# 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:** 18
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/341 "2022-07-11T17:35:43Z")
That’s not what I meant, but that was a good one, too. What I was referring to was scenes where the car is supposedly moving, but the shift lever is obviously in Park. One example: In _Planes, Trains, and Automobiles_ when the couple is yelling “You’re going the wrong way!” you can see the position of their car’s shift lever, and it’s clearly in park even though they’re supposed to be driving down the freeway. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/342 "2022-07-11T17:37:09Z")
I don’t notice many of these things, and I ignore a lot of them too. A lot of movies would be ruined for me if I didn’t do that. Plot holes can bother me a lot I guess. So the one that I can’t ignore is outrunning explosions. You have to believe if you just had a fast enough car, motorcycle, or feet along with a brief head start and that explosion can’t catch up to you. Or just duck around a corner and you’ll be fine because explosions can’t make turns. I have to admit by the time his happens in a movie you are quite aware it’s not a top quality production. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/343 "2022-07-11T17:51:43Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > not to mention the ridiculousness of someone standing there for fifteen minutes listening to his summery answering every question without a lawyer present or invoking his right to silence. Oh I love The Closer, but in almost all their episodes (and a lot of Columbo, too) they would never get a conviction if the suspect would JUST SHUT UP! As for the amazing card changing trick, I sadly admit I saw none of the changes, but I can always catch when the clock jumps around during an interrogation scene, or the cigarette ash disappears in closeups, or when the white 1970 Challenger turns into a Camaro after it hits the bulldozers. 🙂 I always wonder if I would have seen the dancing bear, if I hadn’t been told about it first. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/344 "2022-07-11T17:54:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Oh I love The Closer, but in almost all their episodes (and a lot of Columbo, too) they would never get a conviction if the suspect would JUST SHUT UP! Based on my summer internship with the public defender and my conversations with friends who work there now, that’s…not an inaccuracy. 😉 ---
**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:** [July 11, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/345 "2022-07-11T18:03:28Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > that’s…not an inaccuracy. 😲 Typical Adam-12 episode: Malloy: “Do you wish to give up your right to remain silent?” Suspect: “Yeah, sure. I did it. And all those other robberies, too.” ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/346 "2022-07-11T18:34:22Z")
I’m being a bit flippant, of course, but it’s (to a defense attorney) maddeningly common for an accused person to blow the whole case from the get-go by being unable or unwilling to shut up. I saw that a lot in my dependency work, too. Client would swear to me she didn’t do meth and the test was wrong, I’d line up experts to attest to that (instead of building a defense around “yes, your honor, the mother did use meth but she’s in treatment now and there are reasonable means to protect her children without removing them from her care,”) and then she’d break down and confess to the social worker on the eve of trial that, yeah, she was totally doing meth. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/347 "2022-07-11T19:24:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Oh I love The Closer, but in almost all their episodes (and a lot of Columbo, too) they would never get a conviction if the suspect would JUST SHUT UP! At least that’s not as bad as confessing ON THE WITNESS STAND, like in Perry Mason. ---
**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 11, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/348 "2022-07-11T19:30:50Z")
I imagine it’s not too different from how it is with teachers. So often when I confront students about misbehaviors, the answer to “Did you do it?” isn’t “no”; it’s “It was so-and-so’s fault I did it!”. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/349 "2022-07-11T19:52:47Z")
There have been cases in the real world, where the defendant took the stand in his own defense, but under cross-examination, ended up confessing. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/350 "2022-07-11T20:04:06Z")
Yes, it’s amazing how often drinks get spiked with meth instead of, you know, roofies or other sedatives. 😉 There was actually one client I believed on that, and still do. He was the non-offending parent who had the child in his care after she was removed from her mother due to the mother’s addiction. He had no history of substance abuse, was employed, and generally struck me as a straight shooter and a decent guy. The mother and her family, on the other hand, were vindictive, batshit liars who blamed him for the mother losing custody instead of, you know, thanking him for keeping the daughter out of foster care. (He wasn’t even the one who dropped the dime on mom; child welfare found out about her drug problem because she got arrested.) They started calling the social worker, telling her that he needed to be drug tested too because he was definitely using. The social worker, not really having enough evidence to get a court order, asked him if he was willing, and he complied. When he came up positive (for a trace amount of opioids), he was dumbfounded, but then mentioned that he’d taken the child to the family home for a visit two days prior, and he hadn’t kept a close eye on his drink the whole time. He agreed to test a few more times, and all his subsequent tests were clean. I wouldn’t believe it if it was anyone else, but even the social worker seemed to concede it was possible, and didn’t pursue trying to remove the kid from him. