# SHOCKER! Things work differently in the movies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778 "2016-05-03T14:42:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/101 "2016-05-04T16:51:28Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Human beings don’t come with an off switch, and knocking someone unconscious or drugging them into unconsciousness is pretty difficult without risking serious injury or death. I know you’re not saying this doesn’t happen, but that kind of thing does actually happen, it’s just amazingly hard to predict which blow’s gonna do what: (Spoilered because it is real, but it is just a terrifying hockey check.) [Mark Messier turned Mike Modano off like a light switch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yxLlZkknv0), and Modano was conscious shortly afterward. It’s certainly not the kind of thing I’d like to have happen without a medical crew around, but apparently Modano was none the worse for wear afterward. To hear some people in NY tell it, that’s a shoulder check to the side of the head. Others say he got hit with an elbow the jaw. Either way, that’s also not the classic “whomp on the back of the head”. > [@bengangmo](#): > > is it a regional thing? I’ve travelled in NZ, Oz, through parts of Asia (Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia) and have seriously never seen it in 42 years… > I have seen “door hold” on goods lifts, but never an honest to god “stop” that would hold the elevator between floors The building I used to work in had an elevator with a “stop” switch. I was actuated by pulling to prevent the elevator from being stopped accidentally by people leaning on it, so it wasn’t strictly a button. I was alone in the building 90% of the time, and often bored while taking a trip in the elevator, so I pulled it many a time. That one stopped the elevator dead whether you were traveling up or down. You get all wobbly as your legs catch the sudden increase in load on the way down, and you get somewhere near tossed in the air on the way up, accompanied by an annoying alarm both ways. The few stoned friends who were in it when I pulled it were awful disturbed. And for a nitpick: up to about 1970, and beyond depending on the model, hotwiring a car is just yanking and crossing the right wires from under the dash in the right sequence. That’s all your ignition key used to do, without the yanking. Locking steering wheels made it require more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/102 "2016-05-04T16:53:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And random people cannot go into any business, especially hospitals, hack into their computers and change stuff. Especially paternity tests. > > The TV show leverage does this one, and Alex is a superhero in that respect. Elliot is the hitting someone unconscious superhero. I like that show a lot, but it’s more fantasy than reality based. It out Star Treks Star Trek. Not to mention their “EMP” gun, that not only destroys only electronic systems it is pointed at, but only knocks them out “for a while”. It’s the “hit on the head/make you unconscious” unreality, but for electronics. The later seasons got so bad at this stuff that some episodes are unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/103 "2016-05-04T16:56:20Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Likewise, going through plate glass usually just makes you dead. I’ve done that. I didn’t die. But it was…_very_ uncomfortable and _very_ messy. A lot of bodily fluid leakage. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/104 "2016-05-04T16:56:20Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I always roll my eyes when one character calls another character and says, “turn on the TV”. The call recipient invariably turns the TV on and it’s not only tuned to the correct channel for the news broadcast, but the story is just now beginning. Most markets have several local stations, as well as the normal four news channels, and yet the one that’s needed pops up immediately… and they’ve been holding the related news story for just the right moment. My personal remembering-9/11-story begins with me getting up late and reading an e-mail from my wife that just said “Turn on the TV.” My first guess was that India and Pakistan had nuked each other. I knew it had to be bad if all I had to do was turn on the TV and I’d get the news immediately. But in movies, key-riminey, the news is always related to the protagonist. Yes, we all understand about the need for dramatic compression. It still makes our eyes roll. Now at least we can fix this issue by having the news clips uploaded to YouTube or something. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/105 "2016-05-04T16:58:24Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Seconds on screen matter, and no one wants to wait while the new smart plasma TV and cable box boot up, unless it is plot related. No one wants to watch people circle blocks in NYC looking for parking then walking blocks to get where one really wants to go in a 22 minute sitcom. Some things need to be let go for the sake of expediency in moving the plot. To some extent you’re right. Time is everything, and saving time matters. Ten seconds of wasted time is an eternity. However, a lot of these things are lazy writing. The “turn on your TV” bit, for example, can be avoided by simply not using the incredibly lazy, hackneyed plot device of having a character impart information to another by telling them to turn on the TV. It’s become a cliche, so the stupidity of it is irritating in that it can be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/106 "2016-05-04T17:01:53Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I was actuated by pulling to prevent the elevator from being stopped accidentally by people leaning on it, so it wasn’t strictly a button. \Umm, that should read “It was actuated”, I can be actuated by pulling, but I am not sure what you would be stopping.\ ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/107 "2016-05-04T17:06:42Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > People do not fall in love wit their stalkers and/or rapists. except on rare occasions: [Burt Pugach - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Pugach) ---
**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:** [May 4, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/108 "2016-05-04T18:08:21Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I’ve never yet seen a “stop” button in an elevator. > > It’s incredibly difficult for one car to catch another that has a head start and trying to escape. Especially within a city with multiple routes a car can disappear with virtually no chance of finding it within 60 seconds. (and yes, I outran a chasing car with a 20 second head start and “lost” it in a subdivision) > > Already mentioned - but a van is not going to keep up with sports car > > Rooftops are generally locked and inaccessible without the proper authorisation / keys. The worst example of this I’ve ever seen is in the movie **Spy**. Melissa McCarthy is chasing a bad guy on foot and sees him get in a car and speed away. She gets aboard a moped with a roof on it, and the moped falls over, ho ho. She crawls out of it cracking jokes, then gets on another moped, and takes off after the guy. She catches him in about 10 seconds. He was driving a BMW 5 Series. Oh, and this scene took place in the wide-open flat streets of…Rome. