# Deliberately planted misinformation in movies and TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053 "2006-05-17T01:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/21 "2006-05-17T18:17:14Z")
Little hijack: This reminds me of one of my “Calvin moments” from when I was a kid. My best friend and I walked into the library, went to the desk, and asked the librarian for help finding a recipe for black powder. Our parents were notified. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/22 "2006-05-17T18:46:37Z")
IIRC, the old TV show **McGuyver** always left out one crucial element of any dangerous device he made to throw off copycats. (and no, I am neither Patty nor Selma). ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/23 "2006-05-17T18:47:43Z")
Sorry to copy you **Chronos** , I see you got there first. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/24 "2006-05-17T18:52:44Z")
> [@Green\_Means\_Go](#): > > It’s definitely beyond that. They skip steps and leave out key ingredients. > > Actually, while it bums me out, I think its probably not all that bad of an idea to avoid broadcasting exact recipies for high explosives. Sure, you can get it on the Internet, but thats a far sight different then being walked through the process step by step on the tube. I’ve noticed that, too, but I don’t mind. I’d rather see more explosions on the show than have them spend time detailing the process of making the explosive, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/25 "2006-05-17T19:04:13Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > This reminds me of one of my “Calvin moments” from when I was a kid. My best friend and I walked into the library, went to the desk, and asked the librarian for help finding a recipe for black powder. Our parents were notified. You should have followed Captain Kirk’s recipe like I did. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/26 "2006-05-17T19:14:16Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > You should have followed Captain Kirk’s recipe like I did. Had some lizards in your garden, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/27 "2006-05-17T19:26:56Z")
> [@Joey P](#): > > I never read the book, but in the movie, Tyler mentions using gasoline and orange juice concentrate (the frozen stuff). Seems pretty plausable to me, I might use something thicker and a bit more flammable the OJ, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t get the job done. Not the best cite, but I read an issue of Maxim or FHM where they tried that “recipe” out and it didn’t work. I believe it was 1:1 OJ and gasoline. They switched it to 1:2 or 2:1 and it worked great. I would imagine the filmakers muffed the ratio on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Eligible\_for\_parole\_in\_2011](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@Eligible\_for\_parole\_in\_2011](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eligible_for_parole_in_2011)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/28 "2006-05-17T19:29:32Z")
There was a case of deliberately misleading information in the recent movie about Hannibal. They wanted the battle to go the other way, because it made for a better “story arch”. The history advisors said not to do that or they would be hammered by critics, so they made it seem an indecisive outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/29 "2006-05-17T19:44:58Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > I’ve noticed that, too, but I don’t mind. I’d rather see more explosions on the show than have them spend time detailing the process of making the explosive, anyway. That’s the reason I absolutely loathe ‘Braniac: Science Abuse’, they just blow random stuff up and call it an ‘Experiment’ (not to mention that almost all of their ‘experiements’ are either rigged or just plain wrong). But then again, what do I expect, ‘Braniac’ is a SKY show, and as a result is aimed at the kind of people who find ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Ibiza:Uncovered’ intellectually stimulating. If Mythbusters didn’t show their methodology (with the stated exceptions) and at least _try_ to make it scientific (albeit, ‘backgarden shed-science’) then I’d stop watching altogether. More explosions, just for the hell of it, would accomplish the same result. I guess the objection I posted is simply because I dislike being treated like a child. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/30 "2006-05-17T21:34:21Z")
> [@Asylum](#): > > Not the best cite, but I read an issue of Maxim or FHM where they tried that “recipe” out and it didn’t work. I believe it was 1:1 OJ and gasoline. They switched it to 1:2 or 2:1 and it worked great. I would imagine the filmakers muffed the ratio on purpose. That’s exactly what they did, muffed the proportions. You can use lots of different household substances to jel gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/31 "2006-05-17T22:59:08Z")
The David Mamet film [House of Games](http://imdb.com/title/tt0093223/) is about small-time con-men, and in one scene a sleight-of-hand ‘graft’ is demonstrated by RL con expert Ricky Jay. According to the trivia page for this movie, Mamet wanted Jay to demonstrate a real con trick, but Jay refused - not wanting to ruin the “livelihood” of his fellow con artists (apparently there is _some_ honor among thieves). Jay created an entirely new sleight-of-hand trick to be demonstrated in the film. After the film was released, the LAPD nabbed at least one guy who attempted to pull off the con depicted in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/32 "2006-05-17T23:31:54Z")
