# Movie contrivances that annoy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911 "2014-06-03T12:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/181 "2014-07-20T12:47:48Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > We said _“Oh”_ when I was in the service. Hmmm. Not me. Pretty sure military protocol is to use “zero” to distinguish from the letter “O.” At least it was that way when I served (Navy 1990-2003, Army 2008-2009). Oh, wait, were you Air Force? j/k ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/182 "2014-07-20T13:40:33Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > Hmmm. Not me. Pretty sure military protocol is to use “zero” to distinguish from the letter “O.” If I needed to relay O-600 instead of 0-600 – man, our language is stupid – I’d say “Oscar Six Hundred” to distinguish it from “Zero Six Hundred”. But the first time someone who outranked me used a conversational-but-professional-sounding _“oh”_ to refer to a predawn time, I promptly (a) figured from the context what he meant, and (b) started doing likewise, followed by nobody ever telling me to knock it off. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/183 "2014-07-20T14:16:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > If I needed to relay O-600 instead of 0-600 – man, our language is stupid – I’d say “Oscar Six Hundred” to distinguish it from “Zero Six Hundred”. But the first time someone who outranked me used a conversational-but-professional-sounding _“oh”_ to refer to a predawn time, I promptly (a) figured from the context what he meant, and (b) started doing likewise, followed by nobody ever telling me to knock it off. I got ya. But the military doesn’t often rely on its members figuring out stuff out via context. When I was an Aviation Electronics Technician in the Navy, it was strictly “zero,” verbally and written. I get that at some point they probably did say “oh” meaning “zero,” but they _never_ say “zero” in the movies, ever, except for “_Zero Dark Thirty_.” And it’s not just time I’m talking about; it’s code-words, aircraft tail numbers, and the like. With those, you _must_ distinguish “O” and “0.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/184 "2014-07-22T02:28:28Z")
Another one in police/detective shows: A key character receives threatening messages, very graphic threatening messages, detailing what the as-yet-unknown Bad Guy is going to do to him, sometimes accompanied by packages containing severed bloody organs, maybe eyeballs or ears…and the soon-to-be victim just laughs them off and keeps insisting they’re “just pranks” or “kids playing jokes.” Right. Kids…very funny. Until he wakes up dead one morning, not laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/185 "2014-07-22T10:25:30Z")
If a woman’s period is one day late, she is pregnant. There is no other reason for your period to be late, right? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/186 "2014-07-22T10:56:50Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > If a woman’s period is one day late, she is pregnant. There is no other reason for your period to be late, right? :rolleyes: Another woman coughed one time. She ain’t makin’ it to the end of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Bragg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Stealth\_Bragg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Bragg)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/187 "2014-07-22T12:01:24Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > For me its ‘Don’t do it! It’s not worth it’ crap. And the similar “I’m just doing my job”. So you can act like a jerk, further the plot and ignore the evidence of your own eyes “just because it’s your job”. > [@Trinopus](#): > > But, yeah, in real life, air conditioning ducts just will not cut that mustard. Years ago I used to do HVAC commissioning and part of the job was measuring air flow through ducts with a Pitot tube. That often meant climbing into ceiling voids above supermarket sales floors and walking about on top of the ducts. Some of them are plenty big enough to crawl in and support the weight of a human, especially where they are bigger near the AHU inlets and outlets. There are also handy access doors near the volume control and fire dampers to get inside. However, they would be dark, dirty and very windy I would think - quite unlike those portrayed on the cinema screen. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/188 "2014-07-22T12:13:03Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Another woman coughed one time. > > She ain’t makin’ it to the end of the movie. Yup. There’s no such thing as a harmless, benign cough. If the setting is before about 1940, it’s TB. After, it’s lung cancer. Pain in the left arm = character is toast. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/189 "2014-07-22T12:21:05Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > If a woman’s period is one day late, she is pregnant. There is no other reason for your period to be late, right? :rolleyes: There’s also no other reason for her to throw up. