[COLOR="Purple"]Well... since all those movies mentioned above are fictional/non-documentary then I would say that you have to be careful about expecting what you see there to be "real". Though most writers do use their own experiences.
Even in docs everyone knows they are being filmed (usually) and it takes a very special videographer to shoot unaware... and edit without bias... so, again to be taken with a grain of salt.
I always wondered why movies almost never have toilet scenes... I mean, everyone uses the toilet a couple times a day, right???[/COLOR]
Well, the answer would be yes and no to your question.
It depends on the movie and it depends on what aspects of the U.S. you are talking about at a given time. For instance, if you went with what they showed in films and on T.V. you would think that there are thousands and thousands of serial killers in the United States. Well, that is far from being anywhere near true. There have been less than 100 in U.S. history vs. a U.S. population of more than 300,000,000. If anything, it may tell you that there is a common fascination with the macabre in the U.S.
Also, you have to realize that they are trying to tell very engaging and extraordinary stories. Ordinary life in the U.S. consists of going to work and coming home, going to work and coming home with education, romance, and kids thrown in between.
Culturally, you cannot say there is only one thing in the U.S. There are regional and even subcultural differences. For instance, you might say that for dominant American culture, burgers are a major staple. Yet, depending on region and subculture, this may not hold true. Chitterlings and grits may be a staple in the south, duck pontchartrain and shrimp etouffee in Louisiana, poi in Hawaii, and among the Inuit of Alaska, blubber in fermented whale blood. In parts of the south, children often refer to their parents in the formal sir and mam and would never think about talking back to their parents. In other places, children and parents have less formal and more open and friendly relationships.
As far as how America looks, I don't think that Thelma and Louise is necessarily a great reference for knowing American landscapes. Yes, it accurately gives an indication of the deserts of the American south west. Just to give you an indicator, the largest desert in the U.S. is about 190,000 square miles and there are several more large desserts. Yet, most of the U.S. is not dessert. It consists of huge grasslands in the Midwest, the great eastern deciduous forests, tundra, enormous swamps in the south east, the mountain regions of the west, and tropical and temperate rain forests in Hawaii and the Pacific North West respectively and that is not taking into consideration the large population centers scattered about America.
I think "Into the Wild" gives a good indication of what the American west from the great plains to the Pacific coast and Alaska:
But even that largely excludes the North and South East, much of the Midwest, and the Pacific North West.
New England is famous for its autumns:
Florida (besides the beaches) and Louisiana are famous for their swamps (the Florida Everglades and the Louisiana Baiu:
The Pacific North West is known for rugged coast, mountains, and rain forests. Here is some random person's hike into Olympic National Park:
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