Chicago in April - Brent guest post

 

Braving the Chill: A Hawaiian's Academic Adventure in Chicago

The first thing I noticed about Chicago was all the lights. Neon theater marquees glowing against dark spring skies. Skyscrapers reflecting river water like glass mirrors. Streetlights stretching endlessly down perfectly planned city grids.

I had the opportunity to visit in Chicago over Easter and LDS Conference weekend for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference. This location was a long-delayed academic gathering after being canceled during COVID. Like all other conference locations I visit, I was very excited to experience a city I felt like I knew really well, despite never having stepped foot in it. The region is full of locations used in films, television, and within media history. In other words, I had the time of my life. 

Three other things that became very clear within my first day in Chicago:

1. Lake Michigan is not the ocean — no waves, no palm trees, and definitely no warm breeze.

2. April in the Midwest has absolutely no interest in your expectations of “spring.”

3. Chicago has the kind of wind that makes you instantly grateful your spouse insisted you pack winter clothes, even if you thought April would be “fine.”

I stayed downtown, close to the famous Married with Children fountain and within a stone's throw from Lake Michigan. Like I do in every city I visit, I walked everywhere. No Uber. No shortcuts. Just miles of sidewalks, architecture, and awe-inspiring city views.

Those familiar with Married with Children (1987) will instantly recognize Buckingham Memorial Fountain, and probably hear Frank Sinatra''s "Love and Marriage" in their heads. Apparently water in the fountain is only a summer thing, for fear of the water freezing. The lake is directly across the street from this fountain.

At SCMS, I presented research on television regulation, specifically how the State of Utah tried to control cable Television throughout the 1980s and how these same cultural debates continue today in streaming. The technology has changed. The delivery systems have changed. But the arguments about what people should be watching has never really gone away.

We all had a great conversation. It is always intriguing to hear academics' reactions to Utah's regulation, with most thinking. For real, this happened? This still happens?

I made the classic first-time Chicago mistake when I went to Giordano’s...I forgot I was eating alone and ordered what turned out to be three days’ worth of pizza. Thankfully my hotel had a fridge, because I basically lived on the deep dish leftovers for the rest of the trip. I get the hype. I just don’t think I'm ready to ingest that much cheese again anytime soon.

One of the best things about attending any conference is that they become an annual reunion with colleagues from over the years. Highlights was catching up with my dissertation advisor Peter Alilunas (University of Oregon), and my master's thesis chair Harry Benshoff (University of North Texas). It was also great to run into intellectual heroes like Janet Staiger, Henry Jenkins, Shelly Stamp, and Focus Features co-founder James Schamus.

After all the hard work preparing and presenting...and all the academic conversations...it was finally time to just have fun exploring the city.

Except for the cold, I absolutely loved doing an architecture river tour of the city. It was a one-hour boat ride up the Chicago River and back. It turned out to be one of the best ways to understand the city, its neighborhoods, its many bridges, and its grid system. Chicago’s skyline isn’t just big, it’s layered with history, engineering experiments, and some of the most influential architectural ideas in the world. There was so much to try and soak in, including details about the Chicago fire and the many many movies filmed in the buildings including The Dark Knight (bank heist), The Fugitive (St. Patty's Day chase), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Dad's office building), Transformers, Public Enemies, and Man of Steel etc.

I originally only planned on doing the river architecture tour, but for less than $10 more I could add a second tour onto Lake Michigan, so I went for it. The skyline views were fantastic, but compared to the river tour, it felt a little like the “bonus feature” version of the experience...it was nice to have, but not the main event.

Speaking of the main event, one of the biggest things I wanted to visit while in Chicago was LaSalle Street, where the famous truck flip sequence was filmed in The Dark Knight. I wrote my master’s thesis on Christopher Nolan, so getting to stand in the real-world version of his Gotham City was amazingly surreal.

Bonus Feature about how they achieved the Truck Flip

It’s wild to think about what an incredible practical effects feat that scene was — actually flipping an 18-wheeler in the middle of an active financial district. No CGI shortcut. Just engineering, stunt work, and a massive production team pulling off something most films would never even attempt in a real city environment.

It was absolutely worth the slightly out-of-the-way walk to get there.