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/190 "2014-07-22T13:19:05Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Also. zooming in on digital pictures and “enhancing” them to an extent that is not possible IRL so as to get clear license plate numbers or count the suspect’s nose hairs. _(“Yup, that’s him, the nose hair count is the same as recorded when he went to prison 15 years ago!”)_ Off topic, but a few years ago, the office I worked at was robbed. When the police came, we were able to get the security camera footage for our floor and review it on my laptop. So of course, every time I clicked a button, I would say “enhance”. How often do you get to do that joke in real life?😃 We never did spot the guy though. Apparently you can’t enhance around corners or magnify the reflection in a doorknob. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/191 "2014-07-22T13:46:25Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There’s also no other reason for her to throw up. Sure there is, it could be the aftermath of a drunken party for the ages. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/192 "2014-07-22T15:03:56Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > How about the tired old trope of humans only using ten percent of their brains? I’m actually surprised Luc Besson is using this currently for [Lucy](http://youtu.be/MVt32qoyhi0) and even more surprised to hear Morgan Freeman spouting that nonsense (I guess _Through the Wormhole_ taught him nothing). I’d have thought they both would know better, and Besson especially should have been able to come up with a better reason for Lucy’s abilities. I might have been able to block it somehow and suspend disbelief if it was only mentioned in passing or something, but in the trailer Freeman bangs on about the whole percentage myth way too much. It makes a movie written and directed by Luc Besson and starring Scarlett Johnansson and Morgan Freeman sound ridiculous instead of awesome. Morgan Freeman saying that in the trailer somewhat bugs me, but I figure if you’re going to go for a stupid premise like that, might as well go all the way with it like Lucy is. In the trailer, it shows that when she uses more than 10% of her brain, she’s able to defy physics, which makes no sense even if you thought the trope about 10% of your brain was true. It does make more sense when you realize that the movie Lucy is from Luc Besson, who also is behind such movies as The Transporter, District 13 and Lockout. This is opposed to movies like Limitless, which are more “realistic”, but it’s an inherently unrealistic premise. I liked when that trope was parodied on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, when Charlie was given a smart pill, and seemed to be smarter, but it was only a placebo and he was just acting more arrogant while spouting gibberish. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I hate TV geniuses who have multiple Ph.Ds before they are 25-- not doctorates, but specifically Ph.Ds, and speak 8 languages, while spouting trivia at all times about mundane things. When it’s played for laughs, it’s not so bad, but when we’re supposed to take it seriously, it’s ridiculous. It takes years to get a Ph.D, because you have to do research, and write a dissertation, which then has to be read and reviewed by a committee. I don’t care how smart you are: the peas don’t grow faster, the rats don’t run the mazes faster, there’s a limit to how fast even a really smart person can type, and the people on your committee can’t read any faster. > > Also, you have to get a college degree, and do classwork for a Ph.D. I don’t care how smart you are; universities are not interested in Guinness records. They are not going to arrange class schedules so that you can carry 20 hours a semester just because you are capable. And at any rate, you have to sleep some time, no matter how smart you are. Besides, you have to get accepted to a Ph.D program, and your presence in a program means that someone else isn’t there. If you are there just for notches in your belt, while someone who isn’t a genius, but just wants to get one degree, then go do something with it, could be there instead, the school is more likely to accept the person who is going to work in the field. > > To be fluent in a language, you have to interact with speakers. TV geniuses who have poor social skills, but _speak multiple languages are unrealistic. I might buy that they read_ multiple languages, but not that they speak them. > > And there’s a physical limit to how fast a person can read that has nothing to do with intelligence or reading comprehension. It has to do with how fast you can move your eyes and focus on a string of words. When the TV genius says he read a 600 page book before breakfast, I call BS. I don’t think it’s physically possible. It has nothing to do with intellect. Stuff like this annoys me too. I think it’s often that a non-smart person is