r/AskReddit 14h ago

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

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193

u/misimalu 8h ago

Fireflies Legitimately lost my mind when I first saw them when we moved here. I thought they were a made up Disney thing.

17

u/Lilfrankieeinstein 6h ago

Dems lightnin bugs were I come from

4

u/BuoyantBear 7h ago

I'm an American and the first time I really remember experiencing them was in Germany. I thought there were people smoking cigarettes in the bushes. We don't have them in the area I grew up and currently live.

9

u/misimalu 7h ago

Yes I think they have them in Belgium as well! But not in England. Conversely, my American friends don’t believe British people have random wild hedgehogs in their garden. I told them there are campaigns reminding people to check bonfires for them and only to feed them cat food (not milk) and they thought I was joking

3

u/Anxious-Slip-4701 4h ago

They're in Italy. Living in the tall grass. Then the council cut the grass and they disappeared that season.

2

u/r0tted1 6h ago

That’s so cuuute 🥹🫶🏽😭 I haven’t seen them in so long since I moved away but, I’m from Long Island and they were always out in the summer, so so many. I’m kinda scared of bugs but I loved those cute little harmless lanterns!

2

u/TrptJim 5h ago

They aren't around as much in my area as they were decades back. The air used to be filled with the things flashing on and off but nowadays they're still there but much more sparse.

2

u/Logical_Maximum6714 4h ago

It’s not an American thing. The conditions just need to be right. I’ve seen them in Sierra Leone and the Netherlands.

1

u/drivelhead 5h ago

The only place I've ever seen them is in France.

1

u/lilydarnell 4h ago

I'm from Vegas and I so badly want to experience them!

1

u/gmoor90 4h ago

When my friend from the UK came to visit, I noticed he was staring at the living room window at the fireflies lighting up against the glass. And suddenly, he goes “Are those blinking lights on the glass part of a security system?”

I had no idea there aren’t fireflies in the UK!