# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/61 "2010-08-01T03:40:05Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > If for some unimaginable reason everyone else was being polite and not _already_ crammed on the shoulder, there would be chaos as everyone deliberately pulled onto the shoulder to block our heroine (Tea Leoni) from getting ahead of them. I will nitpick this by saying that I think you are confusing the Elijah Wood thread with the Tea Leoni thread. Tea’s character, an MSNBC newscaster, doesn’t survive; she gives her seat on her station’s escape helicopter to a mother with a young child (Dr. Weaver from ER) and goes to her father’s house on the shore to die with him. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/62 "2010-08-01T03:58:34Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@Sailboat](#): > > > > If for some unimaginable reason everyone else was being polite and not _already_ crammed on the shoulder, there would be chaos as everyone deliberately pulled onto the shoulder to block our heroine (Tea Leoni) from getting ahead of them. > > I will nitpick this by saying that I think you are confusing the Elijah Wood thread with the Tea Leoni thread. Tea’s character, an MSNBC newscaster, doesn’t survive; she gives her seat on her station’s escape helicopter to a mother with a young child (Dr. Weaver from ER) and goes to her father’s house on the shore to die with him. Yep. Tea Leoni just went and died. Her decision was fan-wankable, stupid as it was. Elijah Wood, however, did skooter up onto a mountainside that nobody else had even thought of walking up, via a fairly empty section of road. Apparently nobody else thought of getting out of their cars or even using motorbikes. (This is a film which has some good acting and just … fails.) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/63 "2010-08-01T04:11:22Z")
One thing I notice is that TV shows that are set in cities in the Central and Mountain time zones have prime time that runs from 7pm to 10pm. Yet you always here of the characters watching the 11 O’Clock news. This is wrong. It would be the 10 O’Clock news in the Central and Mtn Time zones. Evidently no TV writer has ever come from the Central or Mtn Time zone. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/64 "2010-08-01T04:42:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In George R.R. Martin’s _Fevre Dream_, one of the vampire characters mentions that he’s no Dracula. The reference makes sense to us but the novel was set in the 1850’s. A vampire of that era would have said that he was no Varney. _Dracula_ was published in 1897. Most people in the 1850’s wouldn’t recognize the name Dracula and those few that did would think of an obscure Balkan warlord not a vampire. Could the historic Vlad “Dracula” Tepes have actually been a vampire within the context of this book? Since he lived in the 15th century then he’d have become a vampire well before 1850. Of course, if the vampire were talking to any ordinary Englishman then this reference would have made no sense to them, but it could be fanwanked away if it was a comment to another vampire or experienced vampire hunter. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/65 "2010-08-01T04:58:15Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Evidently no TV writer has ever come from the Central or Mtn Time zone. I have recently come to realise that almost all of Hollywood’s creatives were born or brought up in California, usually the LA area, and that’s how they managed to get jobs in the industry. If you live in Utah or Alabama, or worse in a different country, you’re never going to be a successful screenwriter, so give up now. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/66 "2010-08-01T04:58:15Z")
A classic (I’m surprised that nobody has mention it so far) is in the Sherlock Holmes short story “The Specked Band”. In this one a trained snake was used to murder the victim. The hooker was that the snake’s master would recall it by whistling. And of course, snakes are all stone deaf. But I still love all the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, I’m a lot less forgiving with modern authors. I just read the first half of Michael Crichton’s last book - published posthumously - and ran into this howler. Two pirates were discussing the characteristics of a Spanish Galleon that they had just captured, and one of them complained that it could make only 8 knots as it was in such bad repair. Stated that it should be able to make 16 knots. Good God! Those old galleons probably could sail at 5 knots on a good day. Stopped reading instantly. Oh well, maybe if Crichton had been still alive he would have reread the book before publication and caught this. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/67 "2010-08-01T05:06:10Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Could the historic Vlad “Dracula” Tepes have actually been a vampire within the context of this book? Since he lived in the 15th century then he’d have become a vampire well before 1850. Of course, if the vampire were talking to any ordinary Englishman then this reference would have made no sense to them, but it could be fanwanked away if it was a comment to another vampire or experienced vampire hunter. No, the context of the remark was “I’m not like the vampires you’ve read about.” And the historical Dracula could not have been a vampire in this setting - in the book vampires were a seperate species and were not transformed humans. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/68 "2010-08-01T18:51:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, the context of the remark was “I’m not like the vampires you’ve read about.” And the historical Dracula could not have been a vampire in this setting - in the book vampires were a seperate species and were not transformed humans. In that case you’re right, Varney or maybe Lord Ruthven would have been a lot more appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/69 "2010-08-01T19:07:26Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > And of course, snakes are all stone deaf. [Not quite](http://www.anapsid.org/torrey.html). It is true they lack an external ear structure and ear drum, and most of the vibrations they pick up are through the ground; but they can and do recieve cochlear signals from airborne vibrations too. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/70 "2010-08-01T20:04:38Z")