trying to write a smart character, but doesn’t quite know what that would entail. Also you see it when IQs are mentioned. First of all, there are different IQ tests with different scales. It says in the Wikipedia article that the minimum level for genius is an IQ of 125 though it doesn’t say what test that is from. This [infographic says above 140 is genius](http://www.sciencedump.com/content/10-people-highest-iq-world-infographic), and that less than 0.5% of people are that. But if there’s a genius character, they never have a 140 or 150 IQ, it’s always something crazy high, because I guess just 140 wouldn’t sound as impressive, even though that’s way above most people. > [@SpazCat](#): > > If a woman’s period is one day late, she is pregnant. There is no other reason for your period to be late, right? :rolleyes: I’m not a writer, but don’t most dramas go for efficiency of narrative? Or some other term for it? Do you really want more female characters to be discussing their periods so it’s not an automatic giveaway about pregnancy when a woman mentions that she’s late? It would be weird if they started doing that. Unless they started doing that for a lot of the other little occurrences that sometimes aren’t a big deal in real life but are always an indication of something big happening in TV or movies. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There’s also no other reason for her to throw up. I wouldn’t be too hugely bothered by periods being talked about more in movies, but I really have no need to see or hear characters throwing up more often for no good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/193 "2014-07-22T19:33:15Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Morgan Freeman saying that in the trailer somewhat bugs me, but I figure if you’re going to go for a stupid premise like that, might as well go all the way with it like Lucy is. In the trailer, it shows that **when she uses more than 10% of her brain, she’s able to defy physics, which makes no sense** even if you thought the trope about 10% of your brain was true. It makes sense in the economic reality that people will pay to see movies that support what they want to believe. To have Lucy’s powers of telekinesis et al. come from some sort of laboratory breakthrough or alien intervention or magical elf wouldn’t be as effective a ticket-seller, because those plot devices don’t flatter our ever-irrational egos. But to be told that if we’d just try a bit harder, _we, too_, could levitate busses—that fits in with what we (secretly or not so secretly) believe of ourselves. If I just started using more of what I already have, I could rule the world! And whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/194 "2014-07-22T19:49:57Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > It makes sense in the economic reality that people will pay to see movies that support what they want to believe. I’m not sure that’s how boxofficeology works. Or else the success of Avatar and The Avengers (to name just two) was just a fluke. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/195 "2014-07-22T20:10:31Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > . . . _Star Wars_: How did Luke Skywalker know how to fly an X-Wing? Look, I know he flew “stuff” before, but even F-16 pilots can’t fly other _types_ of F-16s without training. . . . That’s what the R2 unit is for. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/196 "2014-07-22T20:24:37Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > On TV, cops are apparently allowed to pronounce people dead. Someone falls over, maybe shot in the leg, maybe just falls from a height, and a cop feels for a pulse, and says “He’s dead.” No attempt at CPR whatsoever. Cripes. Unless the person is in rigor, showing signs of decay, or was decapitated, the cop should attempt CPR. > [@Trinopus](#): > > This happened to me in real life. > > My roommate was lying in bed, foam on his mouth, eyes open. I called 911. A policeman was the first on the scene. He examined the body, told me, “He’s gone. The body is cold.” He got on his radio and cancelled the medics who were on their way. Somehow I’m picturing Napoleon, M.E., played by Pat Buttram. “Wait a minute. I’m the medical examiner. I say when he’s gone [glances at body] He’s gone.” