American Blogs

I dont follow specific American blogs, but it does seem to me that the blogs I do stumble upon from time to time writes about an American society vastly different from the one presented to us through mass media .ie films,magazines,newspapers etc.
The one thing I have noticed is that Americans seems quite religous. I wonder why this doesn't get reflected in films you see about American life?
I have a friend who lives in the States and she reckons it is as a result of 9/11 that most Americans have returned to some sort of organised religion.
The other thing I have noticed is how hugely family orientated Americans are . Now you do see this coming through from time to time but mostly it doesn't get represented as a core value.
Interesting hey? I wonder what other cultures have noticed about South Africans.