One of my other must-stop locations was the Field Museum. I honestly didn’t know much about what was inside this world-famous museum, but I did know one thing: ever since seeing The Ghost and the Darkness when it was released in 1996, I had always wanted to go. At the end of the film, it mentions that the Lions of Tsavo could be seen on display at the Field Museum in Chicago, and for almost 30 years, that stuck with me.

By the time I finally got there...after walking all the way over...it was toward the end of the day. I asked the docent if there was some kind of late-day special, because I had literally come just to see the Lions of Tsavo. He very coolly let me slip in to quickly see the lions and the world-famous dinosaur skeletons without having to pay.

Score.

It felt like closing a very random, very specific cinematic life goal.

These dinosaur bones were pretty sweet too. 

From the steps of the museum looking towards the city. The museum reminded me a lot of the Smithsonian Museums when I visited Washington D.C.

I didn’t get a chance to go inside, but there was no way I wasn’t going to stop and see the Art Institute of Chicago. Ever since Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, it’s been one of those places that just lives in my brain as peak “movie Chicago.” I'll be back in Chicago for SCMS 2026, so I'll have to go inside this time.

I asked the kids what was one thing they wanted from Chicago. I expected candy. Maybe toys. Something normal.

Nope. Ava, Coen, and Audrey all wanted one thing:
Pictures of the Home Alone house.

I didn’t fully realize what that request would involve. On the map, it didn’t look that far from downtown Chicago. After the Field Museum closed, I figured I still had about three hours of daylight — plenty of time, right?

What I didn’t realize was that getting there meant hopping on a commuter train and riding north along Lake Michigan to Winnetka, Illinois.

Phone GPS is amazing. It told me exactly where to go. What it didn’t explain was how much this was about to feel like a full mini-adventure.

While waiting at the station, I also got a very real taste of Chicago locals. Everyone was dressed in full Chicago Cubs gear. Hats, jerseys, jackets — the whole thing. Apparently there was a game that day, and I very much did not get the memo to wear city colors.

It was one of those moments where you instantly realize how deeply sports are tied to city identity. I was just trying to figure out my train platform while everyone else looked like they were headed to Wrigley Field.

One thing I usually do before trips is watch movies set in the place I’m visiting. So before and during this trip, I basically lived in Chicago movie mode. On the train ride, I watched Risky Business, and during the trip I revisited Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, The Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, Uncle Buck, and Ordinary People.

And of course, Home Alone...by the time I stepped off the train, I knew I was in exactly the right place.

One thing that really surprised me, at least according to the map, was how close Lake Michigan is to the house. The neighborhood in Winnetka, Illinois feels quiet and residential, but the lake is basically right there. The train station is also incredibly close, which you can actually see in some shots in the film.

All the little shops, the church, and so many recognizable neighborhood spots are clustered really close together. It suddenly made total sense why filmmakers use these North Shore suburbs (in several of the films I watched) so often. Everything is visually distinct, walkable, and cinematic without trying. I totally get why John Hughes never wanted to film outside of "his" city.

I shot several videos while I was there, and honestly while shooting each one the location felt nostalgic and strangely familiar. 

The kids were excited for me to FaceTime them. It was a little out-of-body for them to see it — and honestly, for me too. Murphy's house across the street. Old Man Marley's creepy house next door (which was for sale, in case you wanted to be Kevin's neighbor). They seemed to step right out of the movie...

Even though the house has changed a lot over the years,  there’s no longer the half-circle driveway, there’s now a fence surrounding the property, and the garage with the open doors from the movie is gone,  it still felt like the house.

Like when we visited the Goonies house in Astoria, Oregon, I was far from the only person who decided to visit that day. In the 20 or so minutes I was there, at least 10 cars and dozens of people stopped to grab a selfie or just stand there for a minute.

One of the papers I’ll be presenting in Ireland this summer looks at how society often treats movie locations like sacred sites. We make pilgrimages to them, driven by nostalgia, shared cultural memory, and the desire to physically stand inside something that once only existed on a screen.

And honestly, that might be what stood out most to me about being in Chicago. It’s been so deeply mediated...through movies, TV, news, sports, and pop culture...that it sometimes feels like stepping into a city you already know. The elevated trains overhead, the lake stretching out like an ocean, the skyline made famous by Oprah, the endless pubs, and the countless films and shows etched into our collective memory.

It was an incredible experience.

And I definitely look forward to going back (in March 2026, actually)...preferably when it’s at least 20 degrees warmer, but we'll see. 🙂