Sumith Prasad
Created by Katori Hall, Starz’s drama series ‘P-Valley’ revolves around the workers of The Pynk, a strip club located in the Mississippi city of Chucalissa. The series progresses through the personal and professional lives of the workers and their relationships with one another. The show’s enthralling storylines are set against the backdrop of Chucalissa’s fascinating nights and desolate daytimes. Since Chucalissa is a significant part of the narrative, enhancing the mystery that revolves around the characters, one must be wondering whether it is a real city located in the state of Mississippi. On that note, here’s everything you need to know about the same!
Is Chucalissa a Real Mississippi City?
No, Chucalissa is not a real Mississippi city. The fictional region is conceived by creator Katori Hall. However, Hall borrows the name of the city from the eponymous archaeological site located in Memphis, Tennessee, a major prehistoric settlement site of the Mississippian culture. In the Choctaw language, Chucalissa means “abandoned house,” a significant aspect of the fictional city in the show. In ‘P-Valley,’ Chucalissa appears as a partially desolated region. As Andre mentions to Hailey, the daytime in the city makes one think that the locality is seemingly abandoned.
Chucalissa also becomes the home of several people who abandoned or had been abandoned by someone. Whether it be Mercedes, who abandons her daughter, her mother Patrice, who leaves her daughter in pursuit of God’s blessings, or even Hailey, who abandons her past with Montavius to build a new life, the “abandoned home” ironically becomes a shelter for multiple individuals trying to survive one way or another. Chucalissa embodies the sorrow and solitude of the main characters, including Mercedes, Hailey, Keyshawn, etc.
Chucalissa is also a quintessential Southern city. Through the city’s landscape, people, and other features, Hall aims to portray the diversity of a Southern city in a non-stereotypical way. The cotton plantations, numerous churches, and the strip club that challenges the Christian faith located in the city are not only integral parts of the lives of the characters but also enhance the authenticity of the fictional Chucalissa as a Mississippi city. Hall has succeeded in conceiving the region resembling a Southern city while intertwining it with the narrative at the same time.
Even though the city is located in Mississippi, ‘P-Valley’ is chiefly filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. The diverse filming locations Atlanta offers, from urban sites to natural attractions, stand in for Chucalissa’s delta region. As Hall’s creation explores the dynamics of Southern life, Chucalissa provides the most appropriate backdrop for the same. As the show conquers the viewers’ hearts, the city becomes an iconic fictional location as well.
Read More: Is P-Valley a True Story?
