What fiction films have had the greatest effects on the ‘real’ world?

[well_he_s_back]

I was thinking of “Jaws” and what an effect it had – I know many people who seriously would not swim in the ocean after that movie came out. What other fiction movies have had effects in or on the ‘real’ world?

[JoseB]

@well_he_s_back

I was thinking of “Jaws” and what an effect it had – I know many people who seriously would not swim in the ocean after that movie came out. What other fiction movies have had effects in or on the ‘real’ world?

I read somewhere that Hitchcock’s “Psycho” had a similar effect with respect to showers…

[RivkahChaya]

Birth of a Nation. The KKK was pretty much defunct when the movie came out, but it caused renewed interest, and is responsible for the resurgence of the Klan that is still with us today.

[Tired_and_Cranky]

Top Gun supposedly increased naval aviator recruiting by 500%. It certainly made flying for the Navy look fun.

[silenus]

“It Happened One Night.” Clark Gable killed the undershirt industry for years.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@Tired_and_Cranky

Top Gun supposedly increased naval aviator recruiting by 500%. It certainly made flying for the Navy look fun.

IIRC, it was also credited with a big uptick in Air Force recruiting.

[CalMeacham]

The rescue of American astronauts by a Russian Cosmonaut in the 1969 film Marooned (based on the book by Martin Caidin, another of whose books inspired the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man) s said to have greased the skids for the Apollo-Soyuz linkup six years later. I know I’ve heard and read this many times before, and this website, for instance, takes it for granted ( http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/23766/Marooned/articles.html ), as does the Internet Movie Database ( Marooned (1969) - Trivia - IMDb )
The Wikipedia page on the film is oddly silent about this, except for this snippet in the “Talk” section:

In a TV Guide article in the early summer of 1975, the interviewer quoted a Soviet as saying, “he thought all Americans had horns, until he read about Marooned”. Indeed, it is conceivable that this movie gave a bit of a nudge to a project that probably had its roots with Kennedy and Krushchev talking about Kennedy’s idea that they go to the moon together. It would be worth seeing what the state of talks between the countries were before and after this movie.

“Deke” Slayton claimed in his memoir that this film helped convince the Russians to undertake Apollo-Soyuz. (Visions of the Future, Relics of the Past - The New York Times )
Edidently it influenced some Americans in the Space Program:

Before he had an opportunity to talk with the Soviets, Handler saw a movie that influenced his thinking concerning manned space flight.
In the early spring of 1970, . . . I saw a special showing of the film Marooned in which . . . an American astronaut is marooned in orbit, unable to return to earth, and has a relatively limited oxygen supply remaining. While preparations are made on earth for rescue by NASA, a Soviet spacecraft is caused to change its course so as to closely approach the helpless American craft. A Soviet cosmonaut then undertakes a space walk and delivers some tanks of [10] oxygen to the marooned American permitting him to survive until the American rescue is possible.#

About a week before Handler’s departure for the Soviet Union, he saw Tom Paine; Marooned was still in the back of his mind. During their conversation, Paine and Handler reviewed various possibilities for cooperation with the Soviets. Paine told him of his correspondence with Keldysh and urged Handler to press the discussion of this subject with the Soviets. Handler later reflected, "it was my clear intention to catalyze the process knowing full well that if I could secure agreement with the Soviet Academy to begin cooperative ventures seriously, from then on the negotiations would have to be directly with NASA."32

The two days that Handler spent in Moscow, 11-12 May 1970, were filled with talks on a broad range of topics relating to the whole realm of cooperation between the two scientific communities. At one point, Handler found an opportunity to discuss the question of space cooperation with President Keldysh, Dzhermen Mikhaylovich Gvishiani (Premier Kosygin’s son-in-law and Deputy Minister for Science and Technology), and a group of younger Soviet scientists. Handler’s approach was less tactful than that which had been pursued by NASA officials; “I confronted them with copies of a recent article in the New York Times and in Science magazine recounting the rather disgraceful history of their failure to react to the many initiatives offered by NASA.” Handler urged closer cooperation by describing the basic scenario of the film Marooned. The fact that “an American film should portray a Soviet cosmonaut as the hero who saves an American’s life came to them as a visible and distinct shock.”

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4209/prolog.htm

[billfish678]

The movie China Syndrome probably almost single handedly killed the US nuclear power industry.

[RealityChuck]

@billfish678

The movie China Syndrome probably almost single handedly killed the US nuclear power industry.

Three Mile Island had more to do with it, though the movie came out at the same time.

The Jazz Singer changed how we thought about movies.

Star Wars also changed the way Hollywood looked at movies.

[billfish678]

@RealityChuck

Three Mile Island had more to do with it, though the movie came out at the same time.

The Jazz Singer changed how we thought about movies.

Star Wars also changed the way Hollywood looked at movies.

IMO one without the other wouldn’t have nearly had the same effect. Talk about bad timing

[cochrane]

Star Wars certainly influenced Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative.

[Richard_John_Marcej]

"101 Dalmations". After the film people began buying dalmatians for their families, not doing any research therefore not realizing that dalmatians are not good family pets.

[NDP]

@JoseB

I read somewhere that Hitchcock’s “Psycho” had a similar effect with respect to showers…

It also wasn’t that great for small privately-owned roadside motels.

[ElvisL1ves]

The combined Disney films eventually transformed the economy of central Florida.

[Uniqueorn]

Star Wars created a religion.

[ElvisL1ves]

There are now intercollegiate Quidditch leagues.

[Tired_and_Cranky]

@cochrane

Star Wars certainly influenced Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative.

Reagan was also inspired by WarGames to sign the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in 1984. Congressmen started hearings on computer fraud bills by showing the opening of the film. It’s basically a direct line from the film to legislation.

From 'WarGames' to Aaron Swartz: How U.S. anti-hacking law went astray

[Drunky_Smurf]

@Uniqueorn

Star Wars created a religion.

So did The Big Lebowski. Dudeism.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dudeism&biw=1745&bih=872&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5-r-oncPLAhXCZCYKHU5LB-gQsAQIOQ

[CalMeacham]

@billfish678

The movie China Syndrome probably almost single handedly killed the US nuclear power industry.

I suspect that the Three Mile Island incident (which happened at the time of the film’s release) probably had a lot more to do with putting a brake on nuclear power. The film, especially with the eerie coincidence of the timing, didn’t help, though. But Real Life has a persuasive power that film lacks.

[RivkahChaya]

What about Philadelphia? For some reason, I think of that film as being more recent than it is, but it came out in 1993, which was still the “Silence=Death” era, really. How much effect did the film have on the AIDS landscape?