Joan Baez’s _Diamonds and Rust_ unambiguously uses “light-year” as a unit of time. Pisses me off every time I hear the song. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/71 "2010-08-01T20:42:53Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have recently come to realise that almost all of Hollywood’s creatives were born or brought up in California, usually the LA area, and that’s how they managed to get jobs in the industry. If you live in Utah or Alabama, or worse in a different country, you’re never going to be a successful screenwriter, so give up now. Naturally there’s a [trope](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoCalization) for this. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/72 "2010-08-01T20:55:13Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Joan Baez’s _Diamonds and Rust_ unambiguously uses “light-year” as a unit of time. Pisses me off every time I hear the song. Especially considering that her father is a well regarded physicist. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/73 "2010-08-02T07:02:15Z")
> [@Acantha](#): > > I don’t recall the movie, but I clearly remember Phoebe Cates walking up to a bartender and saying ‘vodka’ and the bartender doesn’t say a word, just gets her the drink, which I _think_ was vodka on the rocks. > > Really? Because when I was tending bar I would have been asking her if she wanted vodka rocks, neat, vodka tonic or what the hell, and if she wanted the well crap or a top shelf brand. But that would have slowed the scene down _and_ bumped you from background performer to principal, making you _much_ more expensive. Maybe she was a repeat customer and the bartender knew her preference. Or maybe it was his last day and he didn’t give a damn. ---
**Author:** ![Acantha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Acantha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acantha)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/74 "2010-08-02T09:14:38Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > > [@Acantha](#): > > > > I don’t recall the movie, but I clearly remember Phoebe Cates walking up to a bartender and saying ‘vodka’ and the bartender doesn’t say a word, just gets her the drink, which I _think_ was vodka on the rocks. > > > > Really? Because when I was tending bar I would have been asking her if she wanted vodka rocks, neat, vodka tonic or what the hell, and if she wanted the well crap or a top shelf brand. > > But that would have slowed the scene down _and_ bumped you from background performer to principal, making you _much_ more expensive. > > Maybe she was a repeat customer and the bartender knew her preference. Or maybe it was his last day and he didn’t give a damn. Ah, that makes sense. It still drives me batty. I’ve been trying to remember if it was that godawful Tom Cruise bartender movie, but I can’t force myself to watch it so I can check. I had a bar manager point out to me that money only changed hands _once_ in that entire movie…it was like all the drinks were free. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/75 "2010-08-02T09:14:47Z")
One that was just mentioned to me by a coworker: in, he thinks, the same Mission Impossible in which Tom Cruise’s character mixes Seville’s Easter and Valencia’s Fallas, there is a scene where he is being pursued by a modern car with Madrid plates. Only, the plates have the M, then four numbers and a single letter, making them from the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/76 "2010-08-02T09:25:20Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Joan Baez’s _Diamonds and Rust_ unambiguously uses “light-year” as a unit of time. Pisses me off every time I hear the song. Obviously, it should be Parsec. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/77 "2010-08-03T20:37:43Z")
I liked _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_. I was looking forward to _The Girl who Played with Fire_. I didn’t end up liking the second one as much because a) both the mystery and the resolution revolved around a ridiculous volume of coincidences and b) The murder weapon was a .45 Magum Colt revolver. There has never been a cartridge called the .45 Magnum commercially produced anywhere in the world, and certainly not a factory-produced weapon chambered for it, but just about every time the weapon was referred to in the story, the author took pains to say Colt .45 Magnum. Why the hell couldn’t Larsson be bothered to reference a list of available handgun cartridges and then just pick one? ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/78 "2010-08-03T21:10:35Z")
> [@FallenAngel](#): > > There has never been a cartridge called the .45 Magnum commercially produced anywhere in the world, and certainly not a factory-produced weapon chambered for it, but just about every time the weapon was referred to in the story, the author took pains to say Colt .45 Magnum. Well, there is a .45 Winchester Magnum cartridge for handguns, so it seems like an understandable mixup. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/79 "2010-08-03T21:32:08Z")
“Sugarland Express,” Steven Spielberg’s first feature film. In it an escaped convict and his girlfriend, played by William Atherton and Goldie Hawn, are headed toward Sugar Land, which is supposedly on the Mexican border. In reality Sugar Land is a suburb of Houston. In fact there’s a shot at the beginning of the movie that shows the intersection of Alt-90 and U.S. 59, right where Sugar Land is located and where the couple begins their journey. When I first saw the movie I was confused, thinking, “Why the hell are they driving all through the night to get to Sugar Land. It’s right there. They shouldn’t be driving more than a few miles.” It took me awhile to figure out that the movie got its geography reversed - the couple actually starts their journey at the real Sugar Land (at Alt-90 and 59) and ends at the fictional Sugar Land, which is about where the real life Del Rio is located. It makes my head hurt explaining this. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051/80 "2010-08-03T22:20:56Z")
Another Tom Clancy whoopsie. I can’t remember which novel it was, but at the very beginning, a super-duper analyst person discovers something of critical national security importance while working at a satellite listening station in Sunnyvale, CA (presumably meant to be the real-life [Onizuka Air Station](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onizuka_Air_Force_Station)). He jumps on a plane at LAX for Washington to report the situation. However, Sunnyvale is located in the San Francisco Bay Area…the analyst should flown out of SFO, OAK, or SJC. Obviously Clancy fell into the “well it must be near LA” trap that many California set works do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-with-factual-errors-that-so-easily-could-have-been-checked-and-corrected/548051.md?page=5)