# Pop Culture tropes that infuriate you. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269 "2018-06-17T17:13:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/121 "2018-06-19T21:56:09Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I remember a particular egregious example of this. There was an episode of _Law & Order_ that aired in 1998; it was about the police discovering a body in a van that had been in The Hudson River since 1968. The police were questioning people about a specific day in 1968 and everyone they asked seem to recall where they were perfectly. I found it unbelievable. > > Maybe it’s just me though, I admit I have bad memory. I have no idea what a normal person’s memory. I remember that episode. The victim was a college student, involved with some radical groups. The night that he disappeared there was a student uprising that occupied the dean’s office, so it was memorable for that reason. Some of the people who were questioned were reporters and security guards who would have responded to the uprising. In the same episode, they realize that the victim was an undercover cop. The police are going through his old belongings and find a bank deposit receipt, and Lennie recognizes that it’s the exact amount that was paid to rookie police officers at the time. I’m willing to let that one slide, because Lennie. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/122 "2018-06-19T22:28:37Z")
Another one that really annoys me. Medieval or ancient battles…that are full of fireballs and explosions. I mean, the explosions are supposed to be catapults full of flaming oil I guess. But catapults full of flaming oil don’t work that way. They don’t explode, because an explosion requires the fuel and the oxidizer to be mixed together. Instead you get a bunch of oil spread around, and if you’re lucky the oil is on fire a little bit. That’s great if you are bombarding a city or fortress and are trying to set fires inside. Not so great if you’re trying to kill guys on the battlefield. Also, flaming arrows. Every time there’s an army shooting arrows at another army, they light the arrows on fire. That didn’t happen, folks. Yes, a flaming arrow is more cinematic than a regular boring old non-flaming arrow. Yes, and a griffon is more cinematic than a goddam regular horse, so why not have Richard the Lionhearted ride a griffon? Also, ancient battles where the strategy is: fire a bunch of arrows at each other, then charge screaming at each other and have everyone fight in a swirling chaos of one-on-one duels. That’s not how it worked. You stand shoulder to shoulder with your buddies, and if a guy from the other side charges in, you and your buddies work together to kill that one guy. You don’t want lots of one-on-one fights, because that negates the advantages of teamwork, which is why you have an army and not a bunch of guys stand around together. The problem is that audiences are so used to warfare in the gunpowder era that war without explosions and fire doesn’t seem right. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/123 "2018-06-19T23:54:08Z")
Ever since I found out about this, I hear it everywhere: In the military, saying “repeat” over the radio means “fire again.” You’re supposed to say “I say again.” So in a movie you’ll hear military guys on the radio say “Hold your fire! Repeat! Hold your fire!” Also already mentioned but the absolute worst for a movie in this day and age is the mouseless, speed-hacker. \: “I’m in!” You’re “in” what? Did you just type a bunch of objective C without a mouse at 200 miles an hour? And what is is that window…a command prompt? Linux VM? How are you connecting to that server resource? How do you know what language it’s in? Where are your tools? What are your tools? Is that…_animation_, taunting the hackee, on his monitor? Why would you announce yourself like that? Why spend time writing that insanely time consuming UI? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/124 "2018-06-20T00:26:22Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’d argue that the Hollywood versions look sharper and have more shape to them. The ones in your first link look like they’re made out of soft felt. And letting it hang over the eye like that just looks sloppy. Unless they’re green, berets on American GIs look stupid in general. Bring back the Overseas cap, fer Chrissakes! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/125 "2018-06-20T00:53:44Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Also already mentioned but the absolute worst for a movie in this day and age is the mouseless, speed-hacker. \: “I’m in!” You’re “in” what? Did you just type a bunch of objective C without a mouse at 200 miles an hour? And what is is that window…a command prompt? Linux VM? How are you connecting to that server resource? How do you know what language it’s in? Where are your tools? What are your tools? Is that…_animation_, taunting the hackee, on his monitor? Why would you announce yourself like that? Why spend time writing that insanely time consuming UI? Not only that, but without even looking at a menu, the first thing that pops up is a schematic of the entire ship or base or what-have-you, showing exactly how to get to the command center or escape pod or prisoners’ cells. