Is this really America?

Not much to add to all the other comments in this thread. Yes, much of America is like this. Most of it probably.

Of course, America is a large country with a wide range of terrain. I'm from New England so instead of treeless plains we have thickly treed hills and lots of ponds and rivers. But once you get away from the coastal cities the towns become small and scattered. There's a town in New Hampshire I've been visiting for 47 years. 90% of it is the same today as it was in 1975. A few new houses and businesses, but most is the same. I'm sure it and all the others have the same kinds of characters in it.

-Doughdee222

"Fire me, boy!"

The movie told only part of small town life. It did not show people going to church on Sunday, children going to school weekdays, sporting events, people strolling in parks, going to the library, etc..

Even in Bruce Dern's family, they only mentioned the grandchildren but did not show them.

This movie is just a slice of small town life.

The fictional town of Hawthorne in this movie is pretty on the mark in portraying small town American Midwestern life.

A lot of my family lives in a little town in South Dakota called Elk Point, and it doesn't look much different from the town in the movie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk_Point,_South_Dakota

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This is your life, and it is ending one minute at a time

I'm from Kansas and I would answer your question as Yes. Although somewhat exaggerated, this is rural America. Travel to Western Kansas and you will see towns just as they are depicted in the movie. There are people in today's day and age who do not have Tv and still have dirt floors. There are times where I would give anything for that simpler life. No social media, no internet, no television or news. A dirt floor and a tavern down the street. God Bless Rural America.

There are small towns like this all over America and am guessing the world.

Go Big Red

No one wins a misery contest.

This is how many small farming towns are in the Midwest. I am originally from Nebraska, and I think the movie depicted those places very well.

To the person who compared this to rural India- there is still no comparison. No matter how poor these small town Midwest people are, they still have food, fairly modern (though sometimes outdated looking) homes, heating, cars, and cable tv. This is a far cry from poverty in India, China, African countries, etc.

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