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/351 "2022-07-11T20:36:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So often when I confront students about misbehaviors, the answer to “Did you do it?” isn’t “no”; it’s “It was so-and-so’s fault I did it!”. Reminds me of Bill Cosby (in the 60’s when he was funny): “Listen! I didn’t put the bullet in the furnace and stop talking about my mother!” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/352 "2022-09-03T19:52:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So often when I confront students about misbehaviors, the answer to “Did you do it?” isn’t “no”; it’s “It was so-and-so’s fault I did it!” That happened to me once, with an adult. I came back from a trip, and something was wrong with my dog’s tail. She normally carried it curled up on her back, and it was hanging straight down. So I asked the person I’d paid to watch her if anything happened, and she replied, more or less (it was a long time ago) “I don’t know how her tail got caught in the door, and I didn’t do it.” Vet said over the phone to give the dog an aspirin. She was fine the next day. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/353 "2022-09-03T21:58:34Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > Based on my summer internship with the public defender and my conversations with friends who work there now, that’s…not an inaccuracy. 😉 In the Homicide Life on the Streets book the Baltimore cops said that their life would be much harder if perps learned to shut up. As for Colombo, the whole point was that the killer was so convinced that they were smarter than Colombo that they enjoyed playing with him - right up to the point where he nails them. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/354 "2022-09-04T00:16:31Z")
I suspect this guy has had one or two people accidentally confess. > **[Lawyer Posts Hilarious Legal Tips Based On Things That Actually Happened...](https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-free-legal-tips-lawyer-l-scott-briscoe/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic)** > > So you've committed a crime and you've just been caught. Now what? Well, apart from taking some precious time out to reflect upon your dumbass life choices, you're going to need some legal advice. Better call Saul! But if he's busy then we'd... He’s got a Facebook page with all his free tips. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/355 "2022-09-04T08:47:22Z")
Someone upthread mentioned CPR/chest compressions. I’m willing to overlook the depth of the compression, as it’s done to not inflict any injury/pain/abnormal heart rhythms on the actor playing the patient. An episode of _Psych_ pulled me right out of the scene, however, when someone was pretending to be the patient during a recertification class, and was told that the person performing CPR _HAD_ to practice on a living, conscious person to get his certificate. That’s a HUGE no-no. So is doing chest compressions on a person who is actively talking to you. But that’s something that one of my EMT coworkers actually started doing, not anything I witnessed on-screen. ---
**Author:** ![Unforgiven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7bcc69/32.png) [@Unforgiven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unforgiven)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/356 "2022-09-04T14:05:51Z")
Vera in Firefly doesn’t bother me much. However, there is one thing in Firefly that drives me absolutely bonkers. In the pilot, when they first encounter the Reaver ship the two ships are on opposite courses and wind up going right past each other like two cars passing at night on the road. These ships are supposed to be moving through space between planets in a solar system within days or weeks. That would imply speeds of at least hundreds of thousands of MPH. Nevertheless, these ships pass each other in a tense period of several minutes like two seafaring super tankers easing through port trying not to hit each other. This is pretty common in Sci Fi, but that’s the most patently offensive example that I recall. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/357 "2022-09-04T14:12:17Z")
> [@Unforgiven](#): > > That would imply speeds of at least hundreds of thousands of MPH. Nevertheless, these ships pass each other in a tense period of several minutes like two seafaring super tankers easing through port trying not to hit each other. This is pretty common in Sci Fi, but that’s the most patently offensive example that I recall. - If they showed it at real speed, it wouldn’t be very interesting now, would it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/358 "2022-09-04T15:02:15Z")
I saw a _CSI_ once where a cop started doing compressions IMMEDIATELY on someone who passed out, without checking pulse or breathing. THEN, while the cop was DOING the compressions, a CSI checked the guy’s wrist and said “He’s got a pulse,” at which point, the cop stopped doing the compressions. Seriously, the person who directed that didn’t have to take “Healthy & Safety” in high school? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/359 "2022-09-04T15:08:33Z")
While you should check first, you won’t actually damage the heart if the heart is still beating. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050/360 "2022-09-04T15:13:51Z")
I’m laughing more at someone checking the pulse _while someone else is doing compressions_. Granted that a “pulse” induced by chest compressions might not register to someone feeling the wrist, I still found it funny. These weren’t people who came across an accident scene while out for ice cream. These were people who were regularly retrained on this, and more than anyone other than military medics & EMTs, probably had opportunities to perform it IRL. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccuracies-that-bother-you-most-and-least/967050.md?page=19)