# Do You Ever Pause a Movie To Read The Screen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417 "2019-02-12T19:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/1 "2019-02-12T19:22:15Z")
To read something on the screen? I notice doing this especially in an older movie, where there is a newspaper large enough. I’ll pause, and make out the headlines, etc… Sometimes I’ll do the same if it’s in a big city, 1950s, to read the movie title on the marquee, and just signs in general - wondering what they sold, if some companies are around today, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/2 "2019-02-12T19:44:53Z")
More and more, since my old eyes are getting worse and worse. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/3 "2019-02-12T19:49:00Z")
Yes, absolutely. TV shows, too. I always hope the newspaper articles, etc. will be plot-relevant and not just filler text. Occasionally, they even are. I’d like to give a shout-out here to an old kid’s show called So Weird - they were very good about having actual text (sometimes including information you woulnd’t find out until later episodes) and attention to detail in those sort of props. For background stuff - occasionally, but not that often. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/4 "2019-02-12T19:53:19Z")
Two words: Buster Scruggs. Before and after each story, the Coen brothers show the beginning or end of the scene printed in an antique book. Functions as an intro and an epilog if you pause. It’d be annoying if I were watching with someone else, so I control myself, and don’t hunt for easter eggs in the background of scenes then. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/5 "2019-02-12T20:19:15Z")
I forgot to mention prices – especially gas, which usually have a big sign on the corner for the viewer to see, but also inside the store. I’ll use the inflation calculator to compare, just like I do when I hear about a guy getting $10 a day for labor. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/6 "2019-02-12T20:30:20Z")
Sometimes you have to. The gags are so dense in many scenes in **who Framed Roger Rabbit** (especially in the Toon Town segments) that the only way to get them all is to pause frequently and look around. My favotite is the crash scene that Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) finds himself in when he arrives in Toon Town. Incredibly complex scene. One of the trucks is market “Acme OverUsed Gag” ---- Not merely “Used Gags”. They’re OVER-Used Gags. Later on, in the alley, there are signs warning “Watch out for Falling Anvils” and an advertisement for “Porky’s All-Beef Sausage”. Think about it\*. \*It’s sort of the natural complement to the picture hanging on the wall in the original “Three Little Pigs” cartoon from Disney in which there’s a picture on the wall showing “Father” – only t’s a link sausage. > **[r/MovieDetails - In "The Three Little Pigs", their father is memorialised in the...](https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/6w218e/in_the_three_little_pigs_their_father_is/)** > > 4,222 votes and 33 comments so far on Reddit ---
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/7 "2019-02-12T21:23:07Z")
Yes, but more TV shows than movies. “The Good Place” has a lot of background sight gags, and that’s a show that I pause a lot. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/8 "2019-02-13T01:58:58Z")
I’ll pause a movie or TV show when they’re handling money. I like seeing if they’re using real cash or movie prop money. Sometimes the fake money looks _really_ fake, and other times it’s very close to the real thing. I’ll also pause if they’re using coins, such as in an old western or historical show. It’s hilarious when a show has Abraham Lincoln spend an Indian Head penny, which was introduced in 1877. About 1985 or so, the local PBS station used to run a show about news around the world. I don’t recall much about it, but the last ten seconds were screen shots of the English version of Pravda, about half a second per page. You were to record it on your VCR and pause the tape to read it. It was pretty cool back in the pre-Internet era. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/9 "2019-02-13T05:40:51Z")
I also look at strteet signs and see if I can find the location on Googlemaps. See how much the location has changed. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/10 "2019-02-13T12:53:54Z")
I like seeing the new headlines with all the old stories running underneath. Things like “Tax Code Under Fire.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/11 "2019-02-13T13:07:01Z")
I sometimes pause to look at clocks. A few directors like to have clocks reading 4:20 as an “in joke”. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/12 "2019-02-13T13:18:34Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I’ll pause a movie or TV show when they’re handling money. I like seeing if they’re using real cash or movie prop money. Sometimes the fake money looks _really_ fake, and other times it’s very close to the real thing. > > I’ll also pause if they’re using coins, such as in an old western or historical show. It’s hilarious when a show has Abraham Lincoln spend an Indian Head penny, which was introduced in 1877. > > About 1985 or so, the local PBS station used to run a show about news around the world. I don’t recall much about it, but the last ten seconds were screen shots of the English version of Pravda, about half a second per page. You were to record it on your VCR and pause the tape to read it. It was pretty cool back in the pre-Internet era. Is it just me, or did EVERYTHING back in the day cost a simple coin. I also noticed when a guy walks into a bar and buys something, he’s never told the cost. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/13 "2019-02-13T13:35:14Z")
I also zoom and enhance, too. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/14 "2019-02-13T18:12:13Z")
All the time. Shows like Community have a lot of gags on the whiteboard in the study room and other places. ---
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/15 "2019-02-14T16:56:35Z")
On a related note, I saw this article a few days ago. Interestingly, the story seems get repeated every couple years. [https://reelrundown.com/film-industry/Same-newspaper-prop-in-different-movies](https://reelrundown.com/film-industry/Same-newspaper-prop-in-different-movies) I’ll hit the pause button whenever I see a newspaper now. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/16 "2019-02-15T14:45:22Z")
Looking at the trivia on IMDB shows that many people do. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/17 "2019-02-15T14:53:16Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > About 1985 or so, the local PBS station used to run a show about news around the world. I don’t recall much about it, but the last ten seconds were **screen shots of the English version of Pravda, about half a second per page. You were to record it on your VCR and pause the tape to read it.** It was pretty cool back in the pre-Internet era. Gorbachev sings sings tractors! Turnips! Buttocks! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/18 "2019-02-15T15:52:50Z")
Yeah, all the time, especially when they show newspapers and computer screens. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I also look at strteet signs and see if I can find the location on Googlemaps. See how much the location has changed. Me, too. I do that when I watch _Spenser: For Hire_, filmed in Boston in the late Eighties. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/19 "2019-02-15T16:38:14Z")
> [@uncle\_squeegee](#): > > Yes, but more TV shows than movies. “The Good Place” has a lot of background sight gags, and that’s a show that I pause a lot. _BoJack Horseman_ is also full of joke signs, not to mention a lot of joke action going on in the background. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417/20 "2019-02-15T17:09:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I sometimes pause to look at clocks. A few directors like to have clocks reading 4:20 as an “in joke”. One of the things that **bugs** me are inconsistent clocks. Like, two people are having a conversation in an OTS shot, and one of them is showing a clock behind. With each cut to him/her, the clock is different, depending on which take they used. For Og’s sake, if you can’t be assed to remove the clock from the shot, unplug the damn thing. To get to the OP’s question, I do, but not generally on the first pass through a movie so as not to disturb the flow of the narrative – _unless_ it looks like an Important Clue. On the second watching, or umpteenth for an old favorite, yeah, I read newspaper stories, look at old posters, catch background bits – you name it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pause-a-movie-to-read-the-screen/829417.md?page=2)