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/109 "2016-05-04T23:35:17Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Well, _I_ see two overlapping circles. I’ve got funny eyes, mind you. Here’s a brief scientific explanation of how the effect works. > **[TOP SECRET - Binoculars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSBruN0p-Oc%5Bhttps:%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch?v=PSBruN0p-Oc%5D%28https:%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch?v=PSBruN0p-Oc%29)** ---
**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:** [May 5, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/110 "2016-05-05T03:41:22Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Mentioned many times before but may as well bring up office building sprinklers here. Holding a lighter up to a sprinkler will not drench the entire building in water - it will only activate the sprinkler head that you held the lighter under. There’s a tiny glass bubble on each unit that breaks under heat - if no heat breaks the glass in other sprinkler heads, they do not activate… Also the sprinkler system is not connected to the fire alarm system. Pulling the fire alarm will not automatically turn every sprinkler in the builder in. No business/school/etc in their right mind would ever install a system like that. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/111 "2016-05-05T04:57:10Z")
I have seen “Stop” buttons in elevators, but now that I think about it, not in recent years. I remember friends and me clowning around by pushing it to make the elevator stop suddenly. I think sometimes it was a switch, sometimes a button. sometimes an alarm would sound if we tripped it, sometimes not. But that was a long time ago. They may have stopped including those. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/112 "2016-05-05T05:44:37Z")
Don’t forget breaking bottles over someone’s head. A real beer or wine bottle will generally bounce and hurt like hell. Bottles don’t break that easily. You can’t just zoom in on security videos and then play around with it and get a good close-up look at the logo on someone’s hat. All you’re going to see are a bunch of pixels. > [@Jennshark](#): > > In response to up-thread observation about how difficult it is to start a modern-day car by hotwiring: some apparently Olde Timey thieves tried to steal my BMW by randomly pullling wires and jamming a screwdriver into the ignition. :dubious: My driver’s ed teacher told us how to start a car using a screwdriver in the ignition, but he was a bit more precise. Granted, this was a good twenty years ago, so I imagine locks and such have changed over the years. 😉 > [@scabpicker](#): > > I know you’re not saying this doesn’t happen, but that kind of thing does actually happen, it’s just amazingly hard to predict which blow’s gonna do what: > > (Spoilered because it is real, but it is just a terrifying hockey check.) > > [Mark Messier turned Mike Modano off like a light switch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yxLlZkknv0), and Modano was conscious shortly afterward. It’s certainly not the kind of thing I’d like to have happen without a medical crew around, but apparently Modano was none the worse for wear afterward. > > To hear some people in NY tell it, that’s a shoulder check to the side of the head. Others say he got hit with an elbow the jaw. Either way, that’s also not the classic “whomp on the back of the head”. Except nowadays they’re finding out that’s not necessarily the case. Just because you recover quickly from being knocked out doesn’t mean there isn’t lasting damage. Ask a lot of former athletes. It can take a few days for a concussion to show up. Back then they just called it “getting your bell rung”, but now they realize, it’s much more serious than that. I’ll bet Modano was certainly feeling it for awhile, but in those days guys just accepted it as part of the game. Now? Not so much. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2016, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/113 "2016-05-05T12:26:12Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > And for a nitpick: up to about 1970, and beyond depending on the model, hotwiring a car is just yanking and crossing the right wires from under the dash in the right sequence. That’s all your ignition key used to do, without the yanking. Locking steering wheels made it require more than that. And for another nitpick (although this is another losing battle like ATM machine and PIN number), it’s SHORTwire. (Because you start the car by shorting two wires.) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/114 "2016-05-05T13:22:43Z")
And when was the last time you carried home your groceries in a brown paper bag with a baguette sticking out of it. ---
**Author:** ![WilyQuixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@WilyQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilyQuixote)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/115 "2016-05-05T13:25:00Z")
“It’s just a flesh wound” ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/116 "2016-05-05T13:36:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And when was the last time you carried home your groceries in a brown paper bag with a baguette sticking out of it. Probably the last time I bought a baguette. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/117 "2016-05-05T14:15:17Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You can’t just zoom in on security videos and then play around with it and get a good close-up look at the logo on someone’s hat. All you’re going to see are a bunch of pixels. 10-12 years ago I worked in a retail distribution center. One of the maintenance guys had climbed up on one of the movers and was working on it when the cloth he had tied around his wrist (stupid idea) got caught and one of his fingers was torn off. Because it was a workplace accident, we had to review the security footage. The best we got was “Well, that one dark pixel there is probably him”. Of course, an episode of Star Trek TNG did it even worse, having the computer extrapolate and identify an unknown person standing BEHIND someone else, from just a thin sliver of their hair. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/118 "2016-05-05T14:22:28Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Probably the last time I bought a baguette. Your grocery doesn’t provide baguette bags? Call the Health Department! ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/119 "2016-05-05T14:39:22Z")
Baguette bags are against my religion. ---
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/120 "2016-05-05T15:12:59Z")
I watched 30 minutes of “the Revenant” and saw Leo not only get his throat crushed and survive unscathed (didn’t even rub his throat) but also get torn apart by a Grizzly and get sutured up in filthy conditions and somehow not die of infection. Yet earlier in the year I thoroughly enjoyed James Bond’s latest escapades BECAUSE IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. I’m glad I read this thread because my friends are always mad at me for my low tolerance of “Hollywood” bullshit and I see I am not alone! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778.md?page=7)