How strong is "Hollywood America"

[Aluma]

Following a similar line to "Alt-History Aftermath Scenarios Implied by Media"

I dont think powerscaling is really very popular in this fandom beyond discussions on stuff like "why Nazi Germany lost" but I've got a bit interested on this topic lately

As most of you are aware, Hollywood movies and american TV shows in general tend to despict a very idealised version of the United States of America, which I have no issue with as I think its normal for artists from a country to have a positive view on it

What I find interesting about this for the purpose of this thread though is how the americans in these stories tend to pull feats that go beyond what it's OTL counterpart is capable of

You know, stuff like going up against an alien invasion, stopping asteroids and other natural phenomena, overthrowing a occupying (nazi?) force or having a way easier time intervening on [x] than it would be in reality

I dont have issue with that too mind you, for the same reasons mentioned above

But! Im interested on how you could compare these versions of America to OTL

So, this thread is for that

Take despictions of the US from different movies and show and analyse how they fare differently from our own

Or

Take those instances of feats that imply something Alt-Historical going on and comment about them

Doesnt have to be just military things either, it can be technological or even economic stuff

Only one rule - no superheroes and other supernatural stuff

For the simply reason that if we start counting characters such as Superman or Doctor Manhattan as an american asset or an item like the Infinity Gauntlet for that then it stops being about the country and it becomes about the story's macguffin

With that out of the way, have your way!

Anf obligatory;

Murica'!
🇺🇲🦅🍔🔫

 

[Mitridates the Great]

Do Gates or time machines based on alien technology count? Because I have a couple of ideas in mind and I'm not sure if technology that violates laws of physics counts.

 

[Arariboia Guamá]

If you go by Hollywood America, the Americans always got some super secret black ops techwank program where they have Cyborgs/Super Soldiers/Power Armor/Alien Technology. The common military never sees those shiny goods, but when some extranormal threat shows up, suddenly you're knee-deep in supersoldiers, cyborgs, people using priceless alien artifacts and all sorts of fantastical gear. Remember the Gulf War? Yeah they were actually going light on Iraq, the big huge humongous armed forces aren't even the US' Final Form.

Also, Hollywood America sold most of their artillery and brought nukes. Ever see a movie where someone goes "If you fail, we will have to level the whole area with artillery bombardment"? Yeah, me neither. Its always "Some guys with 5,56mm rifles and a few Humvee can't do it. We're sending you and if you fail, we're going to turn the location into the next Hiroshima."

Also... Pah, Hollywood America is NOFINK compared to Hollywood Russia, which always has 30.000 sinister-looking soviet tanks, 3000 Black Jets and secret weapons sitting somewhere in climate-controlled secret soviet bunkers, good as new even today, and just as good as anything the Amerikanskies can build... even through the Soviet Union fell over thirty years ago.

RUSSIA STRONK!

 

[Aluma]

Do Gates or time machines based on alien technology count? Because I have a couple of ideas in mind and I'm not sure if technology that violates laws of physics counts.

Good question

I'll say they're allowed if they're considered scientific in-universe, aka not powered by random magic item/energy, and if they're something the americans just...have in the background rather than the focus of the series/movies

So using Marvel as a example the Iron Man armor or anything powered by the Tesseract dont count as the second is clearly powered by a supernatural artefact while the former is clearly a "divergence" of what the United States would normally possess in-universe

But those flying airships that Shield apparently always possessed? Yes they count

All that random tech that the Stark industries had during the movies like Jarvis? Also do