Are People in LA Fake, Pretentious, Superfiscial?

The reputation of LA is that people are fake, superficial, pretentious, care only about money, your car, etc. They point to all the exotic cars, mansions, and plastic in women as proof of this.

I've been in LA 4 months now and I haven't found that to be the case. I'm sure people like that exist here, but I haven't been able to find them so far, and I went looking for them. It's like looking for cowboys and rednecks in Texas. They're there, but you have to go out of your way to find them. As someone that drives a really nice car, I can say with firsthand experience, nobody cares what you drive. Unlike in Texas, I don't get stopped by someone asking about my car every time I go out.

My impression of people here is that they are far more sophisticated, ambitious, and diverse than people in Texas. They are filmmakers, musicians, aspiring actors, models, engineers, writers, radio, TV, run a business/startup, in finance, int'l trade, or are techie's like myself. Nearly everyone I've talked to has a sense of purpose. There is a reason they are here. They may not be trying to change the world, but at least they are here to do well for themselves. They have a story to tell, a direction where they want to take their life, and the fact that they are here from somewhere else means they've taken action to try to make it happen. We've all heard of the aspiring actor/actress/model that comes to LA and can't make it. For everyone that makes it, there are countless here that don't make it. But for everyone of those that came and failed, how many countless more didn't even try and stayed at home?

Back in Texas and many other places, I can't count the number of people I've met that don't know what they want to do with their lives. The conversations when I meet someone new often go like this:"So what do you do?", "I'm between jobs/in school, etc.", "Well, what do you want to do then?", "I don't know, I'm trying to figure it out, etc." or some other weak answer. In downtown Austin, I'll have that conversation several times any night of the week. It's disheartening.

Hanging around west LA, I haven't had that kind of conversation yet. There's often a determined look in their eyes that says, "I'm going to make this happen." I know that look because I see it in myself. They may or may not succeed, but they are here to play to win. I think part of why this is the case is the high cost of living here. Everyone knows that Cali is so expensive compared to the rest of America. It's a very expensive place to be if you are still trying to figure out what you want to do with your life. That keeps those people out of the area. But for people that know what they are doing, there's opportunity here to do big things. And that's the California (and American) Dream...