# Ruin Old Film Plot By Adding Cell Phones To Story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558 "2012-09-03T17:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/81 "2012-09-07T13:50:50Z")
“Franly, Miss Scarlett I don’t give a — hold on, I need to take this.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/82 "2012-09-07T14:11:53Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > (I’m guessing it’s either that, or **tdn** figuring you can now use a cellphone to google various answers yourself: the names of Santa’s reindeer, how much the earth weighs in tons, whether the Watusis even still have a king, and every Wiki entry from _Corfu_ to the full text of _Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight_.) Pretty much that. Those women were the Google of their day. Totally redundant these days. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/83 "2012-09-09T09:09:24Z")
Lord Cardigan, could you charge those guns and stop the Turks taking them away ? No, no you idiot not THOSE guns, that would be certain death, those ones over there I mean. … Hello Dr Strangelove here, you’ve been sent a mistaken attack code by someone who’s lost the plot. Heres the official code recalling you. Phew that was a close one, could have started WW3 there, chuckle ! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/84 "2012-09-09T09:14:04Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Hello Dr Strangelove here, you’ve been sent a mistaken attack code by someone who’s lost the plot. > > Heres the official code recalling you. > > Phew that was a close one, could have started WW3 there, chuckle ! By that point in the story, the specialized radio that was supposed to receive the codes was busted. Not sure if Verizon’s network provides roaming service over Russia if any of the crew had cell phones on them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/85 "2012-09-09T14:42:42Z")
Just saw **North by Northwest** for the first time, and this thread immediately came to mind. If you’ll remember, the whole plot is set in motion by a case of mistaken identity–Cary Grant’s character Roger Thornhill is believed to be an American secret agent who’s working to take down enemy agent Van Damme’s organization. The mistaken identity occurs when Van Damme’s goons have a hotel bar’s porter page “George Kaplan”, the name of the enemy agent. At that exact moment, Thornhill raises his hand to get the porter’s attention, making the goons believe that Thornhill is Kaplan, responding to the page. But of course, that isn’t the case at all. Thornhill wants the porter to send his mother a telegram telling her he can’t make an appointment, and since Mother’s playing bridge someplace without a telephone, this is the only way he could do it. Of course, the goons don’t know that, and killer crop dusting planes and hanging off presidents’ noses ensue. Here’s a PERFECT example of a plot that could have been thwarted by a cell phone. If Thornhill’s mom had had a cell phone, he would have called her on it and not even noticed the page! ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/86 "2012-09-09T15:17:00Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > Just saw **North by Northwest** for the first time, and this thread immediately came to mind. > … > The mistaken identity occurs when Van Damme’s goons have a hotel bar’s porter page “George Kaplan”, the name of the enemy agent. At that exact moment, Thornhill raises his hand to get the porter’s attention, making the goons believe that Thornhill is Kaplan, responding to the page. > … > Here’s a PERFECT example of a plot that could have been thwarted by a cell phone. If Thornhill’s mom had had a cell phone, he would have called her on it and not even noticed the page! Easily replaced by calling “George Kaplan’s” cell number and having Thornhill’s ring co-incidently at the same time. Really no more trite and unbelievable a mechanism to get the story going. And I was recently in a situation where four cells on three different carriers could not be used. Where do you people live and, more importantly, what service do you use? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/87 "2012-09-09T15:43:07Z")
A cellphone would work really well in _2001_. As the monkeys gibber around aimlessly, a large black monolith rises silently through the rocky ground - Der-ner-ner-ner Der-ner-ner-ner Der-ner-ner ner-ner!!!\* ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/88 "2012-09-09T15:44:53Z")
Any version of Romeo and Juliet. “Jules, I’m going to fake my death. You pretend to be distraught, I’ll wake up, and we will elope.” ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/89 "2012-09-09T16:02:15Z")
Duel. ---
**Author:** ![Questioning\_Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/58956e/32.png) [@Questioning\_Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Questioning_Zion)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/90 "2012-09-09T17:28:45Z")
Other technology would change the significance of older plot tropes and original ideas. What about “The Shining”? All those reams Jack Nicholson typed of “All Work and No Play…” would only reflect his descent into madness using a typewriter. Anybody today could copy/paste a sentence that many times. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/91 "2012-09-09T17:29:59Z")
> [@Questioning\_Zion](#): > > Other technology would change the significance of older plot tropes and original ideas. > > What about “The Shining”? All those reams Jack Nicholson typed of “All Work and No Play…” would only reflect his descent into madness using a typewriter. Anybody today could copy/paste a sentence that many times. They could just replace the Room Full Of Crazy with him updating his Twitter with the same message over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/92 "2012-09-09T17:35:41Z")
“Mr Dracula wants me to go to Transylvania to do real estate stuff? Why can’t I just Skype him?” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/93 "2012-09-09T18:53:26Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > They could just replace the Room Full Of Crazy with him updating his Twitter with the same message over and over again. Mmmmm, that would undercut the whole theme of isolation … but I think watching the words appear on the screen, and scrolling back through pages and pages of the same words could be just as effective. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/94 "2012-09-09T20:35:52Z")
“Only the wizard can send you back to Kansas. Here’s his cell number”. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/95 "2012-09-09T20:57:28Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Mmmmm, that would undercut the whole theme of isolation … but I think watching the words appear on the screen, and scrolling back through pages and pages of the same words could be just as effective. Twitter only indicates a lack of isolation if anyone is following him. Same effect could be had on Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/96 "2012-09-09T23:17:56Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Twitter only indicates a lack of isolation if anyone is following him. Same effect could be had on Facebook. No, if he had Twitter and Facebook, so did Wendy; she would not have been isolated and trapped in the violent situation. But we shouldn’t be debating one film, in a survey thread. I’m still trying to come up with an example … ---
**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:** [September 10, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/97 "2012-09-10T17:19:08Z")
I thought of this thread over the weekend. How about the stories where a spy sneaks in somewhere, pulls out a teeny tiny hidden camera, snaps a bunch of photos, then hides the tiny film inside a hollow tooth or whatever and tries to run some gauntlet to get the hidden photots to his handlers? Nowadays, use your phone camera, hit send. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/98 "2012-09-10T17:22:11Z")
“So according to his GPS, Godot is… what the hell? He’s all the way across town? Fuck this, I’m not waiting any more.” ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/99 "2012-09-10T17:30:45Z")
Most of the situations in National Lampoon’s _Vacation_ makes it unwatchable for my kids, because the situations seem impossibly unbelievable to them (as opposed to hilariously unbelievable but _possible_). How’d he get so lost on a road trip? What happened to his GPS? How would he not know Wally World was closed until he got there? Didn’t he buy the tickets online before he left? What kind of a hotel doesn’t take a credit card? He had to wait for a check to clear in 10 working days? Why not just hit an ATM they really insisted on cash for some reason? Kids “bopping the baloney” with stacks of porno mags? Er… Isn’t that what most of the Internet is for? And Grandma dying in the car just freaked them out 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/100 "2012-09-10T17:37:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s not in the Thread intention, but the infamous Death issue of _National Lampoon_ had a one-page ad for the book _Bobby Fisher Teaches You How to Beat Death at Chess_. Ingmar Bergman’s last words: "Knight to queen one–_damn!"_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558.md?page=6)