# Moments that ruin suspension of disbelief \*spoilers!\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902 "2011-02-28T11:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/121 "2011-03-08T20:18:15Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > I was just reminded of this thread last night while watching old Alfred Hitchcock Presents re-runs. In the days when that show was filmed, it was illegal to depict money on television. Whenever it changes hands, you see funny-looking frills and squiggles, and it yanks me out of the narrative like a visible zipper on the monster costume. Do you have a cite for it being illegal to show money on television? At that time, I mean? ---
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/122 "2011-03-08T20:38:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Do you have a cite for it being illegal to show money on television? At that time, I mean? There was a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=148360) about this several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/123 "2011-03-08T21:57:08Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > There was a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=148360) about this several years ago. That thread was non conclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/124 "2011-03-08T21:58:44Z")
_Misery_. When the writer played by that Italian guy (Paul something maybe? I forget his name) smashes Kathy Bates’s character’s head with a sledgehammer, you can CLEARLY tell that it’s a wax head. I laughed my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/125 "2011-03-08T22:08:40Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > _Misery_. When the writer played by that Italian guy (Paul something maybe? I forget his name) smashes Kathy Bates’s character’s head with a sledgehammer, you can CLEARLY tell that it’s a wax head. I laughed my ass off. Wasn’t James Caan the actor? ---
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/126 "2011-03-08T22:09:53Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Wasn’t James Caan the actor? Yeah. The character’s name was Paul Sheldon. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/127 "2011-03-08T22:16:37Z")
Not only is James Caan not Italian (he’s Jewish and his parents are German), but he never hit Annie (Kathy Bates) with a sledgehammer. He hits her over the head with his typewriter, then they fight and he ultimately kills her with her pig statue. _She_ hits _him_ with a sledgehammer to break his ankles, so maybe that’s what you’re thinking of? 😕 ---
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/128 "2011-03-08T22:33:31Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Not only is James Caan not Italian… No, but he plays one on TV. 😉 ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/129 "2011-03-09T02:43:24Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Not only is James Caan not Italian (he’s Jewish and his parents are German), but he never hit Annie (Kathy Bates) with a sledgehammer. He hits her over the head with his typewriter, then they fight and he ultimately kills her with her pig statue. _She_ hits _him_ with a sledgehammer to break his ankles, so maybe that’s what you’re thinking of? 😕 Yeah, but that wasn’t wax, so what could that poster have been thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/130 "2011-03-09T04:05:52Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yeah, but that wasn’t wax, so what could that poster have been thinking of? That’s kind of my point; I have no idea what she was thinking of. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/131 "2011-03-09T04:25:20Z")
When Annie takes the sledgehammer to Paul’s ankles, it’s obviously a rubber set of legs. Maybe that’s what the poster meant. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/132 "2011-03-09T04:43:03Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I sometimes wonder the opposite - if Temple Grandin for example, might not also look fairly attractive with studio makeup under studio lighting… That could be interesting- it would be like a reverse _Mask_. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/133 "2011-03-09T13:10:37Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Not only is James Caan not Italian (he’s Jewish and his parents are German), but he never hit Annie (Kathy Bates) with a sledgehammer. He hits her over the head with his typewriter, then they fight and he ultimately kills her with her pig statue. _She_ hits _him_ with a sledgehammer to break his ankles, so maybe that’s what you’re thinking of? 😕 Yeah my mistake about the typewriter. Shitty memory, sorry ☹ But I do think James Caan looks like a short, stocky Italian guy. ---
**Author:** ![Pandoranoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce73a5/32.png) [@Pandoranoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pandoranoid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/134 "2011-03-09T16:19:20Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I sometimes wonder the opposite - if Temple Grandin for example, might not also look fairly attractive with studio makeup under studio lighting… This is going to make me sound like the perfect shallow bitch( and god knows I’m no ravishing beauty myself), but in Grandin’s case, I think it would take more than clever lighting and make-up for her to look as conventionally attractive as Claire Danes. [Fixed link.](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://stalecheerios.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/temple-grandin-with-horse.jpg&imgrefurl=http://stalecheerios.com/blog/training-videos/temple-grandin-movie-review/&h=361&w=300&sz=26&tbnid=ELqrEWmc7Ns_7M:&tbnh=121&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtemple%2Bgrandin&zoom=1&q=temple+grandin&usg=__Nb3i0_A9FDAcE15ThfZMELZybj8=&sa=X&ei=7aV3Td6yEMK20QHxnaTXBg&ved=0CFMQ9QEwCA) That’s one reason I like English television so much—they seem to use more average or unconventional looking actors. ETA–I obviously have no idea what I am doing when trying to insert a link. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/135 "2011-03-09T17:50:32Z")
How about Indiana Jones? He’s supposed to be an archeologist, and in every movies he ends up in an archeological treasure- like in the first movie, where he goes down the rope into that map room (?), which in its self would be the greatest moment in any other archeologist’s life, and he doesn’t even look around. And even though he has to knock over the giant statue in order to escape it doesn’t bother him a bit. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/136 "2011-03-10T04:24:44Z")
Mythbusters did a bit about shattering a head with a hammer. It might have been from one of the Friday the 13th series, but that’s a wild guess. There’s a very brief clip [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc6AqGdPKsU), but they don’t mention the title in it. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902/137 "2011-03-10T05:43:47Z")
> [@Pandoranoid](#): > > ETA–I obviously have no idea what I am doing when trying to insert a link. Sorry. Looks like you double posted the URL. It’s fixed now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-that-ruin-suspension-of-disbelief-spoilers/572902.md?page=6)