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/126 "2018-06-20T01:00:25Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > More and more I’m bothered by people getting knocked out. It ain’t easy to knock someone out. People don’t come with off switches. People get stunned pretty easily, but “conked on the head, wake up an hour later” doesn’t happen. > > Also, I’m convinced that the reason for the Fermi Paradox is that humans haven’t developed the grip strength for successful travel in space. That’s why the aliens haven’t contacted us, because travelling on spaceships routinely requires people to dangle from railings by one hand, not to mention routinely dangling by one hand and holding on to another guy with the other hand hand and pulling them to safety. In the future everyone will be genetically modified with chimpanzee-like grip strength, and we’ll be able to take our place in the galaxy. Quick! Sign American Ninja Warrior contestants up as astronauts! ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/127 "2018-06-20T01:50:34Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Magnum freakin’ PI lived by this. He was conked out so many times I can’t believe he didn’t have brain damage and a soft spot on the back of his skull. > The one that drives me up a wall is where a character needs to show some expertise in something, so it is explained in a casual mention that his/her dad, brothers, or whatever, were into it, so it was absorbed by osmosis. “I can fix this car, my dad was a mechanic.” “I can hack this UNIX system, my brother was a computer geek.” “I can diffuse this bomb, my uncle was on the bomb squad.” Wonderfully subverted in Fast Times at Ridgemont High by Spicoli when they crash Forest Whitaker’s car. “I can fix this. My dad is a television repairman.” > > Is it possible that Transformers’ Megan Fox’s dad was a “greasemonkey” and taught her how to repair cars? Perhaps. It’s a useful skill. It just drives me nuts any time a skill or aptitude is called for in a script, it’s always because of some family influence on the character that needs explained. didn’t my cousin vinny hinge on that trope ? ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/128 "2018-06-20T01:58:40Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Movies also tend to do a very poor job of just how much fire is going downrange when you have a dozen soldiers all firing at once. The entire target area should be covered in impact hits. THIS!!! Drives me crazy… ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/129 "2018-06-20T02:03:34Z")
heres a question jb fletcher figures out the killer so she drops a hint or two and shows up with “evidence” on paper the killer shows up after getting suckered and after telling the killer how she figured it out killer sometimes gives her their reasoning and then pulls out a weapon and tries to kill her and gets stopped by the cops that were in the other room Now when the killer confesses to her with the cops listening does that count legally ? because there were no reading of rights ect? ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/130 "2018-06-20T02:10:44Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > didn’t my cousin vinny hinge on that trope ? Not quite. Lisa was a fully qualified mechanic in her own right. She had learned how to be a mechanic in the family garage, and her entire family were huge gearheads, but she explicitly establishes that she worked in the trade herself, and wasn’t simply related to a bunch of mechanics. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/131 "2018-06-20T02:26:17Z")
A video game trope that’s really been bothering me lately. I don’t know much about guns. I’ve never fired one in real life, just in video games. But I’m pretty sure it’s not possible to hold a pistol in each hand, and reload both at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/132 "2018-06-20T02:53:32Z")
One thing that bugs me is supposed military members who don’t know how to do a proper salute. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/133 "2018-06-20T03:16:26Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > “You’ve got to believe me!” > > Oh? Why is that? Depends, mrAru and I have been together long enough, and trust each other enough that one of us could do something like this, I know I would probably blindly follow along until we got to a point where or when it would be safe to discuss the issue. There may not be anybody else I would blindly trust like that. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/134 "2018-06-20T03:20:23Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > heres a question jb fletcher figures out the killer so she drops a hint or two and shows up with “evidence” on paper the killer shows up after getting suckered and after telling the killer how she figured it out killer sometimes gives her their reasoning and then pulls out a weapon and tries to kill her and gets stopped by the cops that were in the other room > Now when the killer confesses to her with the cops listening does that count legally ? because there were no reading of rights ect? Rights are read only \*after \*the arrest. The confession can be evidence, but it has to be proven with supporting evidence in court. If the bad guy turns around and says, “ha, ha, I was only joking” and the cops have nothing else, the D.A. doesn’t have a case. That’s a problem with about 99% of amateur detective stories. And bad guys strung up by Batman or Spider-Man and left for the police. