# Stupid errors that crop up repeatedly in TV shows and movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866 "2014-03-29T23:33:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/201 "2014-04-01T19:16:02Z")
> [@Justin Bailey](#): > > These are closed systems and while I’m sure some kind of hack is possible, you’re looking at big fallout over almost no gain. Linking a terrorist’s terrorism to their library record is next to impossible. Given the lack of significant fallout after months of in-depth revelations from Snowden, I don’t share your view that there would be any real repercussions. I definitely agree that the gain would be miniscule at best. But that’s true of the TSA, the terrorist “Watch List”, the color coded terror level that seems to have been given up, and the infiltration of non-violent “subversive” groups that has been performed by the intelligence community for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/202 "2014-04-01T19:21:11Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > People seeing themselves in their own dreams from perspectives other than their own eyes I’ve had dreams like that. Sometimes it’s me, sometimes in the dream I’m someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/203 "2014-04-01T19:21:12Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Given the lack of significant fallout after months of in-depth revelations from Snowden, I don’t share your view that there would be any real repercussions. I definitely agree that the gain would be miniscule at best. But that’s true of the TSA, the terrorist “Watch List”, the color coded terror level that seems to have been given up, and the infiltration of non-violent “subversive” groups that has been performed by the intelligence community for decades. Honestly, maybe its my librarian bias showing, but “the government knows who you call” and “the government reads your email” are things I always assumed were true (Alias was playing off both of those scenarios as a given in 2003). But “the government is checking up on the books you read” is one of those things that makes book readers gag. They would get pissed and they would be the ones writing about it in newspapers and on the Internet. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/204 "2014-04-01T19:56:31Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I can’t speak for back then, but at the library where I work we certainly do have a long list of who has borrowed what. As far as I know, I couldn’t pick a subject and simply search for that to see who has borrowed books matching the keyword, but in the context of such an investigation it would be perfectly easy to simply use the library catalogue to find books on a particular subject, then bring up their respective borrower logs and compare. > > It also seems plausible to me that an older library might be using a card system that would allow them to find which books are of interest and then check the cards of those books to see who had borrowed them. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Do you work at a public library or a school library. Because that is highly irregular for a public library. Maybe now, but that used to be the norm. Until the mid 70s, the public library in my hometown had cards similar to [these](http://img0.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.268127347.jpg) in every book. When you checked out a book, you wrote your name and card number in the next available spot, then took it up to the counter where the library person would stamp the date due, and also stamp the due date on a flap attached to the book opposite the card pocket. When the card was full a new one was stapled on top of the old one. Anyone could pull a book from the stacks and see who had checked it out and when. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/205 "2014-04-01T20:07:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Though I do remember an episode of _ **Combat!** _ (which was generally pretty accurate, from a TV point of view) in which Sgt Saunders specifically ordered a green replacement to unbuckle his the strap on his helmet, since a round glancing off it could snap his neck. > > With the possible exception of paratroopers or GIs in amphibious landings, I can’t recall ever seeing any photos of combat infantrymen with their WWII-style helmets buckled. Perhaps not in WWII, but with the ones now we do - and fairly snugly (says I who saw a poor guy doing one of his first section attacks with a “loose” strap, only to have the whole damn thing slide over his head and break his nose). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/206 "2014-04-01T20:41:50Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > If libraries don’t keep it, how can the NSA gain access to it without the library’s cooperation? These are closed systems and while I’m sure some kind of hack is possible, you’re looking at big fallout over almost no gain. Linking a terrorist’s terrorism to their library record is next to impossible. There was a guy when I was in library school who disappeared hiking and the cops and everybody else in the world wanted to find out what he’d checked out from the library (because it might have given some clues to where he’d gone hiking.) Once he returned the books without any fees, they had no way of finding his circ history. Even though everybody wanted to cooperate. Not possible, at least with that system. (With most systems - definitely you can’t do it in Horizon, which is our old ILS - we just switched to Polaris and I don’t know this one well enough yet to tell you for sure if we can find out or not with sufficient permissions.) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/207 "2014-04-01T21:03:43Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > The valiant hero has the drop on the villain and lets them s-l-o-w-l-y walk toward The hero to snatch the weapon away. Sorry, I tell you to stop and you take one step toward me, you’ll find out what a bullet in the centre of mass feels like. Maybe two. Or the clip. Justified (the show) is good in this regard. He tells someone to stop, they keep moving, and he actually SHOOTS them. It’s refreshing. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/208 "2014-04-01T22:04:49Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Justified (the show) is good in this regard. He tells someone to stop, they keep moving, and he actually SHOOTS them. It’s refreshing. “It was justified!” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/209 "2014-04-01T22:19:21Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Maybe now, but that used to be the norm. Until the mid 70s, the public library in my hometown had cards similar to [these](http://img0.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.268127347.jpg) in every book. When you checked out a book, you wrote your name and card number in the next available spot, then took it up to the counter where the library person would stamp the date due, and also stamp the due date on a flap attached to the book opposite the card pocket. When the card was full a new one was stapled on top of the old one. Anyone could pull a book from the stacks and see who had checked it out and when. A low-tech system like that wouldn’t do any good in tracking down what someone read if they scribbled their name poorly enough. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/210 "2014-04-01T22:20:45Z")