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/197 "2014-07-22T20:30:36Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’m not sure that’s how boxofficeology works. Or else the success of Avatar and The Avengers (to name just two) was just a fluke. Obviously there are a lot of things we want to believe. And one particular movie can offer more than one wish-fulfillment element. I’m just positing that since Lucy is yet another ‘superhuman’ in a long, long, long line of movies about humans with super powers, the makers are wisely departing from the ‘bitten by a radioactive spider’ type of origin and offering, instead, something the most of us would love to believe: that with a little extra effort (to use more than the proverbial Ten Percent of our brain), we can _rule_. It’s related, in a way, to the appeal of Batman. Batman is popular for many reasons, but one is that _'being the Batman_’ is a more relatable fantasy than is \*‘being born on another planet and having super-powers on this one’ \*or \*‘being born the son of a Norse god and having super-powers’ \*or _‘being a scientist who is turned (periodically) huge and powerful due to a freak lab accident’_ or whatever. The freak lab accidents and the being born son of a god and the being from another planet origins work to create compelling stories…but not quite as compelling as the stories about heroes who succeed through the force of their will and their intelligence. (Which is what we’re getting, apparently, in Lucy.) Superman, Thor, and the Hulk are, obviously, also popular. Their comics and movies and merchandise sell well. But the more relatable fantasy figures seem to do even better box office. The Batman has wealth (not so relatable) but also intelligence and great force of will, to accomplish what he does; Iron Man also has that not-so-relatable wealth, but also does what he does through smarts and will. And we particularly enjoy identifying with those types of characters. (It was just announced, interestingly, that Robert Downey, Jr. tops the _Forbes_ list of highest-paid actors for the second year in a row. And that’s not due to his indie roles–it’s due to Iron Man.) ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/198 "2014-07-22T20:50:22Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I’m not a writer, but don’t most dramas go for efficiency of narrative? Or some other term for it? Do you really want more female characters to be discussing their periods so it’s not an automatic giveaway about pregnancy when a woman mentions that she’s late? It would be weird if they started doing that. Unless they started doing that for a lot of the other little occurrences that sometimes aren’t a big deal in real life but are always an indication of something big happening in TV or movies. Let me give you an example. I was watching the 1965 version of \*Alfie \*a while back. At one point, he looks at a calendar in his girlfriend’s apartment. The 19th had a big red circle on it. He calls back to his girlfriend “What day is it?” “The 22nd” she replies. She was four days late and _of course_ she was pregnant as hell. Four days late: many reasons why that could happen. One month late: getting closer to the only reason being baby time or something serious that requires medical attention (which is essentially the same thing with a different result.) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/199 "2014-07-22T23:10:56Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There’s also no other reason for her to throw up. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Sure there is, it could be the aftermath of a drunken party for the ages. Maybe…but if she throws up or feels queasy in the morning it’s preggers. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911/200 "2014-07-22T23:25:01Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > It makes sense in the economic reality that people will pay to see movies that support what they want to believe. > > To have Lucy’s powers of telekinesis et al. come from some sort of laboratory breakthrough or alien intervention or magical elf wouldn’t be as effective a ticket-seller, because those plot devices don’t flatter our ever-irrational egos. > > But to be told that if we’d just try a bit harder, _we, too_, could levitate busses—that fits in with what we (secretly or not so secretly) believe of ourselves. If I just started using more of what I already have, I could rule the world! And whatnot. > [@](#): > > In a world run by the mob, street gangs, drug addicts, and corrupt cops, Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is a woman living in Taipei, Taiwan who is forced to work as a drug mule for the mob. A drug implanted in her body inadvertently leaks into her system, which allows her to use more than the normal 10% of her brain’s capacity, thus changing her into a superhuman. As a result, she can absorb information instantaneously, is able to move objects with her mind, and can choose not to feel pain or other discomforts, in addition to other abilities. > **[Lucy (2014 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(2014_film))** > > Lucy is a 2014 English-language French science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson for his company EuropaCorp, and produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. It was shot in Taipei, Paris, and New York City. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, and Amr Waked. Johansson portrays Lucy, a woman who gains psychokinetic abilities when a nootropic, psychedelic drug is absorbed into her bloodstream. > The film was released on 25 July 2014 and became a massive ... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-contrivances-that-annoy/689911.md?page=11)