Maybe it is just the "movies" perspective, the "wild-west cowboy riding into the sunset" and "hippies relaxing on a california beach with a guitar and some pot"

Maybe it is just the "movies" perspective, the "wild-west cowboy riding into the sunset" and "hippies relaxing on a california beach with a guitar and some pot" stereotypes are transported frequently. The "white supremacist manning a checkpoint" not so much, or at least only in movies that are meant to be fictional/endtime/faraway. Also, seen from europe, it may be hard to get an accurate picture. The media do not really transport the perspective of the inhabitants accurately. And perception of the media is often skewed towards the more positive end, one tends to ignore negative information that contradicts one's premade impression. Even people you know who tell you about a foreign country will usually gloss over the bad stuff and dwell on the good.