You're just repeating the obvious part of what he said; I already know this, I'm interested in the details of what differed between what the movies told them vs their actual experiences.

Just imagine you know nothing about the US except what you see in movies. Do you see a lot of poor people?

There obviously are movies and TV which show a much more "real" version of the world. But the most popular TV and movies tend to show an idealized version of reality.

I'm a big fan of The Wire, Treme and Shameless (US) for those kinds of shows, suggestions are welcome!

Ditto on the Wire; that show rocked, that's real America on the bad side of town. Couldn't get into Treme, haven't tried Shameless yet.

I can't imagine that because I was raised here, that's why I'm asking. I saw plenty of poor people in real life and in popular movies; when I see American movies, it looks like home to me, it's where I grew up.