# Movies that insult your intelligence. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499 "2002-12-29T13:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![GoldenGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@GoldenGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoldenGael)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/161 "2003-01-02T05:33:51Z")
Speaking of insulting, and slightly off topic… I found the two-second topless scene featuring Charlize Theron in **Reindeer Games** to be unappetizing. It doesn’t advance the plot (or the scene), it doesn’t fit in with a pattern of her character’s behavior in the movie, it is not a counterpoint to the violence in the movie, it doesn’t add any information to the relationship between her and her scene-sharer, and, worse, it’s the only bit of nudity in the movie! That said, I had to have been unhappy with the scene, if I am bitching about any shot of Ms Theron’s nude upper torso. I don’t think this is a spoiler, since it has nothing to do with the plot. ---
**Author:** ![ruralrage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@ruralrage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruralrage)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/162 "2003-01-02T05:33:52Z")
Someone mentioned the video game to movie Super Mario Brothers, and i have to agree. I LOVED SUPER MARIO when i was younger. The movie is not true to any of the material and it is crap. But…(there’s that BUT again)…it wasn’t given a chance to be made into a good movie. I seriously think that if it would have stayed truer to the source material, it would be a classic. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/163 "2003-01-02T05:45:52Z")
How about “SPEED?” They make a big deal about finding the identity of Dennis Hopper’s character later in the film when they realize he is behind the bus incident. You mean they wouldn’t have done this earlier when he supposedely blew himself up after messing with that elevator? Of course they would have. They would have investigated the entire incident. Then later when the bus is going through the airport and a big jet comes rolling out right in front of it? They forgot to shut down the airport and stop all flights? UNBELIEVABLE. Yet everyone was raving about this piece of hollywood shit. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/164 "2003-01-02T05:53:01Z")
Oh and I would go off on “Shawshank” again (another thread) but everyone gets upset because it was so inspiring. You know, the one where the accountant is brutally attacked over and over but tunnels out and lives happily ever after and this black guy is named “red” and the white guys dont fuck with him…etc etc But it was a “masterpiece” so I’ll leave it alone… ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/165 "2003-01-02T06:03:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RikWriter \* > \*\*And of course more than half the books ever written, including the classics. The idea isn’t insulting. It’s simplistic, but not insulting. \*\* He also described the bible. So i’m expecting God to show up with a plagarism lawsuit sometime after Jesus comes back and bankrupts every movie and tv and book publisher. Devine vengance at its finest!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pucky\_Schumer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Pucky\_Schumer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucky_Schumer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/166 "2003-01-02T07:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jack@ss \* > > Let’s go back even further… **King Kong**. The 1930s version. These folks live on an island with a 20-foot tall gorilla. The build a 30-foot stone wall around their village to keep said gorilla out. They don’t have any large delivery vehicles that have to pass through the wall, they could get awat with a door that’s, say, 7 feet tall by 5 feet wide. Double doors, two people could carry stuff through that together. Hell, 2 people could walk through them in opposite directions at the same time and the big ape still couldn’t fit through them. But what do they put in the wall? That’s right… **Big Honking Doors®**. Big enough for, oh, a **20-foot tall gorilla** to walk through! \*\* Jack@ss, did you catch the Ray Liotta movie “Phoenix”? They brought up this very point, and it’s the first time it occurred to me. It went right over my head when I first saw it at a very young age. There are some movies, like “King Kong,” that I’m willing to forgive an awful lot for because they’re worth it, including the wooden acting, the carnivorous brontosaurus, the absurdity of sending a dozen men into an unexplored and viscious jungle hoping to rescue just one person, and the stupidity of flying your biplane within arm’s reach of a giant gorilla. And many CGI-animated movies today have effects that put Kong’s jerky animation to shame. But Kong still is the better story. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/167 "2003-01-02T07:07:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baldwin \* > \*\*In reference to _Alien_: > > But the critter burst out of John Hurt’s chest, skedaddled, and then was far larger the next time it was seen **before it had attacked any other crewmember**. It didn’t get to eat John Hurt’s body, and the extra mass had to come from somewhere. \*\* It’s a plot hole. The only alternatives I can suggest are… 1. The Alien can some how break down metals and such and metabolize it. 2. The Alien Raided the Food locker. 3. Perhaps the ship has a thriving rat population. None of those are really sufficent, but it’s still a good flick. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/168 "2003-01-02T07:20:19Z")
Hoosiers…1950’s basketball in Indiana. The final played against a larger school made up of intergrated high school students and coached by a black coach. 1950’s in Indiana I don’t think so, anywhere in the US for that matter. Jeeze! ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/169 "2003-01-02T07:28:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HPL \* > \*\*It’s a plot hole. > > The only alternatives I can suggest are… > > 1. The Alien can some how break down metals and such and metabolize it. > > 2. The Alien Raided the Food locker. > > 3. Perhaps the ship has a thriving rat population. > > None of those are really sufficent, but it’s still a good flick. \*\* Number two works for me. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/170 "2003-01-02T08:03:46Z")
