# Movies & TV Episodes with Obsolete Plot Points (multiple spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961 "2014-07-13T00:22:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/61 "2014-07-17T21:53:08Z")
Obvious one from the “Breakfast Club”: now they’d have their faces in their smartphones, texting, instead of ya know, talking to each other. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/62 "2014-07-17T23:59:33Z")
> [@Reepicheep](#): > > Rocky Horror Picture Show’s entire premise of Brad and Janet’s car breaking down and they’re walking to an unknown person’s house to use a phone is lost. The other part of Rocky Horror is Rif Raf taking over because Frank-N-Ferter’s lifestyle is too extreme. Not really, take a close look at who’s in the wedding party. 😉 Frank N. Furter targeted Brad & Janet from the beginning. It’s just as easy for him to block their cell phones as it make their car breakdown near his house. And I think his lifestyle still qualifies as too extreme (what with the sex slaves & tricking people into eating human flesh). ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/63 "2014-07-18T00:25:37Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > One reason I can think of for a backfire is that someone has removed their catalytic converter. They are very expensive, and if it rusts out, some people cut them out, and replace them with a plain piece of pipe. It’s illegal, and you will get caught in any state that does yearly inspections, which I think is every state except Indiana. Where does _Vera_ take place? [Lots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_United_States) of states don’t have emissions tests or vehicle inspections, or only have them in certain urban areas. I haven’t heard a car backfire in a long time, but plenty of motorcycles are still carbureted and can occasionally backfire. It’s still probably true that if I heard a loud bang “oh, that’s something backfiring” wouldn’t be my first instinct. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/64 "2014-07-18T00:44:05Z")
> [@Reepicheep](#): > > Rocky Horror Picture Show’s entire premise of Brad and Janet’s car breaking down and they’re walking to an unknown person’s house to use a phone is lost. The other part of Rocky Horror is Rif Raf taking over because Frank-N-Ferter’s lifestyle is too extreme. If the legend is true, the whole Rocky Horror phenomenon was born out of an audience member taking a cheap shot at an obsolete plot point from that very scene in fact: In the scene in which Brad and Janet depart their car in the rainstorm, Janet holds a newspaper over her head in a feeble effort to shield herself from the rain. At that point, one exasperated audience member at a midnight showing back in 1976 shouted out “Oh, for Christ’ sake - BUY AN UMBRELLA YOU CHEAP BITCH!!” And that snark-y comment went over so well, he shouted out a few more. And then a few other people joined in…and they told two friends, and they told two friends…and so on…and so on… ---
**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:** [July 18, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/65 "2014-07-18T00:52:30Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Lots of states don’t have emissions tests or vehicle inspections, or only have them in certain urban areas. I know that there’s a continuum of how much states involve themselves in vehicle maintenance, but I’ve driven in a lot of states, and Indiana really does seem to be the Land of Rustmobiles. I thought it mostly had to do with lack of rules, but it may be the “culture” of the state too. It’s one of the few places I know of where people brag about how old their car is. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/66 "2014-07-18T01:04:32Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > If the legend is true, the whole Rocky Horror phenomenon was born out of an audience member taking a cheap shot at an obsolete plot point from that very scene in fact: In the scene in which Brad and Janet depart their car in the rainstorm, Janet holds a newspaper over her head in a feeble effort to shield herself from the rain. How is that “obsolete”? It’s common even today for people to forget their umbrellas, and newspapers do still exist. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/67 "2014-07-19T10:13:03Z")
This reminds me… the show John Doe, not that old, had Dominic Purcell as a guy who had all the knowledge in the world in his brain. Nowadays people would be way less impressed by that feat. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/68 "2014-07-19T17:37:35Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > John Carpenter’s _The Thing_. On this very board, we had someone posting from a research station in Antarctica. The folks in _The Thing_ weren’t cut off from rescue because of primitive technology, they were cut off because Wilford Brimley flipped his shit and sabotaged the radio and the helicopters. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/69 "2014-07-19T17:40:42Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Obvious one from the “Breakfast Club”: now they’d have their faces in their smartphones, texting, instead of ya know, talking to each other. I suspect it’s common practice these days to confiscate phones, tablets, and laptops from kids in detention, so that’s probably not really obsolete, either. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/70 "2014-07-19T17:50:58Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I suspect it’s common practice these days to confiscate phones, tablets, and laptops from kids in detention, so that’s probably not really obsolete, either. I was thinking that too. iPods, and pretty much any electronics. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/71 "2014-07-19T21:41:23Z")
Just caught the end of _Rocky_. “Oh. He [Apollo Creed] is spitting up blood, now.” I’m pretty sure they’d stop a boxing match now if one of the fighters was spitting up blood. Rocky would lose in a TKO today. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/72 "2014-07-20T00:35:09Z")