The discussion of library records is interesting. I just checked my account at the local library. It has details of everything I’ve borrowed, or reserved, or had transferred in from another library, for the last two years. If I can see those records then the library obviously can too. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/211 "2014-04-01T23:39:36Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > A low-tech system like that wouldn’t do any good in tracking down what someone read if they scribbled their name poorly enough. Part of the check-out process was the librarian examining your library card and the signed book card(s). If she couldn’t read a book card, she’d correct it. You can’t send the book overdue notice if you can’t read the card. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/212 "2014-04-02T00:28:13Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > The discussion of library records is interesting. I just checked my account at the local library. It has details of everything I’ve borrowed, or reserved, or had transferred in from another library, for the last two years. If I can see those records then the library obviously can too. That’s not the same thing as being able to look at the record for a _book_ and see who’s checked it out in the past, though. I’ve never seen _Seven_, but it sounds like the police did not have the name of a suspect to give to the librarian. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/213 "2014-04-02T10:23:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > WW II fighter pilots always fly with the canopy open. Yeah let’s lower its aerodynamic efficiency and subject the pilot to the sound and feel of the air as he flies. I’m pretty sure Allied pilots in the Mediterranean, North African and Pacific theatres often _did_ fly with their cockpits open, at least until they were in actual combat. Roald Dahl and Pappy Boyington referenced the practice in their autobiographies, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/214 "2014-04-02T12:25:29Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Part of the check-out process was the librarian examining your library card and the signed book card(s). If she couldn’t read a book card, she’d correct it. You can’t send the book overdue notice if you can’t read the card. In the 80s in my library system, they’d gone high tech. There was a machine that went kathunk as it stamped your library card number onto the index card that belonged to the book. The kathunket machine was my favorite part of the checking out process. That card was NEVER to leave the library. I remember once a librarian mistakenly left it in the pocket (she must have put the due date card in the Checked Out box…oops!) And I was honestly concerned I’d go to jail for having a library book with the library’s index card in it. Of course, I was 6, but even at that age, I knew that while that card was in the book, it looked like I stole it from the library! Everything checked out on one day would be organized in an index card holder not entirely unlike a card catalog drawer. So it was extremely easy for them to track overdue books. Any cards left in that holder 15 days after they were put in belonged to overdue books. I imagine checking books back in was a pretty tedious business, though, having to go back into the holder and find each book’s card. But that’s just how it was before computers were everywhere. But yes, you could sometimes go back 40 borrowers on that card. When it filled up, the book got a new card. I don’t know if they kept the old one or for how long. But especially in a small town and an unpopular book, there’s a good chance that you could have tracked who borrowed a specific book all the way back to its acquisition. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/215 "2014-04-02T12:50:16Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I’m pretty sure Allied pilots in the Mediterranean, North African and Pacific theatres often _did_ fly with their cockpits open, at least until they were in actual combat. Roald Dahl and Pappy Boyington referenced the practice in their autobiographies, IIRC. Interesting. Whatever for? Too hot in the cockpit? I can’t stand to drive down the freeway with the window open, you’d think it would be too noisy. As I understand it, the reason that the movies do it is to pick up the actor’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/216 "2014-04-02T14:55:27Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Interesting. Whatever for? Too hot in the cockpit? I can’t stand to drive down the freeway with the window open, you’d think it would be too noisy. As I understand it, the reason that the movies do it is to pick up the actor’s voice. Dunno about other planes, but I’ve read that the P-38 Lightning fighter (widely used in the Pacific and North Africa) was notoriously hard to heat and cool, because the pilot sat in the central nacelle, only circuitously connected to the engines and air intakes through the wings. Heating the cockpit was a worse problem than cooling, because the engines were so far from the pilot (exacerbated when flying at the very high altitudes of which the Lightning was capable), but presumably airflow in general was poor compared to typical single-engine fighters. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/217 "2014-04-02T15:01:36Z")
In shows that feature “hacking” (such as _Leverage_) there is often a case where the hacker disables someone’s car remotely, and locks them in the car. Whether hacking like that is even remotely (heh heh) possible, you can’t lock someone in the car. The doors can always be opened from inside. It’s a safety feature. The mechanical linkage always overrides the electric locks. If any engineer designed it differently, he should be fired for being so stupid. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/218 "2014-04-02T15:24:56Z")
Speaking of stupid designs, here’s one that I mention at times: [The “Spoiler” of “Spoiler”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gX0_cwbuA8&feature=related), from **Gattaca**. Don’t click if you don’t want to be spoiled. So, he gets in this in-home incinerator, closes the door, then _reaches over and turns it on from the inside_. Either the government has given up all pretense of regulation, or the incinerator manufacturer is sitting on such oodles of cash, those pesky product liability lawsuits are of no worry whatsoever. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/219 "2014-04-02T16:21:46Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Speaking of stupid designs, here’s one that I mention at times: > > [The “Spoiler” of “Spoiler”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gX0_cwbuA8&feature=related), from **Gattaca**. Don’t click if you don’t want to be spoiled. > > So, he gets in this in-home incinerator, closes the door, then _reaches over and turns it on from the inside_. Either the government has given up all pretense of regulation, or the incinerator manufacturer is sitting on such oodles of cash, those pesky product liability lawsuits are of no worry whatsoever. You know, I watch this movie a lot, and it never registered how stupid the design would be for that. And it would be so easy to fix-just show that he rigged a remote control. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866/220 "2014-04-02T16:26:56Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Do you work at a public library or a school library. Because that is highly irregular for a public library. > > The scene in question takes place at the New York Public Library. Something tells me they haven’t used cards in a long time. No it doesn’t. **Se7en** is not set in New York. It is an unnamed city that is supposed to be Los Angeles. (Which is where they filmed it.) Not many deserts around NYC. The film also came out in 1995, and all the libraries I used around that time still used cards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-errors-that-crop-up-repeatedly-in-tv-shows-and-movies/684866.md?page=12)