As I have posted elsewhere, Escape from New York was filmed in East St. Louis—where the government was so dysfunctional and the city so dangerous that they stopped picking up garbage. Read more
Chinese-american basketball players (And there are some giants there, huh?) aside, I don't think it really has anything to do with average body size. Read more
Shitness?
Yes, but there are small ones you can get.
If you live near a large city, a USB ATSC tuner will give you better picture on your laptop than you'll see online.