# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/141 "2016-05-07T00:03:10Z")
> [@koufax](#): > > 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. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > People were tougher back then, dontcha know. [Grandpa Simpson]" I fell eight thousand feet onto a pile of jagged rocks. Of course, folks were tougher in those days. I was jitterbugging that very night."[/Grandpa Simpson] ---
**Author:** ![zwede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ac91a4/32.png) [@zwede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwede)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/142 "2016-05-07T02:28:21Z")
Thankfully I have no personal experience. but I do know that: If you step on a land mine, it will not not make an audible _click_ and wait to detonate until you remove your foot. It will simply go boom as soon as sufficient weight is placed on it. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/143 "2016-05-07T02:41:04Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > No matter the distance or wind conditions, a sniper aims directly at their target. Well, the movie \*\*Shooter \*\*went into great detail about curvature of the earth and wind conditions. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2016, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/144 "2016-05-07T02:43:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Inside of a Michael Bay film, _everything_ explodes. In _The Simpsons_, everything explodes. The Flying Nun exploded when she fell out of the air. ---
**Author:** ![zwede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ac91a4/32.png) [@zwede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwede)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/145 "2016-05-07T02:50:11Z")
If you pour gasoline on the ground on throw a lit cigarette/match/lighter in the puddle, all that happens is it will go out. Gasoline ignites when it is atomized and the air/fuel ratio needs to be within a certain range. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/146 "2016-05-07T02:55:44Z")
**zwede** : Don’t bet your life on it. A lit match in a puddle of gasoline might ignite it. I’ve played enough amateur pyromaniac to know the odds. (I agree, though, that it is somewhat counter-intuitive. The first time you toss a lit match into a puddle of gasoline, and the match just goes out, is one of life’s many “WTF” moments.) ---
**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 7, 2016, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/147 "2016-05-07T08:18:08Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > In TV and movies no one has screens on their house windows. Try that in real life, and you wind up with a house full of bugs or stop opening your windows. 😕 Where I grew up in West Texas, we had screens on all the windows and did still open them in the summer. We have screens on all the windows of our home here in Bangkok and sleep almost every night with the windows open. (In both places, the windows could and can be open with the screens closed. That’s no problem.) > [@zwede](#): > > If you pour gasoline on the ground on throw a lit cigarette/match/lighter in the puddle, all that happens is it will go out. Gasoline ignites when it is atomized and the air/fuel ratio needs to be within a certain range. 😕 As a young punk in West Texas, I would do this to anthills, and the pool of gasoline most certainly did flare up when I dropped a match onto it. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/148 "2016-05-07T12:38:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > 😕 Where I grew up in West Texas, we had screens on all the windows and did still open them in the summer. We have screens on all the windows of our home here in Bangkok and sleep almost every night with the windows open. (In both places, the windows could and can be open with the screens closed. That’s no problem.) Yes, that is the point of having screens. The poster was saying _without_ screens you have the choice of bugs or closed windows. ---
**Author:** ![zwede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ac91a4/32.png) [@zwede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwede)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/149 "2016-05-07T13:08:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > 😕 As a young punk in West Texas, I would do this to anthills, and the pool of gasoline most certainly did flare up when I dropped a match onto it. Was the pool deep enough to cover the match? That’s what’s shown on TV. I never was enough of a punk to burn ants but I figure your puddle was mostly soaked into the mount so the match didn’t go out. It stayed lit long enough to ignite the vapors. ---
**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 7, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/150 "2016-05-07T15:49:50Z")
> [@zwede](#): > > Was the pool deep enough to cover the match? That’s what’s shown on TV. I never was enough of a punk to burn ants but I figure your puddle was mostly soaked into the mount so the match didn’t go out. It stayed lit long enough to ignite the vapors. It’s been 50 years. I just remember the gas igniting. What you say could be true. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/151 "2016-05-07T17:56:28Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > And you can’t slide through [ventilation ducts] without getting hurt. They always make it look like it might be fun, like a water slide just without the water. The edges of sheet metal are sharp!! :eek: Not only that, but the sharp, pointy ends of sheet metal screws are sticking through _everywhere_. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/152 "2016-05-07T18:17:40Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > The roads always just clear enough for car chases too. There’s never a traffic jam or not enough room for cars to zig and zag through traffic. In the movie’s time frame, the famous chase through San Francisco in _Bullitt_ is clearly set on a Sunday morning. That’s some attention to detail there. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/153 "2016-05-07T18:49:07Z")
Women who go into labor NOT at the hospital almost always have their babies in 5-10 minutes, movie time, with just a little coaching from the main character who happens to be handy. They also don’t have placentas or any of that icky stuff. People who are shot (or stabbed) shrug it off and keep fighting. Couples who have just finished having sex are shown with the woman in a camisole and the man in boxers (unless they do the sheet swoop mentioned earlier). Usually this is on tv and it makes me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/154 "2016-05-07T18:51:49Z")
IRL, accused criminals virtually never get their entire case tossed out of court due to inadmissible evidence (or at most, they get a mistrial and then get retried). On the other hand, prosecutors virtually never get around plea deals and other immunities by incredibly clever legal maneuvers. IRL, the vast majority of cases handled by homicide detectives are distressingly mundane: gang shootings, jealous rages, etc. A convoluted mystery formulated by a criminal mastermind happens once a lifetime- nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/155 "2016-05-07T21:11:22Z")
> [@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. It’s celery, dammit. ---
**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 7, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/156 "2016-05-07T22:03:44Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > Yes, that is the point of having screens. > The poster was saying _without_ screens you have the choice of bugs or closed windows. I have seen houses without window screens. Lived in one for two years in northern Thailand. Since I did not have air conditioning, leaving the windows shut was not an option. It would have been hellishly hot – I mean even more so. The lights did attract some bugs, but I had house lizards that would eat them. In fact, at that time, that was a big part of my nightly entertainment, watching those guys chow down. Places I lived in Honolulu also did not have screens. That was one reason I got burgled. I had jalousie windows in one apartment, and the perp removed one and reached in to unlock the door … while I was in the shower. I heard him leave as I finished my shower. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/157 "2016-05-08T01:58:52Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It’s celery, dammit. But then you have to reinforce the elsatic in your drawers… ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/158 "2016-05-08T09:34:47Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house with screens in either the UK or Sweden. Not everywhere has the same climate. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/159 "2016-05-08T22:07:37Z")
It has been mentioned in other threads, but six guys show up to kill our hero. They approach one by one so that he or she can dispatch them with ease. Well, sometimes two approach so the hero can show off an impressive move. My evil henchmen will be instructed to advance simultaneously. When the hero is occupied with the first two, the other four may kill him. Further, shooting or any other quick death is not “too good of a way to die” for any of my enemies. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/160 "2016-05-08T22:35:31Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have seen houses without window screens. Lived in one for two years in northern Thailand. Since I did not have air conditioning, leaving the windows shut was not an option. It would have been hellishly hot – I mean even more so. The lights did attract some bugs, but I had house lizards that would eat them. In fact, at that time, that was a big part of my nightly entertainment, watching those guys chow down. > > Places I lived in Honolulu also did not have screens. That was one reason I got burgled. I had jalousie windows in one apartment, and the perp removed one and reached in to unlock the door … while I was in the shower. I heard him leave as I finished my shower. Sure, many places don’t have screens and can keep the windows open. Your first post said you had screens in West Texas and Thailand and were able to keep the windows open. My point was that the screens make it possible to keep the windows open in many places. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778.md?page=9)