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/135 "2018-06-20T03:36:58Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > One thing that bugs me is supposed military members who don’t know how to do a proper salute. Oh hells yes. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/136 "2018-06-20T04:10:04Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Also already mentioned but the absolute worst for a movie in this day and age is the mouseless, speed-hacker. \: “I’m in!” You’re “in” what? Did you just type a bunch of objective C without a mouse at 200 miles an hour? And what is is that window…a command prompt? Linux VM? How are you connecting to that server resource? How do you know what language it’s in? Where are your tools? What are your tools? Is that…_animation_, taunting the hackee, on his monitor? Why would you announce yourself like that? Why spend time writing that insanely time consuming UI? Most of the serious programmer types that I know try to avoid taking their hands off the keyboard. There are keyboard shortcuts like Alt-Tab that you can use to switch between the windows in a graphical interface. I knew one guy who, in the early PC days, had a keyboard with the Ctrl key above the left Shift key. After a while, every keyboard had the Caps Lock key there. My friend was so used to the old keyboard, and used Ctrl so often, that he wrote his own keyboard driver so that a new keyboard would behave like his old one.[sup]\*[/sup] Another friend bought an ergonomic keyboard that included foot pedals for Ctrl, Alt, and Shift - I’ve told of this friend here before. I saw _Jurassic Park_ with him on opening night. In the scene where the girl is trying to use the computer to control the park’s security system, he leaned over to me and said “that’s Unix” a few seconds before the girl said “It’s a Unix system.” > [@caligulathegod](#): > > The one that drives me up a wall is where a character needs to show some expertise in something, so it is explained in a casual mention that his/her dad, brothers, or whatever, were into it, so it was absorbed by osmosis. “I can fix this car, my dad was a mechanic.” “I can hack this UNIX system, my brother was a computer geek.” “I can diffuse this bomb, my uncle was on the bomb squad.” Wonderfully subverted in Fast Times at Ridgemont High by Spicoli when they crash Forest Whitaker’s car. “I can fix this. My dad is a television repairman.” > > Is it possible that Transformers’ Megan Fox’s dad was a “greasemonkey” and taught her how to repair cars? Perhaps. It’s a useful skill. It just drives me nuts any time a skill or aptitude is called for in a script, it’s always because of some family influence on the character that needs explained. My dad was a pilot. I’ve flown a bit, but I also picked up a lot growing up and talking with him over the years. I don’t know everything about flying, but I know more than lots of people whose dads weren’t pilots. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/137 "2018-06-20T04:12:05Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’d argue that the Hollywood versions look sharper and have more shape to them. The ones in your first link look like they’re made out of soft felt. And letting it hang over the eye like that just looks sloppy. You’re exactly right about the berets. But, worse and more annoying still, is that damn collar depicted in your link. [https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/nup\_171124\_0103.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1](https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/nup_171124_0103.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1) Nobody wears the collar like that outside of movies. It was never meant to be fastened at all unless it is worn under body armor. I guess a three minute instruction for the actors on how to put on their shirt is also too much to expect. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/138 "2018-06-20T04:15:59Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’d argue that the Hollywood versions look sharper and have more shape to them. Perhaps. But uniform regulations are very specific to the wear and appearance of the beret. Looking like a chef or French Beatnik is not an option, no matter how sharp or shapely one might consider it to be. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/139 "2018-06-20T07:21:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Commentary Soundtrack) OMG I did not know there was a commentary soundtrack for this show. Thank you!!! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269/140 "2018-06-20T07:54:31Z")
World-class assassins who can’t shoot a rifle any better than I can. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-culture-tropes-that-infuriate-you/816269.md?page=8)