Perche describes the situation very well.
Venezia is one of the better places for tourists in Italy. And it's still possible to find non tourist spots if you get off the beaten path between San Marco and the train station.

If you hang out with tourists in any country, you will experience what tourists expect to experience. It's exactly the same with "Italian" restaurants in NYC.
And as for hailing a gondola, sure you can do it, but why not just hand over your wallet and skip the preliminaries