Hmm, it's imho inaccurate to put it that way. I don't think there is a single "generic city" in the US. I think most American villages, towns and small cities look and feel the same (they all have the same CVS, Walgreens etc, you need a car) but when it comes to big cities, US cities are vastly, vastly different. Living in NYC feels nothing like living in Boston, which feels nothing like SF, which feels nothing like LA etc... When someone says "generic American city" I really can't think of any streotypes... E.g. you can say American cities are very car-centric which is 100% correct for e.g. LA. But e.g. NYC and Boston ([1]) are very much the opposite, where arguably it's more comfortable to live without a car (especially the case in Manhattan or Cambridge). Just a few data points, I realize this is not a very important discussion.
[1] I was told Chicago is like this too, unfortunately never lived there myself.
Not the original commenter, but I presume they meant that if the location of the city isn't important to the story, then filmmakers can use buildings, streetscapes, etc to convey "city" without conveying "New York" or "Chicago". It didn't come off as disparaging American cities in general.
I don't know that Tron (2010) actually specifies any city name, so it's left up to the viewer's imagination what US city it's supposed to be. Presumably ENCOM is a US company and their "headquarters" tower is supposed to be somewhere in the USA.
Flynn's arcade exterior is in Culver City, California. Right around the corner from the hotel the actors for the Munchkins of The Wizard of Oz (1939) stayed.
Hmm, it's imho inaccurate to put it that way. I don't think there is a single "generic city" in the US. I think most American villages, towns and small cities look and feel the same (they all have the same CVS, Walgreens etc, you need a car) but when it comes to big cities, US cities are vastly, vastly different. Living in NYC feels nothing like living in Boston, which feels nothing like SF, which feels nothing like LA etc... When someone says "generic American city" I really can't think of any streotypes... E.g. you can say American cities are very car-centric which is 100% correct for e.g. LA. But e.g. NYC and Boston ([1]) are very much the opposite, where arguably it's more comfortable to live without a car (especially the case in Manhattan or Cambridge). Just a few data points, I realize this is not a very important discussion.
[1] I was told Chicago is like this too, unfortunately never lived there myself.