‘Cupertino’ legal drama doesn’t represent region demographics, landmarks, or reality
The trailer for an upcoming B-tier legal drama for CBS called “Cupertino” suggests it knows where the show takes place, but doesn’t offer much else that represents the region where Apple calls home.
No, Cupertino isn’t coming to Apple TV, but it does appear to be a drama hoping to showcase legal battles between tech giants and their employees. However, reports suggest that the trailer leaves a lot to be desired in representing the city.
According to a report from Mercury News, the show’s first trailer left real Cupertino residents scratching their head. Not only does the trailer lack real Cupertino locations, but it lacks representation of the local majority Asian population.
It is normal for a show to take some creative license with filming, production, sets, and casting, but residents of Cupertino are feeling a little put out. You won’t spot Apple Park in the sweeping cityscapes, nor will you see a single boba shop despite them outnumbering coffee shops in the area.
The region has a 70% Asian population and the people of Cupertino are well aware of this thanks to knock-on effects of such a specific population majority. To see a trailer focus so much on characters and locals not associated with their beloved town, it begs the question of why it’s called “Cupertino” in the first place.
Apple is name-dropped in the trailer, and you’ll spot MacBooks throughout. However, given Apple’s brand appearance, it seems highly unlikely that the show will tackle Apple as one of the “Goliaths” it wants to take on legally.
To make matters a little more awkward, the show is filmed in New York and New Jersey. It seems odd that the show wouldn’t at least bother with some B-roll of the area for the trailer.
We’ll have to see what the show actually looks like when it premieres on October 8, but it feels like another crime procedural dud waiting to be canceled.
Cupertino seemingly chose the name to evoke Silicon Valley as its focus, though that name was taken by an HBO property. However, in naming itself after a very recognizable region of California, it asks to be scrutinized, and locals don’t recognize themselves in the trailer whatsoever.
While I’d like to believe the show found time to pay better homage to Cupertino itself, I highly doubt it. More than likely we can treat this version of Cupertino the same way we might Gotham City or San Fransokyo — pure fiction.
Some social media users have argued that the show being fictional should mean it can change how the region is portrayed. However, deliberately or not, not acknowledging a key demographic of a region your show is named for is, at the minimum, problematic.
For the real residents of Cupertino, they can sit this crime drama out, as it likely holds little resemblance to the real place. It seems highly unlikely that the show will properly acknowledge the majority Asian population or Apple’s combative nature with labor unions.