Midgar Vs the Slums
This idea has been rolling around the back of my mind for a while now, but it just came to fruition today after seeing several sites talk about the Slums as part of Midgar. I thought it might be neat to post it!
Why do people refer to the Slums under Midgar as part of Midgar itself? The reason I ask is because I've encountered this multiple times in the FF7 fandom... But from the impression I got from references in the game, the slums aren't Midgar, I've never seen anyone in the game refer to the Slums as Midgar unarguably specific, only by the Sector they're under, i.e. Sector 6 Slums, Sector 5 Slums, et cetera.
So if they were the same, why would there be multiple instances in-game where they are referred to as separate entities?
Let's review what's said (I cut some of the stuff not essential, like "Hey Cloud", so they aren't exact to the perfect quotes):
Jessie on the train after the first mission: "This is a complete model of city of Midgar (monitor shows plate and pillars). It's about 1/10000 scale.The top plate is about 50 meters above ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other support structures built in each section... (The No. 1 Reactor we blew up was in the northern section.)"
Barret, same place: "Look... You can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there... We could see the sky."
Cloud: "A floating city... Pretty unsettling scenery."
Barret on the train from the plate to Sector 7: "The upper world... a city on a plate... It's 'cuz of that #$@*&# pizza that people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air."
Random kid in Sector 5 weapons shop: "You know, Midgar's supposed to be sparkly 'n' springy 'n' sleeky. Oh yeah, someday, I'm going there."
Shinra Manager on train from Sector 7 to the plate: "AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like this."
There is one reference that might indicate the Slums being part of Midgar, but it might have been a translation error, or that she was actually talking about the plate vs the slum:
Aerith in the church, before you learn her name: "That's all right. The flowers here are very resilient because this is a sacred place. They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar, but for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here."
-Aerith also frequently goes to the Plate to sell her flowers, which is part of the reason I said might.
Reeve just before Sector 7's fall: "...No. But, as head of the Urban Development Department, I have been involved in the building and running of Midgar. That's why..."
-They didn't really build the Slums, just toss trash and things down there. (...I for one would like to know how a big dual engine plane ended up in a trash pile leading to the upper plate!)
Another reference that might indicate slums being part of Midgar, but she says this in the tower:
Aerith in the Tower cells after Cloud and Co is captured: "Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is... my real mother. Someday I'll get out of Midgar... Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. ...That's what mom said."
I think my conclusion will be, Midgar the City and the Slums are two separate places. References to the entire conglomerate of city and slums as Midgar is probably as a province or area, which could get confusing. ...Since the area surrounding the city is called Midgar Area on the map, then it goes into Grasslands Area and so on. I can totally see the people naming the city after the area it's in, kind of like New York, New York. What's your thoughts? Is there anything I missed?
For some reason though, I got the impression from the game that the Slums used to be a few separate towns that were there before Midgar was built, so that explains some of the houses that were down there and the roads. I can't find any reference to that now, though... but it kind of made sense, especially when you look at Junon; there had been a town there already, and Shin-Ra built Junon to fight the war with Wutai.
Why do people refer to the Slums under Midgar as part of Midgar itself? The reason I ask is because I've encountered this multiple times in the FF7 fandom... But from the impression I got from references in the game, the slums aren't Midgar, I've never seen anyone in the game refer to the Slums as Midgar unarguably specific, only by the Sector they're under, i.e. Sector 6 Slums, Sector 5 Slums, et cetera.
So if they were the same, why would there be multiple instances in-game where they are referred to as separate entities?
Let's review what's said (I cut some of the stuff not essential, like "Hey Cloud", so they aren't exact to the perfect quotes):
Jessie on the train after the first mission: "This is a complete model of city of Midgar (monitor shows plate and pillars). It's about 1/10000 scale.The top plate is about 50 meters above ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other support structures built in each section... (The No. 1 Reactor we blew up was in the northern section.)"
Barret, same place: "Look... You can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there... We could see the sky."
Cloud: "A floating city... Pretty unsettling scenery."
Barret on the train from the plate to Sector 7: "The upper world... a city on a plate... It's 'cuz of that #$@*&# pizza that people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air."
Random kid in Sector 5 weapons shop: "You know, Midgar's supposed to be sparkly 'n' springy 'n' sleeky. Oh yeah, someday, I'm going there."
Shinra Manager on train from Sector 7 to the plate: "AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like this."
There is one reference that might indicate the Slums being part of Midgar, but it might have been a translation error, or that she was actually talking about the plate vs the slum:
Aerith in the church, before you learn her name: "That's all right. The flowers here are very resilient because this is a sacred place. They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar, but for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here."
-Aerith also frequently goes to the Plate to sell her flowers, which is part of the reason I said might.
Reeve just before Sector 7's fall: "...No. But, as head of the Urban Development Department, I have been involved in the building and running of Midgar. That's why..."
-They didn't really build the Slums, just toss trash and things down there. (...I for one would like to know how a big dual engine plane ended up in a trash pile leading to the upper plate!)
Another reference that might indicate slums being part of Midgar, but she says this in the tower:
Aerith in the Tower cells after Cloud and Co is captured: "Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is... my real mother. Someday I'll get out of Midgar... Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. ...That's what mom said."
I think my conclusion will be, Midgar the City and the Slums are two separate places. References to the entire conglomerate of city and slums as Midgar is probably as a province or area, which could get confusing. ...Since the area surrounding the city is called Midgar Area on the map, then it goes into Grasslands Area and so on. I can totally see the people naming the city after the area it's in, kind of like New York, New York. What's your thoughts? Is there anything I missed?
For some reason though, I got the impression from the game that the Slums used to be a few separate towns that were there before Midgar was built, so that explains some of the houses that were down there and the roads. I can't find any reference to that now, though... but it kind of made sense, especially when you look at Junon; there had been a town there already, and Shin-Ra built Junon to fight the war with Wutai.