# According to movies and TV, water is magic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589 "2021-03-24T16:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/21 "2021-03-26T00:47:02Z")
I don’t think this happens nearly as often as you think. At least not in movies/shows made in the 50+years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/22 "2021-03-26T00:53:12Z")
JRRT on water in his book **The Silmarillion** But the other Ainur looked upon this habitation set within the vast spaces of the World, which the Elves call Arda, the Earth; and their hearts rejoiced in light, and their eyes beholding many colours were filled with gladness; but because of the roaring of the sea they felt a great unquiet. And they observed the winds and the air, and the matters of which Arda was made, of iron and stone and silver and gold and many substances: but of all these water they most greatly praised. **And it is said by the Eldar** **that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than** **in any substance else that is in this Earth** ; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen. So yeah, water’s important. ;-D ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/23 "2021-03-26T01:16:53Z")
Once you notice it, you notice it 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/24 "2021-03-26T01:18:45Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Binging _New Tricks_ , a show set in the UK, water is replaced by tea. They break the news that someone’s mother died, then offer them a cuppa tea. Every damn time, and it seems natural for them. > > If I offered someone tea when they were upset, nine times out of ten I bet I’d get a strange look. In the UK and Ireland it’s a genuine thing to be offered tea when there’s bad news. It’s definitely not a TV show thing. If there isn’t a culturally-accepted drink to offer in times of stress then I guess offering a glass of water would make sense. A cup of tea actually does help a little. It gives you something to do with your hands, and calms your breathing without being told to do something like breathe into a bag. And it’s a dose of normality. It also means the offerer is away for a minute or two, which can be good breathing space for everyone. On TV shows though, I have seen it - can’t think of any specific examples, but it serves to send the offerer out of the room so that the detective-type can talk to the distressed person, or the offerer can be a detective-type who can then snoop around for a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/25 "2021-03-26T09:05:30Z")
In the UK, hot SWEET tea used to be recommended for a person suffering any kind of shock. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/26 "2021-03-26T12:38:48Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > But my original question still stands: is the near universal certainty of proffered water in fictional media equalled, or even approached in real life? Or is it another media trope? Tropes are merely audiovisual cliches, and cliches are based in reality. Water is necessary for life; we are mostly made of water. So water has an enormous symbolic quality. Water is used as a metaphor, and water is actually offered in real life to people who seem like they need it. A thing can be metaphor _ **and** _ reality. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/27 "2021-03-26T13:54:04Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > In the UK and Ireland it’s a genuine thing to be offered tea when there’s bad news. It’s definitely not a TV show thing. There was a memorable scene in EastEnders, where a daughter arrived with a face of doom just as her mother was making tea. The matriarch took one look at her face and said “Right, I’ll fetch the biscuits, shall I?” And sure enough, whatever it was, was a _real_ crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/28 "2021-03-26T13:57:48Z")
And a M \* A \* S \* H doctor had to discourage a nearby British outfit from giving tea to belly wound casualties. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/29 "2021-03-26T18:55:19Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Lovely series of explanations for _why_ water might be offered in such situations. All of which I of course already understood; I never meant to suggest that it was illogical or unreasonable. > > But my original question still stands: is the near universal certainty of proffered water in fictional media equalled, or even approached in real life? Or is it another media trope? Why is that one your “original question”, and not the four surrounding it? And can you see how we might not find it obvious you “already understood” the answers to the first and third question you posed? > [@lissener](#): > > Is this a real thing? Does this happen just as frequently > in real life? What is the medical theory behind it? Why don’t they ever offer a glass of restorative water to children in these scenes? And what is the cut-off age? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/30 "2021-03-26T19:16:09Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > But my original question still stands: is the near universal certainty of proffered water in fictional media equalled, or even approached in real life? Or is it another media trope? I think you need to back up your original question, because I don’t think “give the character a glass of water” is _that_ common of a trope. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/31 "2021-03-27T04:48:38Z")
No I think it is pretty common, but you don’t notice it unless you’re looking for it. I just watched an episode of a show tonight (Mr Mercedes) after reading this thread and since it was in my mind I was wondering if I’d see someone be offered a glass of water after something bad happened and they _were_! I couldn’t believe the one thing I saw directly after reading this actually did have that scene! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/32 "2021-03-27T15:45:40Z")
SEE?? 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/33 "2021-03-28T03:53:10Z")
If you’re Angelica Huston in _Prizzi’s Honor_, and you want to be passive-aggressive, you OFFER a glass of water and POUR a glass of vodka. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/34 "2021-03-28T14:26:43Z")
It’s not that common. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/35 "2021-03-28T18:55:42Z")
Well I just saw it happen again in another show. A guy was beat up and someone brought him a glass of water. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/36 "2021-03-28T19:02:31Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Well I just saw it happen again in another show. A guy was beat up and someone brought him a glass of water. Haha I love this. Maybe we should do a public Google spreadsheet where we can track the actual frequency of this trope. Wait till you hear my next one–it seems even less likely, but is possibly even more universal! ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589/37 "2021-03-28T20:02:08Z")
Yes by all means [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/according-to-movies-and-tv-water-is-magic/938589.md?page=1)