# Creative works with factual errors that so easily could have been checked and corrected **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051 "2010-07-26T15:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/1 "2010-07-26T15:01:11Z")
In an episode of Bernie Mac, he responses to a phone messgae left by his sister in Atlantic City with the area code 201. “201? What’s she doing in Atlantic City?” Uh, Bernie–201 is, and always has been, northern New Jersey. Atlantic City is, and always has been, in southern New Jersey. How hard would it have been to look up the right area code of 609? In an episode of 21 Jump Street, a character states “I gre up in Mun-au-CHEE, New Jersey.” If you really grew up there, you would know Moonachie is prounced MOON-au-kee." A simple phone call to the Borough Hall would have verified it. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/2 "2010-07-26T16:24:01Z")
That was exactly how I lost all respect for the position of dramaturg. I was working on a production, can’t even remember what the show was, and a character said the city of Bangor, Me as “Banger.” I mentioned during the nightly notes session after rehearsal that it was not pronounced that way. I was told that it didn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/3 "2010-07-26T16:31:08Z")
Some urban fantasy book that I read had the main character (a witch) use a spell that turned her into “any rodent” as long as she had a piece of its fur. She turned into a mink. And kept referring to herself as a rodent. I can’t believe the editors didn’t catch that one. It pissed me off (it was a recurring thing in the book and a major plot point) so much that it ruined the book for me. It basically made me think the author was an idiot, and so I lost respect for the writing. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/4 "2010-07-26T16:33:16Z")
The most glaring instance in my mind is Jurassic Park, and the sequels; I can live with the featherless Raptors, because that was still controversial, but the theropod forelimbs are all wrong. From [this](http://wapedia.mobi/en/Theropoda) site: > [@](#): > > Contrary to the way theropods have often been reconstructed in art and the popular media, the range of motion of theropod forelimbs was severely limited, especially compared with the forelimb dexterity of humans and other primates. Most notably, theropods and other bipedal saurischian dinosaurs (including the bipedal prosauropods) could not pronate their hands—that is, they could not rotate the forearm so that the palms faced the ground or backwards towards the legs. In humans, pronation is achieved by motion of the radius relative to the ulna (the two bones of the forearm). In saurischian dinosaurs, however, the end of the radius near the elbow was actually locked into a groove of the ulna, preventing any movement. Movement at the wrist was also limited in many species, forcing the entire forearm and hand to move as a single unit with little flexibility. In theropods and prosauropods, the only way for the palm to face the ground would have been by lateral splaying of the entire forelimb, as in a bird raising its wing. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/5 "2010-07-26T16:51:19Z")
**Krakatoa, East of Java** That’s arguably the winner, right there. It’s certainly got its error in the most visiblke possible place, the title. In Arthur Conan Doyle’s very first Sherlock Holmes story, **a Study in Scarlet** , he puts the Salt Desert on the wrong side of Salt Lake City, and has the Mormon pioneers trudging through it on their way downtown. But I suppose removing this would’ve left him without his big picturesque scene of Father and Daughter dying of thirst in the Great Alkali Plain ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/6 "2010-07-26T17:08:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Krakatoa, East of Java** > > That’s arguably the winner, right there. It’s certainly got its error in the most visiblke possible place, the title. My personal favorite; I came in to mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/7 "2010-07-26T17:14:06Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Some urban fantasy book that I read had the main character (a witch) use a spell that turned her into “any rodent” as long as she had a piece of its fur. She turned into a mink. And kept referring to herself as a rodent. I can’t believe the editors didn’t catch that one. It pissed me off (it was a recurring thing in the book and a major plot point) so much that it ruined the book for me. It basically made me think the author was an idiot, and so I lost respect for the writing. I think that would be _Dead Witch Walking_, by Kim Harrison. Or if not that particular book, one of the others in the series (don’t have them with me to check). And not that you don’t have a point, but in a book series that involves vampires, werewolves, elves, demons, and gargoyles, I’m able to overlook small things like factual inaccuracies 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/8 "2010-07-26T17:49:21Z")
There was an episode of _Golden Girls_ on which they referred to Biloxi, MS in such a way that it rhymed with “the Roxie”. It’s pronounced bi-LUX-ie. Very easily checked, especially since _Biloxi Blues_ was a hit play and a movie. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/9 "2010-07-26T18:38:13Z")
I just read some book that had the US president arriving by Marine One… described as a VH-60. The problem is, it started with “…as soon as the skids touched ground…” VH-60N has wheels. In fact nearly all helicopters, and all of the ones with the capacity described, in the HMX-1 fleet have wheels. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/10 "2010-07-26T19:39:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Krakatoa, East of Java** > > That’s arguably the winner, right there. It’s certainly got its error in the most visiblke possible place, the title. To be fair, you can get to Krakatoa from Java by going east. It’s just a hell of a lot faster going west. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/11 "2010-07-26T19:49:13Z")
I recall reading [this](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/6232148/The-Lost-Symbol-and-The-Da-Vinci-Code-author-Dan-Brown-50-factual-errors.html) a while ago - a list of 50 factual errors in Dan Brown’s _The Lost Symbol_ and _The Da Vinci Code_. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/12 "2010-07-26T20:00:20Z")
