# Inaccuracies that bother you most and least **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050 "2022-06-28T16:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/181 "2022-06-30T20:34:51Z")
I thought of that too. Aside from being exceptionally heavy (it was mostly steel instead of aluminum), the Foxbat was specifically designed as a point-defense interceptor. IIRC, it could remain airborne for about a half hour before it ran out of fuel. ---
**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 30, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/182 "2022-06-30T20:38:05Z")
“Shut up, Mr. Gumby!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/183 "2022-06-30T20:51:12Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It occurs to me most people wouldn’t know that episode of _ **Magnum** _ was based on a true story, also from.the '70s. (The defector flew his MiG to Japan, not Hawaii.) I remember that after all of the build-up and apprehension we had over the MiG-25, once we had the aircraft we found out it was a piece of junk. I remember one authority saying, ‘Yes, it’s fast… in a straight line.’ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/184 "2022-06-30T20:51:29Z")
I saw _ **Drop Dead Fred** _ after I’d been living for some time in Czechoslovakia. Watching Phoebe Cates lose her job at the beginning of the film, I was immediately transported back to the Hennepin Mall in Minneapolis! Later on, I was amazed at how downtown St Paul was just a stone’s throw away down the MIssissippi. (It ain’t!) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/185 "2022-06-30T20:55:04Z")
My favorite story is how the analysts couldn’t figure out what all those brown blotches on the fuselage were until they tried slapping a magnet on it. They were rust—the plane was made of steel! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/186 "2022-06-30T20:55:47Z")
Of course. It was from behind the Iron Curtain. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/187 "2022-06-30T21:05:28Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You don’t have to be born in Alaska for this one. It’s pretty much a universal experience to be watching a movie set in a location you’re familiar with, which is obviously not that location. I can pretty much look at a picture of mountain scenery and tell if it’s in Alaska or not. Not every time, but most of the time. It’s not specific to a place I’ve been; it’s just knowing what the terrain looks like. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/188 "2022-06-30T21:05:37Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > t’s surprising how clean you can get with a rock. Sand works well too, as any Bedouin will tell you. 😖 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/189 "2022-06-30T21:08:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Funny you should mention this. I was watching **this clip** earlier today and thinking “Is _that_ how Alaska looks? Looks more like California to me.” Yeah, not even close to being AK. Looks maybe like somewhere in the Sierras. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/190 "2022-06-30T21:11:49Z")
Speaking of bizarre geography---- I be little a vague not to spoil a 50+ year old movie BUT I somewhat baffled how the famous statue in the end scene of the original _Planet of The Apes_ ended up in the location it was found because there is no Geographic location like that on the East Coast of North America. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/191 "2022-06-30T21:17:19Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > eah, not even close to being AK. Looks maybe like somewhere in the Sierras. Nailed it. From Wiki: Shooting[[edit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=North_to_Alaska&action=edit§ion=6)] Shooting began in May 1960 under the title _Go North_. Most of the film was shot in [Point Mugu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Mugu), California.[[16]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_to_Alaska#cite_note-16) The Wayne and Granger “honeymoon” cabin scenes were filmed along steaming Hot Creek near volcanic [Mammoth Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Mountain). [Mt. Morrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Morrison_(California)) appears in the background of many views. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/192 "2022-06-30T21:31:50Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I be little a vague not to spoil a 50+ year old movie BUT I somewhat baffled how the famous statue in the end scene of the original _Planet of The Apes_ ended up in the location it was found because there is no Geographic location like that on the East Coast of North America. I have figured it out! See, the first clue is where the ship crashes. It looks like Lake Powell. Could even be Lake Mead. Then Taylor runs around, rides some horses, but doesn’t go far. So how did he end up on the east coast, to find the Statue of Liberty? Easy! He didn’t find THE SoL, but the one in Las Vegas! [![](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/57/99/12/statue-of-liberty-at.jpg) ](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/57/99/12/statue-of-liberty-at.jpg) It all fits! “You blew it up! Damn you all to hell! I LOVED the $3.00 prime rib dinner!” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/193 "2022-06-30T21:43:54Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Hennepin Mall _Nicollet_, not Hennepin. Yeesh! 😖 ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/194 "2022-06-30T21:57:29Z")
