The way movies depict American life has always interested me because to a large extent, they are very accurate. For example, last semester when my host mom, Dori, and I were talking, the subject of my childhood came up. Having never thought I had an “American childhood,” I was surprised at how familiar she had become with it just by watching American movies and television. In her long string of questions, she asked, and I had to confirm, that I had played baseball and soccer as a child and practiced with my dad in the front-yard, went fishing with my family, was part of a carpool in middle school, had sleepovers, sold cups of lemonade at a makeshift stand to passing cars, and to this day my mom makes pitchers of iced tea and bakes pastries for no reason. By the end of it, Dori could hardly stop laughing and I blushed in a stupor of astonishment.
The same thing happened again after I talked with Carlos, a friend of my current host mom. He asked if the atmosphere of a typical American high school or college party matched what was shown in movies. I had to concede that they are often very similar to what he sees in American movies. Then, he described what he thought an American party would look like, based off of movies he had seen. His description was characterized by a keg in the middle of a room packed with people drinking from red, plastic cups while a group of people chant as their friend chugs a beer.
Obviously, not every childhood or party is identical, but there is definitely a convergence. Looking back on high school, I see how movies may have influenced my own mental image of a party. With that said, it's safe to say that
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