There was that episode of **Freaks & Geeks** (set in 1980) where Sam won’t shower after gym class, then when he finally get’s over his embarrassment only to have the bullies throw him out of the lockerroom naked, and he has to streak all over the school yet there are apparently no repercussions other than some girls thing he was a badass? Today (or even in 2000 when the show was made) either Sam or the bullies could be facing felony charges and a lifetime on a sex offender registry depending on who’s story the authorities believed. Also very few schools still make students shower after gym class. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/73 "2014-07-20T01:45:18Z")
I was in high school in 1981, and the only time we had to shower after gym class was when we’d been swimming, although, according to the teacher, we always had the option to shower, she wasn’t telling us we couldn’t, just that we didn’t have to. Except, she usually barely gave us time to change before the bell rang, so if someone had wanted to, I doubt there would have been time. I showered before school and put on deodorant, had gym 2nd period, and rarely broke a sweat. Didn’t really need to shower. That was the required freshman gym that was just pass/fail, though. I heard that upper class, elective gym was more difficult, and if you couldn’t pass the president’s physical fitness test by the end of the semester, you couldn’t get a A. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/74 "2014-07-20T01:54:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > The folks in _The Thing_ weren’t cut off from rescue because of primitive technology, they were cut off because Wilford Brimley flipped his shit and sabotaged the radio and the helicopters. Blair (the Wilford Brimley character) didn’t flip out – he deliberately sabotaged the equipment in order to isolate The Thing from civilization. He acted crazy, but there was a reason for it. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/75 "2014-07-20T02:30:36Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > I haven’t heard a car backfire in a long time, but plenty of motorcycles are still carbureted and can occasionally backfire. FWIW, my three-year-old snowblower (Briggs & Stratton engine) backfires when I throttle it down quickly. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/76 "2014-07-20T08:18:06Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/77 "2014-07-20T14:15:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Blair (the Wilford Brimley character) didn’t flip out – he deliberately sabotaged the equipment in order to isolate The Thing from civilization. He acted crazy, but there was a reason for it. Hmm. If handled properly, this could make a modern retelling of “The Thing” more suspenseful - back in the day, if the limited communication systems lost contact with an Antarctic base, the outside world would probably assume some temporary difficulty, but these days (with a wider variety of more reliable communications available), loss of comms would lead to a rescue mission being sent - so Brimley’s character’s attempt to isolate the Thing is a strictly temporary expedient, giving the research team some time to defeat the Thing, but guaranteeing that at any moment, outsiders are going to show up, giving the Thing an escape route unless it has been defeated. ---
**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 20, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/78 "2014-07-20T20:09:23Z")
It’s not just changed technology that make some plot points obsolete, but also changed behavior relating to technology. For example, in The Maltese Falcon, the police are questioning Sam Spade about his movements at the time a murder took place: > [@](#): > > SPADE: Keep your paws off me. > DUNDY: What time did you get home? > SPADE: I came in just a few minutes ahead of you. I was walking around thinking things over. > DUNDY: We knew you weren’t here. We tried to get you on the phone. … No one today would assume that failure to answer a land-line phone could reveal anything about the whereabouts of the phone’s owner. (Many people don’t answer their phone until checking to see whether the caller is someone to whom they want to talk.) A couple of \*Columbo \*episodes that come to mind in connection with obsolete tech ruining plot points: 1975’s “Playback” hinged on an alibi provided by a friend who watched a football game with the murderer; it was a given that the friend would assume the game was live. In fact, the murderer had borrowed an ultra-expensive video machine (the ones that played those foot-wide tapes) from, I think, a TV station. Of course this was before either Beta or VHS were offering affordable machines for the home. 1978’s “Make Me a Perfect Murder” was predicated on an alibi relating to the timing of changing reels of a film. That’s not completely obsolete today, of course…but it’s getting there. ---
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/79 "2014-07-20T20:37:23Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > A couple of \*Columbo \*episodes that come to mind in connection with obsolete tech ruining plot points: > > 1975’s “Playback” hinged on an alibi provided by a friend who watched a football game with the murderer; it was a given that the friend would assume the game was live. In fact, the murderer had borrowed an ultra-expensive video machine (the ones that played those foot-wide tapes) from, I think, a TV station. “Playback” is the one where Oskar Werner monkeys with security-camera footage. You’re thinking of “Fade In To Murder”, except (a) it was a baseball game, and (b) if I remember right, the murderer – a highly-paid actor – apparently _owned_ that video machine, casually discussing the cost with Columbo with no mention of borrowing it. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961/80 "2014-07-20T21:05:01Z")
In 1994-1995, [**Fermat’s Last Theorem**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat%27s_Last_Theorem) was proven, except in the Star Trek Next Generation episode Casino Royale, where it wasn’t. Those pesky wormholes! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-episodes-with-obsolete-plot-points-multiple-spoilers/692961.md?page=5)