Inaccuracies generally only bother me if they portray something in an unfairly negative light, or could have serious real-life consequences. For instance, the movie _Double Jeopardy,_ which falsely teaches that you can try to commit murder and get away with it under the guise of “can’t be in double jeopardy,” could have legitimately gotten people murdered in real life. Or if a movie were to teach that insulin raises blood sugar, or that O people can receive all blood types, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/195 "2022-06-30T22:28:23Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Speaking of bizarre geography---- > > I be little a vague not to spoil a 50+ year old movie BUT I somewhat baffled how the famous statue in the end scene of the original _Planet of The Apes_ ended up in the location it was found because there is no Geographic location like that on the East Coast of North America. Sure there is. Right next to the towering cliffs of coastal Virginia, as featured in _Pocahontas._ ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/196 "2022-06-30T23:05:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It occurs to me most people wouldn’t know that episode of _ **Magnum** _ was based on a true story, also from.the '70s. (The defector flew his MiG to Japan, not Hawaii.) The pilot was Viktor Belenko. His biography, “Mig Pilot” was very good. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/197 "2022-06-30T23:44:50Z")
A lot of the types of inaccuracies mentioned here don’t bother me much, unless they are so bad that they become funny and disrupt the flow of the scene. As a computer guy, I don’t care that the UIs aren’t accurate, as I get the goal is to be clear to the audience. I just accept that either (a) that’s how these work in this fictional universe or (b) there is some sort of “translation” layer in effect to help the audience. Only when we wound up with, say, two hackers typing on a keyboard while shouting random tech sounding words did it bother me, and only because I can’t stop laughing at what is supposed to be a tense scene. Similarly, I rarely notice if things don’t appear to be filmed where they’re supposed to be, and if I do it’s just during a lull where I wasn’t doing anything. I rarely notice when people aren’t actually playing their instruments unless they focus on them, and then I get over it. Only if it was egregiously wrong to the point of comedy would it bother me. No, the types of things that do bother me tend to be stuff that is inconsistent within that fictional universe. Granted, most of the time, if they’re small, I can make it work in my head once I notice. (e.g. actor was wrong, this is a special case, they left ou this little detail, things have changed, and so on) But even thinking about that can be distracting. Ideally I don’t notice until after something is over—which happens when the show is engaging. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/198 "2022-07-01T00:01:29Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > When was the book written/set? Still no football team but Queens ( and some other CUNY campuses) now have housing. Pretty much the present. The housing at Queens college is a privately run apartment building close to campus. The context of the book made it clear that the housing specified was a dorm since a dean had something to do with it. Private dormlike places for universities are nothing new, Illinois had some in the mid-70s. In any case, I doubt too many people living in Queens would even think of getting an apartment there. The bus system is too good. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/199 "2022-07-01T00:10:26Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Well, ignorance fought. I should have been suspicious when the Wallace Clan had nothing about that in [The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People](https://books.google.com/books?id=FNTFJ1aqXcwC&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310&dq=The+Intimate+Sex+Lives+of+Famous+People+napoleon&source=bl&ots=74smvXTyWA&sig=ACfU3U3EvEta0-ojXMCys25p9s9MUYR3_A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMluau2dP4AhVODEQIHXMWC9EQ6AF6BAgXEAI#v=onepage&q=The%20Intimate%20Sex%20Lives%20of%20Famous%20People%20napoleon&f=false). Elsewhere I’ve read that Napoleon performed the deed like a fireman attacking a housefire; more consistent with a “just get it over with” approach. I don’t know how true this is, but in a book about dogs in history it said that Josephine’s dog attacked Napoleon in a very inconvenient place on their wedding night. So maybe he had a reason for getting it over with in the future. > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Sure there is. Right next to the towering cliffs of coastal Virginia, as featured in _Pocahontas._ Or the mountains of Illinois between Champaign and Chicago as shown in the monster movie “Beginning of the End.” When I was at the U of I was in an sf club and we showed that every year as part of our movie fundraiser series. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/200 "2022-07-01T00:18:34Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Only when we wound up with, say, two hackers typing on a keyboard while shouting random tech sounding words did it bother me, I was wondering how long it’d be before someone mentioned that scene. I mean, OK, magical “Hacking”, that could only be countered by another magical “Hacker” typing away furiously at the same time, I can (with some effort) suspend my disbelief that far. But, the writers… They’ve, um, seen a computer before, at some point in their lives? I assume? How could anyone get it that wrong? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050.md?page=11)