew Too Much
History of Violence
October Sky
Madison
Rudy
The Opposite of Sex
Alice Adams
The Magnificent Ambersons
Brown Bunny
A Christmas Story
Close Encounters of a Third Kind
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
The Gentleman from Indiana
In and Out
All the Young Men
Night and Day