# Things Movies Almost Always Get Wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494 "2011-02-07T06:45:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [February 7, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/121 "2011-02-07T22:03:22Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Speaking of Catholicism… nuns haven’t worn floor-length gowns since I was in second grade (well over 40 years) in real life, but always wear them in the movies. After Vatican II nuns started transitioning from the medieval gowns & attached headress to normal black/blue/grey dresses & skirts and smaller veils. Then the veils became optional. Now nuns don’t really dress any differently from other modestly dressed women. Keeping them in a habit of some kind is convenient visual shorthand that make’s it clear they’re a nun. Some TV shows are more realistic. This season of **Big Love** has a Roman Catholic nun who doesn’t were a habit and the Law & Order shows have had nuns who didn’t were habits. Also IRL _younger_ nuns are apparently more likely to were a habit than their elder sisters. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A diversion is needed, more often than not in a police station, so someone holds a match to an overhead sprinkler, causing all the sprinklers, the entire system, to spray out water and create havoc. My understanding is only the sprinkler(s) feeling the heat will spray water, not every single one in a building or on a floor. Insurance companies would go berserk at all the needless water damage. I’ve seen TV shows were just pulling a fire alarm was enought to set all the sprinklers off in the building. Including a show set _in a high school_! :eek: Just imagine a school giving any pissed off student the ability to cause thousands of dollars worth of water damage with the flip of a switch. I’ve also seen fictional fire alarms that while they didn’t set off the sprinklers sprayed whoever switched with ink. That is fake, right? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/122 "2011-02-07T22:05:35Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > While its not as true as it used to be, I always used to laugh at all the interracial gangs from movies in the 70s and the 80s, particularly when the people looked way too old to be in gangs. Not quite the same thing but in the same vein, just yesterday I finished a book that touched on, among other things, the crack epidemic in the '80s and the media’s characteristically hysterical reaction to it. In response to an article that described a long line of teenagers of all races waiting in queue outside of a crackhouse, he said, “It’s doubtful that\*\* this multicultural group of teenage crack enthusiasts\*\* ever existed except in the imagination of a Newsweek reporter and his source” Maybe I had just had one too many Mojitos, but the bolded phrase cracked me up. Maybe we can use “crack enthusiasts” as the next term for drug addicts after we get tired of the whole chemical dependency thing. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/123 "2011-02-07T22:28:49Z")
**astorian, alphaboi867** - Our local convent [a Domincan order](http://nashvilledominican.org/Community/Community_Life) still has nuns wearing full habits. 6 of them teach at the school in my parish. My thing is that most people in the movies don’t seem to have pets unless the story somehow revolves around them. They don’t just have a cat on their lap or a dog at their feet while they’re ont he computer or watching TV. StG ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/124 "2011-02-07T22:41:05Z")
I’ve rarely seen anything having to do with birth done accurately. The one I saw most recently was the birth of Jacob and his Evil Twin on _Lost_, where, on the ancient island (spoilered for anyone who hasn’t already watched the last season of \*Lost \*but thinks they might someday) Fake Mom kills Real Mom immediately after both kids are born, and yet, without any domesticated milk animals or any modern tech or even another human being available to her, raises the kids with no physical difficulty (just moral ones once Evil Twin gets all restive and stuff). ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/125 "2011-02-07T22:52:00Z")
Not having read entire thread but one recently that has been catching my eye is whenever a movie or TV scene shows an important electronic transfer the money is shown accumulating (quickly, but still) in the recipient account. Like the bank has taken a bucket of quarters and is physically pouring the money in the other account. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/126 "2011-02-07T22:57:45Z")
Nobody ever says ‘goodbye’ on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/127 "2011-02-07T23:15:09Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > People firing guns in enclosed spaces – like rooms, or cul-de-sacs, or alleys – and then have no problem hearing. I just watched Tremors the other day and noticed that- after the scene in the rec room, that couple should have been stone deaf. As a corollary to hanging on the ledge, as anyone, ever, managed to grab someone who was falling and pull them up, especially with one hand? Worst example I just saw was someone doing to so in the rain. Never going to happen. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/128 "2011-02-07T23:21:24Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > You misunderstood me. The pole, I can believe. It’s much easier. > > What I want you to try is a slender rope. Go to a hardware store, find a smooth nylon rope that’s about half an inch in diameter, and have the guy cut off about six feet for you. It should just cost a couple bucks. Make sure that its working strength (should be on the label or spool somewhere) is more than your weight. > > Then tie it SECURELY to an overhead bar (at a playground or gym) with a couple feet hanging down, grab it somewhere on the vertical hanging part, and see if your grip isn’t instantly torn loose when you take the weight off of your feet. > > If it isn’t, and you have a grip like that anywhere else, I would REALLY like to meet you. Ever sail a sunfish in heavy winds? You can NOT dog down the line you use to control the sail and it WILL develop some amazing tension on it. I have had mine up on her side, catamaran style, with my full weight supported by that little half inch line and leaning almost off the side of the boat. I had some amazing calouses on my hands from sailing when I was a young teen. I was 5’7 and 135 pounds, so it isn’t like i was a tiny little china doll. Back then I could have climbed the rope without knots with minimal effort. I could go up the usual gymnasium climbing rope like a spider monkey. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/129 "2011-02-07T23:23:31Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Ever sail a sunfish in heavy winds? You can NOT dog down the line you use to control the sail and it WILL develop some amazing tension on it. I have had mine up on her side, catamaran style, with my full weight supported by that little half inch line and leaning almost off the side of the boat. I had some amazing calouses on my hands from sailing when I was a young teen. I was 5’7 and 135 pounds, so it isn’t like i was a tiny little china doll. Back then I could have climbed the rope without knots with minimal effort. I could go up the usual gymnasium climbing rope like a spider monkey. WOW! There are some amazing folks here on the Dope. I love this place! ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/130 "2011-02-07T23:25:01Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > Next time you go past a playground, go over to the jungle gym, grab an overhead bar with one hand, and see how long you can suspend your weight from it. Unless you’re unusually strong or light, I’ll bet it’s only a few seconds. You are exaggerating this one. Hanging by one arm when you have a good grip is not that hard. The problem with hanging from a narrow ledge is that you don’t have a good grip. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/131 "2011-02-07T23:36:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > [Oh yeah?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzN4633mpI) I was thinking of [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQLCZOG202k). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/132 "2011-02-07T23:49:42Z")