I’m not a physicist, so I can’t tell what was omitted, but in Frederick Forsyth’s book the Fourth Protocol - [http://www.whirlnet.co.uk/forsyth/](http://www.whirlnet.co.uk/forsyth/) - (terrorist builds a mini-atomic bomb), the introduction in the book I read said that the author purposely left out one of the steps in the making of the atomic bomb. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/33 "2006-05-17T23:55:39Z")
In Stephen King’s short story, **Dolan’s Cadillac** , there’s a long detailed scene of how to hotwire a piece of construction equipment. In the afterword, King states that the info he gave was bogus, and following his directions would not allow you to hotwire a bulldozer. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/34 "2006-05-18T03:28:29Z")
It’s rumored that _The Anarchist’s Cookbook_ used to contain real, working recipes for drugs and explosives, but the government forced the publishers to change the recipes so they wouldn’t work. I’ve never read the book myself, however, and even if I did I’d probably never actually try out any recipes. I can barely manage canned soup, for God’s sake 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/35 "2006-05-18T04:08:52Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > It’s rumored that _The Anarchist’s Cookbook_ used to contain real, working recipes for drugs and explosives, but the government forced the publishers to change the recipes so they wouldn’t work. I’ve never read the book myself, however, and even if I did I’d probably never actually try out any recipes. I can barely manage canned soup, for God’s sake 😉 Cecil wrote a column that talks about it a little: [Will Smoking Banana Peels Get You High?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020426.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/36 "2006-05-18T07:32:40Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > It’s rumored that _The Anarchist’s Cookbook_ used to contain real, working recipes for drugs and explosives, but the government forced the publishers to change the recipes so they wouldn’t work. My father once took the chance to leaf through a copy of the Cookbook that a friend of the family had, and spotted at least a couple of parts that, if they weren’t actually _sabotaged,_ were just really reckless and clumsy. (IIRC, one of the pipe bomb recipes involved pouring blackpowder into a pipe casing, and then just screwing a steel cap onto the bare metal pipe threads.) I’d lean towards the “author didn’t know what he was doing” explaination before “eevil conspiracy by The Man,” myself. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/37 "2006-05-18T07:43:59Z")
\ _Misinformation_, properly used, means information you _don’t know_ is no good. Deliberately planted misinformation is better known as _disinformation._ \ ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/38 "2006-05-19T16:23:18Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’d argue that, for a high-tech action spy flick like M:I:III, super-satellites that can make out amazing resolution on ground objects are as much a part of the genre as FTL drives are for Star Trek. If we were talking about a movie based on a John LeCarre book, it’d be different, but this is more James Bond. Fancy, impossible gadgets are part of the fun. I don’t think it’s usually presented as a fanciful technical impossibility, though. It’s hard to explain, but it always feels like they’re using stuff they really think is viable technology. > [@Asylum](#): > > Not the best cite, but I read an issue of Maxim or FHM where they tried that “recipe” out and it didn’t work. I believe it was 1:1 OJ and gasoline. They switched it to 1:2 or 2:1 and it worked great. I would imagine the filmakers muffed the ratio on purpose. I can’t cite, as I gave my ex my copy of the book and she currently has it halfway up the state…but I seem to remember there was a pretty detailed description of how to do it. I remember reading it and thinking, “I should go make some nitroglycerin! Wait, I’m 18. I could get in big trouble for that.” > [@ivylass](#): > > In the afterword, King states that the info he gave was bogus, and following his directions would not allow you to hotwire a bulldozer. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the info was good and he just said this so people wouldn’t try it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/39 "2006-05-19T16:59:52Z")
I think that first quote by **fetus** was probably meant to be in a different thread. And seeing as there’s about fifty bazillion different works calling themselves the Anarchist’s Cookbook, and how most of those works are produced by people who have a willful disregard for what the Feds say, I think it’s highly unlikely that the errors one might find in such a book were put there by the government. Seeing also as said authors tend to have a willful disregard for _anything_ they regard as “authorities”, it’s highly _likely_ that they might, though incompetence, include things which aren’t likely to work, or which are likely to be as dangerous or more so to the person making them than to others. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053/40 "2006-05-19T23:43:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that first quote by fetus was probably meant to be in a different thread. You’re just narrow-minded. No, seriously, it was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberately-planted-misinformation-in-movies-and-tv/357053.md?page=3)