Anti-social, unpleasent types in the USA? (movies, live in, homeless)

[Javier77]

There's many movies depicting anti-social, agressive, borderline, unpleasent people in New York: As Good as it Gets, Midnight Cowboy, Borat, etc.

I guess it's normal to find those kind of types in a big city like New York, but I wonder how common is for the rest of the country? Particularly in the South, where they are stereotyped as welcoming, warm people.

Any personal experience?


I live in Barcelona, Spain, everynow and again I find those types, I know they are everywhere, but I wonder if the location one lives in makes it easier or harder to find them.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You do realize that movies are fiction? Someone has made all of that up. They invent characters that they think the public might find interesting.

[snofarmer]

^ what?? everyone knows tv and movies are real.

I base my views of Germans from watching Hogans Heroes.

[Javier77]

I've never been to the USA, so obviously I must rely on movies, docs, and what people have told me.

And in fact, the New York part of Borat was not fiction, remember that guy going crazy on the subway when Borat asked him "what is your name"? Or that other Manhattan yuppie running away in a panic attack when Borat approached him? That was as real as it gets.

Is it random that the most usual sentence when somebody makes a New York accent parody is "you got a problem with that?"

[annie_himself]

There are 303 million people in this country. It would be foolish of you to believe that the 100+ million people that live in the south are all nice and welcoming.

[mstnghu2]

The reality is, people are people everywhere you go. You can find anti-social, unpleasant people anywhere throughout the world, just like there are many sociable and pleasant people all over the world.

People to some extent are a product of their environments and upbringing, but overall people really are the same pretty much everywhere you go.

[luv4horses]

Urban and rural areas create entirely different experiences. In general you find honest, empathetic people everywhere, but in a densely populated area you are more likely to come into contact with a number of disfunctional types as well, just because of the crowded conditions. These same types may exist in less densely populated rural areas, but chances are you will never meet them. Movies of course tend to sensationalize, but ask your well-traveled friends what they think or strike up conversations with local people who have been raised in the US to get a better picture.

[cacto]

Originally Posted by snofarmer

^ what?? everyone knows tv and movies are real.

I base my views of Germans from watching Hogans Heroes.

To this day Schultz had no idea there was a radio in the coffee pot.

[Trimac20]

You run into so many ppl in Manhattan you're bound to encounter those types. I did.

[Jimrob1]

I ran into so many people like this in much of Portland, Oregon, I have never seen it to the extent that I did in that city. Then again that city has a very large population of homeless, druggies and people with mental illness roaming the streets. So I always felt that is why I saw so much of it there. Very antisocial types and people with odd ball behaviours in public places. That and the fact the city has very strange politics that allow all of this as everyday life. Portland's city motto is "Keep Portland Weird". The city most definitely lives up to its motto. Very weird place.