Oh, yeah - I just remembered the other one I was gonna mention: Total Recall. I actually liked that movie, but… The alien contraption that created an atmosphere for the entire planet of Mars out of underground ice formations, was a little far-fetched. ---
**Author:** ![Azure\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@Azure\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azure_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/171 "2003-01-02T08:04:03Z")
😃 **Silent Goldfish** , intentional or not, that was pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/172 "2003-01-02T10:46:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\*Oh, yeah - I just remembered the other one I was gonna mention: Total Recall. I actually liked that movie, but… > > The alien contraption that created an atmosphere for the entire planet of Mars out of underground ice formations, was a little far-fetched. \*\* Technically, it was some wierd mineral (I’m trying to think of the name, but the only word that keeps coming to mind is Tiberium, which is definatly not the right now), not ice. However, your point still stands. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/173 "2003-01-02T11:02:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > \*\*Oh and I would go off on “Shawshank” again (another thread) but everyone gets upset because it was so inspiring. You know, the one where the accountant is brutally attacked over and over but tunnels out and lives happily ever after and this black guy is named “red” and the white guys dont fuck with him…etc etc > > But it was a “masterpiece” so I’ll leave it alone… \*\* Someone obviously quit reading the thread when became apparent few agreed with him. As someone else explained, _Shawshank_ is based on a short story written by Stephen King. In the short story, Red was a white, red-haired Irish kid. By casting Morgan Freeman as Red, the filmmakers instantly made his nickname seem odd and added a racial element to the story. Silly move, sure, but it is hardly an insult to anyone’s intelligence. Re: _Titanic_ and Jack not hopping up on the floating door-- IIRC, when they first come up to the door, they both try to hop on it. Doing so, they realize that their combined weight is enough to submerge the door. Since it’s clear that only one of them can sit atop it and not drown or freeze, Jack has Rose sit on it. This all happens quickly and involves gestures but no lines, so the exchange is not obvious. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/174 "2003-01-02T11:35:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by eenerms \* > \*\*Hoosiers…1950’s basketball in Indiana. The final played against a larger school made up of intergrated high school students and coached by a black coach. 1950’s in Indiana I don’t think so, anywhere in the US for that matter. Jeeze! \*\* [This site](http://ideanet.doe.state.in.us/super/020599/movinon.PDF) states that 1930 was the first year that an integrated high school basketball team won the state championship in Indiana. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/175 "2003-01-02T15:16:38Z")
**AudreyK** , I had always seen the Titanic “floating door” situation as slightly different. When I was watching, it looked like both of them tried to get on the door, but in such a way that it was gonna tip over, so only one got on. It looked to me like if they had tried a few different ways of getting on the damn door, it would’ve been fine. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/176 "2003-01-02T15:17:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I loathed the 5th Element. I was really glad I saw it at a drive through so I could yell at the screen! Oh it was real simple: The Diva Plavalagooona belonged to species with a very large Rectum and a _LOT_ of bowel comtrol. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hobbes730](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/97f17d/32.png) [@hobbes730](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobbes730)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/177 "2003-01-02T15:19:32Z")
Actually, if the Alien’s spit can dissolve metal, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the Alien could digest it in this manner, too. Unlikely, but possible. ---
**Author:** ![Liakela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@Liakela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liakela)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/178 "2003-01-02T15:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > \*\*Oh and I would go off on “Shawshank” again (another thread) but everyone gets upset because it was so inspiring. You know, the one where the accountant is brutally attacked over and over but tunnels out and lives happily ever after and this black guy is named “red” and the white guys dont fuck with him…etc etc > > But it was a “masterpiece” so I’ll leave it alone… \*\* I don’t see what’s so farfetched about a black man with the nickname of ‘Red’. I knew of at least two people, in two different parts of the country (both of them black people–one male, and one female) who were nicknamed ‘Red’. Both because of their light skin. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/179 "2003-01-02T15:44:40Z")
Any movie where a gigantic handgun shoots a monstrous slug into someone’s arm/shoulder/leg and the result is a grunt and a modest amount of blood. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499/180 "2003-01-02T16:11:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by seal\_clubber \* > \*\*Any movie where a gigantic handgun shoots a monstrous slug into someone’s arm/shoulder/leg and the result is a grunt and a modest amount of blood. \*\* Or when the hero “knocks out” someone by hitting them on the back of the head so as not to kill them, but just to keep them quiet for a while. I have been hit by rocks, by a bat after I hit a basketball like a baseball and the bat bounced back, fell and slammed my head snowboarding and never lost consciousness. Hollywood has completely distorted violence. Very few films ever show the real effects of violence and the ones that even try usually fall short. People would quit going if they became too realistic so we get fantasy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-insult-your-intelligence/145499.md?page=10)