Having worked in a hospital, the error I always notice is the oxygen cannula wrapped around the head. Just try sleeping like that! It goes in the nose, around the ears, and is “zipped” up under the chin! ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/133 "2011-02-07T23:50:39Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Like the bank has taken a bucket of quarters and is physically pouring the money in the other account. I worked at Chase Manhattan, and that is EXACTLY how we did it. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/134 "2011-02-07T23:53:01Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > And now that TV Tropes has pointed it out, it drives me batty every time someone is threatening to shoot someone…and only then do they chamber a round or racks back the slide or make the “click-click” noise that signifies the gun is now ready to shoot. Especially experienced professionals! They should have the gun ready. I give credit to the movie [Phone Booth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183649/) for pointing this out after a character cocked a gun: > [@](#): > > Now doesn’t that just torque your jaws? I love that. You know like in the movies just as the good guy is about to kill the bad guy, he cocks his gun. Now why didn’t he have it cocked? Because that sound is scary. It’s cool, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/135 "2011-02-08T00:07:21Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > You are exaggerating this one. Hanging by one arm when you have a good grip is not that hard. If it’s not hard for you, congratulations. But in most of the movies I’ve seen, the guy hanging is either an average Joe, or a 200+ pound guy. I think it would be pretty hard for them. When I was in my 20’s, I was a gym rat. I weighed about 210, and could easily do sets of 15 chins. I could hang from a bar with one hand for maybe a minute, and that was good enough to win contests with most of the other guys who worked out there. That was over 20 years ago. I’m nearly as strong now as I was then (still bench over 300, which is much stronger than an average guy), but I weigh about 30 pounds more, and my six-pack has become a keg. And I can’t hang on with one hand for even ten seconds. Still, you could be right. The average guy might weigh 160 or so, and I haven’t been that light since I was 15, so maybe it’s easier at that weight than I realize. I’d be interested if people reading this can try it, and post their height, weight, and results. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/136 "2011-02-08T00:25:26Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > If it’s not hard for you, congratulations. But in most of the movies I’ve seen, the guy hanging is either an average Joe, or a 200+ pound guy. I think it would be pretty hard for them. > > When I was in my 20’s, I was a gym rat. I weighed about 210, and could easily do sets of 15 chins. I could hang from a bar with one hand for maybe a minute, and that was good enough to win contests with most of the other guys who worked out there. > > That was over 20 years ago. I’m nearly as strong now as I was then (still bench over 300, which is much stronger than an average guy), but I weigh about 30 pounds more, and my six-pack has become a keg. And I can’t hang on with one hand for even ten seconds. > > Still, you could be right. The average guy might weigh 160 or so, and I haven’t been that light since I was 15, so maybe it’s easier at that weight than I realize. > > I’d be interested if people reading this can try it, and post their height, weight, and results. If you start a new thread you’ll get more results. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/137 "2011-02-08T00:31:37Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Having worked in a hospital, the error I always notice is the oxygen cannula wrapped around the head. Just try sleeping like that! It goes in the nose, around the ears, and is “zipped” up under the chin! I sleep in something like that. I use a nasal mask for my CPAP machine, the strap goes around the back of my head, with a strap over the top of my head to keep it in place. [Here](http://www.resmed.com/us/products/swift_fx/image-gallery.html?nc=patients&sec=true) are pictures of the actual mask. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/138 "2011-02-08T00:45:36Z")
> [@Ibn Warraq (bolding added)](#): > > In bar fights, when someone menacingly smashes a beer bottle to make it into a **wedding** , he doesn’t get all cut up by the glass that flies around. I love predictive text. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/139 "2011-02-08T01:03:06Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Having worked in a hospital, the error I always notice is the oxygen cannula wrapped around the head. Just try sleeping like that! It goes in the nose, around the ears, and is “zipped” up under the chin! My mother can’t watch any kind of medical drama without pointing out that the doctors are spending _way_ too much time with the patients and doing all sorts of stuff should be done by a nurse/aid/tech and most doctors wouldn’t have a clue how to do in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494/140 "2011-02-08T01:09:50Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > And in the movies they use the AED to bring people back to life. I could be mistaken about this but it is my understanding that the shocking with the paddles (CLEAR!) is to defibrillate, not to restart the heart. In the movies they don’t pull the paddles out until the patient flatlines. Look here: > **[Defibrillation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defibrillation)** > > Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). Defibrillation delivers a dose of electric current (often called a counter-shock) to the heart. Although not fully understood, this process depolarizes a large amount of the heart muscle, ending the arrhythmia. Subsequently, the body's natural pacemaker in the sinoatrial node of the heart is able to re-establish normal sinu In co... It sums it up better than I can, and more succinctly, also. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-movies-almost-always-get-wrong/570494.md?page=8)