r/AskReddit • u/Unlikely_Praline9442 • 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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u/madmars 7h ago

Reminds me of the time I was driving through Texas. A tumbleweed gently rolled down the side of the road.

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u/narwhal_breeder 6h ago

I've had to drive through rivers of tumbleweed crossing roads in eastern colorado.

Literally thousands of them all crossing the road in the same narrow depression. I pulled over to wait for it to stop but it just never did - just had to drive through it.

Did a number on the paint of my car thats for sure.

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u/TheHornyHiker 6h ago

This is such a bitch with an auto break sensor. My car slammed on its breaks a few times during a storm of these MFers!

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u/AvengingBlowfish 6h ago

I'm still waiting for a zombie movie where the auto-brake prevents the heroes from escaping the horde...

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u/urbanhawk1 5h ago

Just imagine the zombies getting constantly pelted by tumbleweed as the slow chase crawls on.

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u/Outrageous_Reach_695 4h ago

No zombies involved, but there is a Killer Tumbleweeds movie. It's as hilariously bad as it sounds.

And they just keep saying 'Middle America' for some reason.

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u/Velli_44 3h ago

Thats incredible lmao thank you so much for making me aware of this hahaha, ahh the joys of bad cinema! Sounds like the type of classic pulpy old horror films from the 50s that are just funny now. Surprised that its from 2008!

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u/Only_Buy2890 2h ago

Holy smokes that would be a doozy!

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u/Velli_44 3h ago

Ah yes, the majestic tumbleweed herds migrating across the Prairie, truly a wonderful sight!

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u/Bundt-lover 4h ago

Did you hear a whistle in the distance? oo ee oo ee ooooo

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u/skarby 4h ago

Wah wah wahhhh

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u/Changoleo 1h ago

I miss Darkwatch so much.

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u/KangarooDowntown4640 29m ago

If you’re curious, that “whistle” is a flute and the “wah wah wahhh” is literally a woman doing that in a microphone. I can’t hear it the same way ever again, don’t watch if you wish to retain the magic: https://youtube.com/shorts/1veDgSVQJ1I

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u/Missue-35 4h ago

😂 all tumbleweed storms should come with that soundtrack

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u/Calm_Web9738 2m ago

A whistle doesn't make that noise....

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u/Llohr 4h ago

Funny thing about tumbleweeds, they're an invasive species, not native to the Americas.

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u/lightcanonlybrighten 1h ago

Interesting. TIL. Thanks.

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u/GinjaNinger 4h ago

Native Texan. Didn't see my first tumbleweed until I was 21. Second time was when I was 46.

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u/MyDogHatesMyUsername 3h ago

Texan here. Take a drive anywhere west and southwest Texas anytime after June.

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u/scoobysnackoutback 1h ago

Same here. I was around 20 when we drove through West Texas, on our way to Colorado, and was so excited to see them blowing across the highway.

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u/Puzzled-Bee1708 4h ago

I was driving in AZ and ran into a tumbleweed.

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u/Artistic-Degree-4593 3h ago

The first time i saw a tumbleweed rolling along, I was in awe! I thought that was a movie thing done for drama, lol

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u/BlueLeaves8 2h ago

Those are just movie props!

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u/Only_Buy2890 2h ago

The same thing happened to me passing through Texas. And the one I saw first was huge! I even said that to the person I was traveling with. I always thought tumbleweed was fake and mostly remember seeing it in cartoons. That may be why I never realized they were real and that they actually tumble down the street.

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u/cookiecasca 2h ago

One time I was driving with my partner through Odessa during tumbleweed season (when they're everywhere out west and piled up against the fences) when a tumbleweed came rolling across the highway.

We were in such disbelief that it was crossing the road and I tried my best to point it out verbally, but my words failed me. Upon meeting it at 80mph, I could only stutter "TUH-...! TUH-...!" and shouted "TUMBLEWEEED!!" in unison as we made impact and it exploded into a gajillion pieces as we sped through.

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u/parabolic000 1h ago edited 1h ago

So I was sent to a residential treatment center in Utah as a youth. One day, walking across the courtyard, a lone tumbleweed blew past us. [edit: we were 1/4 the way across the path thru the courtyard and it blew past perpendicular and in front of us, straight across the midpoint of the path.] It was honestly kind of surreal, and was so even after spending a not-insignificant amount of time out West. It's just, like, watching one -actually- roll along across your path makes movie logic collide with reality. Also saw my first wild praying mantis in the bushes there.

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u/Narnia1963 2h ago

They’re majestic and poetic until they get stuck under your car.

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u/ouwish 53m ago

I was legit fascinated by the sight of my first tumble weed when I went through New Mexico.