‘Non-Americans, what is an American thing you see in films you thought was fake but is actually real?’ – 23 ways the movies had us hoodwinked

Before the internet and social media, the main way we learned about America was through films and TV. And some of the things we saw were so for removed from our own experiences that we didn’t really believe they were true. There weren’t any cheerleaders at your bog standard British comprehensive, after all.

They’ve been discussing this on the AskReddit page after Unlikely_Praline9442 posted the following:

Non-Americans of Reddit, what is an American thing you see in movies that you thought was fake but is actually real?

And lots of people who didn’t believe their eyes stepped in with their thoughts…

1.

‘All the smoke/steam coming out the vents on the road in New York in the movies.’
–curious__curiosity

2.

‘I got off a bus in New York and a dude came up to me, opened his jacket, and tried to sell me one of many “Rolexes” he had hanging inside his coat. I legit thought that was strictly a movie thing, and I’m American!’
–Ataru13

3.

‘Fireflies are pretty wild, you sure do just have swarms of glowing bugs.’
–WehingSounds

4.

‘On a visit to the US, driving through Nevada or Utah we stopped at a diner and as we were entering I joked around saying something like ‘If the waitress is wearing an apron and calls me honey I’ll lose my shit’.

Was. Not. Disappointed.’
–Urik88

5.

‘The fraternity/sorority scene in college. I was an international student at UT Austin and it was a crazy realisation that the movie depictions of college life is actually underwhelming. I witnessed shit that could not be legally portrayed in movies. You people are crazy.’
–lucas14qr

6.

‘The over-the-top Halloween parties where everyone took a large amount of effort to dress up. Yep, that is accurate.’
–dion_o

7.

‘Cowboys. I mean I knew they were real and that some people dressed like the Hollywood version of cowboys but I did not realise it was still a present day job and that people still dress that way to do it.’
–Cougarette99

8.

‘Manhattan. I remember my first trip and was like ‘Oh my God this is all fucking real’.’
–fenton7

9.

‘Baggers in the grocery store. And door greeters in completely normal supermarkets.’
–interesseret

10.

‘The insane medical advertisements with a million side effects said in rapid fire at the end. We visited my husband’s bestie in 2019, when we were watching something on TV while eating dinner we saw our first one. Genuinely turned to him like ‘that’s satire, right?’’
–Myhandsarecold11

11.

‘Tumbleweeds. I was actually flabbergasted when I went to visit the US and people were casually talking about tumbleweeds. I thought they were just a thing in cartoons.’
–PlanetoidVesta

12.

‘I am an American who lived overseas for many years, and had many friends on social media when I returned home. I posted a photo of Chinese food takeout in those white square boxes and had dozens of my friends from overseas react in surprise – they thought it was only something they did in movies.’
–Kateseesu