On the new FX show “Justified” - the scene was set in Lexington, Kentucky, on a bridge over a river - “East of I-75, on Tates Creek Road.” 1.) Lexington sits entirely West of I-75, 2.) Unless somethings changed, there is no bridge over the River on Tates Creek - it still requires a ferry ride to cross it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/13 "2010-07-26T20:11:51Z")
The near to me city of Lompoc is pronounced incorrectly all the time in movies and TV shows. The last syllable is pronounced like “poke”, not “pock.” One that I’ve mentioned before is in the dismal Tom Clancy novel _Rainbow 6_. The whole novel was about a group of extreme eco-terrorists who were going to wipe out humanity with a virus except for their group who were vaccinated. Their plan to spread the virus was to infect people at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. They were going to put the virus into this huge water misting system being installed there since the weather was expected to be so hot. Great idea except for that whole pesky Southern Hemisphere thing so it wasn’t summer there when the Olympics were held. They did move them out to later in the year but it’s still never that hot in Sydney in October such that they would have to install a special system to cool people down. He had it so that it was over 100F there and the characters kept complaining about how horribly hot it was. It’s unbelievable that they didn’t fix that. They could have changed it to any fake international festival or conference to somewhere in the world where it is regularly very hot. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/14 "2010-07-26T21:04:20Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In an episode of Bernie Mac, he responses to a phone messgae left by his sister in Atlantic City with the area code 201. “201? What’s she doing in Atlantic City?” > > Uh, Bernie–201 is, and always has been, northern New Jersey. Atlantic City is, and always has been, in southern New Jersey. How hard would it have been to look up the right area code of 609? Strictly speaking, not always. 201 was the area code for the entire state until 1958. Besides, perhaps they’re thinking that 201 is more recognizable to the audience as a New Jersey area code. ---
**Author:** ![acetylene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/15 "2010-07-26T22:51:11Z")
My friend and I watched \*Bird on a Wire \*together (Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn). It was a pretty forgettable movie except for the scene where they take the ferry from Detroit, MI to Racine, WI. My friend is from Michigan and I am from Racine. We were in stitches because the entire state of Michigan is in the way of this ferry. Detroit is in eastern MI. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/16 "2010-07-27T01:57:43Z")
I don’t expect much from CSI:Miami but I rolled my eyes so much at one episode that they almost popped out of my head. They caught the bad guy because he tracked plant material from his place if work to the victim’s house. His office was very upscale and they used a high end landscaper who planted this rare tree and it could only be found in a few places. The tree was a Brazilian Pepper. Granted I don’t live in Miami but I do live on Florida and I know this tree is extremely invasive. It chokes out native trees, such as mangroves, it has taken over thousands of acres of this state. It is hated in this state and no landscaper in their right mind would plant it because it’s prohibited to sell or move these plants. We have Brazilian Pepper Eradication days around here. I’m pretty sure that the BP ban applies to Miami, too. If anyone even checked out this plant for the show they used 20 year old info for when it was actually used as a landscape plant before it took over the state. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/17 "2010-07-27T02:50:37Z")
Well, CSI: Miami (or any CSI for that matter) is like shooting fish in a barrel, but the one that always got me is one where Miami is recovering from a hurricane and one of the characters says “And it was just a Category 5; imagine if it was a Category 1”. Um, guys? Category 1 is the _weakest_ hurricane, Category 5 is the strongest. I guess people from California know as much about hurricanes as people from Florida know about earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/18 "2010-07-27T03:05:22Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > There was an episode of _Golden Girls_ on which they referred to Biloxi, MS in such a way that it rhymed with “the Roxie”. It’s pronounced bi-LUX-ie. Very easily checked, especially since _Biloxi Blues_ was a hit play and a movie. To be fair, _Guys and Dolls_ got it wrong first; having never been to Biloxi, I never would even assume that it didn’t rhyme with Roxie, since that exact rhyme features so prominently in that piece of American culture. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/19 "2010-07-27T03:17:51Z")
This was from a book I got off the 25 cent shelf from a local used boookstore. The whole book was rife with the most ridiculous errors and inaccuracies I’ve ever seen. Main character makes a headshot on an assailant using a 2 inch .357 Colt Python; from 300 yards away in downtown San Francisco on a Friday afternoon with NO TRAFFIC in the way. Flew on a commercial flight with said gun in his sock. After leaving San Francisco Airport, drove north through San Jose, detoured through Santa Cruz, drove past Palo Alto and stopped to use a payphone in Fremont during the two hour drive to San Francisco. (look at a map of the SF Bay Area) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/20 "2010-07-27T07:06:59Z")
The immense majority of material written in one language including sentences in another one. I wouldn’t have a problem with it if the line wasn’t treated as correct (usually, it’s something like one guy saying a line to another one to “pass” as a local/mate/whatever, and being accepted when that line has three words and four of them are wrong) and/or the person using it as speaking that second language perfectly. I’m reasonably sure that finding someone who can give you a decent in-context translation to Spanish, English, French or Russian can’t be that frakking difficult, but apparently for some people it’s just unthinkable. When my mother is watching CSI:Miami and I’m there, she’ll ask me “how long would it take to get from [here] to [here]?” “Oh, about 3 hours with no traffic.” Of course, in the show it’s barely been enough time for Caruso to put his glasses back on, but then, remember characters in that show don’t sweat or have a hair out of place after several hours looking for body parts in a swamp. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051.md?page=2)