# Everyone gets this wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [June 3, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166 "2025-06-03T15:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/169 "2025-06-06T01:21:53Z")
No worries, I worded it poorly. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/170 "2025-06-06T03:14:01Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Until the Federation is run by the workers and not a hierarchy of elites, it is not socialist. “The Federation of Planets” is run by a super-advanced AGI which makes the bio-drone units believe they are ‘exploring’ by creating highly contrived plots that are readily resolved by getting the ship’s computer to perform elaborate analyses based upon nebulous prompts and unclear goals despite often posing an existential threat to an entire ship, planet, or sector, or indeed the entire galaxy. Even ‘the hierarchy of elites’ clearly have no idea how anything actually works. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/171 "2025-06-06T06:17:30Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > This reverses his own temporal arrow so he is travelling backwards in time. This condition would presumably persist indefinitely until Supses reverses the process. Yep, that is consistent with what we see on the screen - it’s not that going very fast makes you go back, it’s that going fast, around the earth in an east-west circle makes time go in reverse and stay in a reverse flowing direction, whereas going fast in a west-east circle around the earth turns it back to a forward-flowing direction. This also appears to be a continuous function, so it seems like there could have been a point where Supes could have _stopped_ going fast, and time would just be stopped, or would be flowing in one direction or the other at less than 1x speed ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/172 "2025-06-06T07:16:34Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Until the Federation is run by the workers and not a hierarchy of elites, it is not socialist. No society _can_ be run by workers, because if people are running things they aren’t workers anymore. It’s a paradoxical requirement. Not to mention that in Trek I’m pretty sure that would mean that the replicators were secretly in charge of everything. That said the governmental structure of the Federation is kept vague enough that I’d hesitate to put a label on it. I mean, do we even know if it’s democratic? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/173 "2025-06-06T08:30:25Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not quite sure what you mean As Horatius indicated - you missed the chance to correct the mis-spelling of Westley - a frequent mistake. Although not as frequent as my own personal gripe, ignorant people ranting about how their infant child could paint a [Jackson Pollack](https://boards.straightdope.com/search?q=Jackson+Pollack). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/174 "2025-06-06T12:12:58Z")
Wait a minute, aren’t you dead? 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/175 "2025-06-06T12:55:01Z")
This is getting on a tangent but the Federation is indeed a Socialist Utopia. Everyone’s basic needs are met for free if you want them. Work is done because you want to do it not because you have to. You can opt into Capitalism but don’t need to to live. And in top of all that you have all the basic freedoms and security that a functioning and thriving society requires. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2025, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/176 "2025-06-06T12:59:07Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Although not as frequent as my own personal gripe, ignorant people ranting about how their infant child could paint a [Jackson Pollack](https://boards.straightdope.com/search?q=Jackson+Pollack). Only slightly less well-known than “Never get involved in a land war in Asia”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/177 "2025-06-06T13:53:53Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > It’s not clear to me how well crosses work in the Buffyverse. Some vampires aren’t affected by them (don’t we see a vampire gang holed up in a church in one episode?). Angel being a 19th century Irish vampire might be a particularly vulnerable one. He’s certainly scared of holy water (as when Cordy faced off Angelus) They work in Buffy. I don’t think it is inconsistent. They work by burning vampires and I guess there is a strong phobia as well. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/178 "2025-06-06T13:56:30Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think you can hand wave that Indiana Jones is still able to survive adventures when he is in his 80s as a side effect of drinking from the Holy Grail. Oh, of course he can. And then, when re-aired or streamed endlessly, he enjoys what is commonly know as The Residual Effect. 😃 – Places mic gently onto the floor because respect for the Sound department– ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/179 "2025-06-06T13:56:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > They work in Buffy. I don’t think it is inconsistent. They work by burning vampires and I guess there is a strong phobia as well. I just looked up quickly and somewhere said there are some older, stronger vampires than can touch crosses without damage. I don’t remember any in the show. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/180 "2025-06-06T14:00:54Z")
FWIW, in the book **’salem’s Lot** , Barlow, the main vampire, just grabs the cross right out of Father Callahan’s hand. The father has lost his faith and the cross has no power. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/181 "2025-06-06T14:09:06Z")
The same happens in the movie, **Fright Night**. Roddy McDowell presents a cross to the Big Bad, who laughs and says, “You have to have faith, old man.” Roddy McDowell then closes his eyes (trusting god, I guess), and the cross works. **Fright Night** was criminally underrated. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/182 "2025-06-06T14:09:34Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > FWIW, in the book **’salem’s Lot** , Barlow, the main vampire, just grabs the cross right out of Father Callahan’s hand. The father has lost his faith and the cross has no power This is common idea as well. What movie is that from the 80’s(Fright Night?) where a guy holds out his cross and the vampire says, “That only works if you believe.” Dude waits a moment, internally decides he believes, and holds it out again. It works. Was that Fright Night? I can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/183 "2025-06-06T14:11:26Z")
100% correct, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/184 "2025-06-06T14:16:57Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > a guy holds out his cross and the vampire says, “That only works if you believe.” If it’s not really working because I don’t believe it works, it’s a bad choice to tell me that **yes sir, it absolutely does work, I’m confirming 100% that this thing will harm me just as long as you believe**. Telling me it will definitely work… that’s the sort of thing that would cause me to believe. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/185 "2025-06-06T14:17:51Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > “That only works if you believe.” > > Dude waits a moment, internally decides he believes, and holds it out again. > > It works. Exactly: It works only if you believe. So belief has a REAL effect? Therefore OF COURSE I believe ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/186 "2025-06-06T14:22:52Z")
> [@Maus\_Magill](#): > > The same happens in the movie, **Fright Night**. Roddy McDowell presents a cross to the Big Bad, who laughs and says, “You have to have faith, old man.” From Dusk to Dawn touches on this as well. George Clooney’s character says that Harvey Keitel’s character, who is a lapsed minister, could turn regular water into a weapon, if he still believed enough to bless it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/187 "2025-06-06T14:23:47Z")
I’ll do you one better; encountering a real-life vampire would immediately reverse my atheism. This strikes me as funny: earlier in **’salem’s Lot** , the hero and his doctor friend go to the local morgue to confirm a vampire’s existence. They make crosses out of tongue depressors and douse them in Holy Water and Bob’s yer uncle. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166/188 "2025-06-06T14:30:39Z")
> [@Maus\_Magill](#): > > The same happens in the movie, **Fright Night**. Roddy McDowell presents a cross to the Big Bad, who laughs and says, “You have to have faith, old man.” > > Roddy McDowell then closes his eyes (trusting god, I guess), and the cross works. My favorite example was in the Dresden Files books, where Michael goes to a vampire masquerade party in his armor, heavily adorned with crosses. The vampires have apparently gotten so used to people wearing crosses without faith, that they assume that the armor’s completely harmless to them. Their mistake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyone-gets-this-wrong/1019166.md?page=9)