# Things that totally ruin the suspension of disbelief in a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438 "2007-03-03T17:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/161 "2007-03-13T01:26:14Z")
Similar to **Robot Arm’s** Rollerball complaint, the magical multi-angle zooming and panning security camera video. On playback, the surveillance tape automatically inserts edits, cuts between long and medium shots, and even changes camera positions to emphasize the object of interest. Why don’t all banks, liquor stores, and parking garages install these? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/162 "2007-03-13T11:19:24Z")
[QUOTE=ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness] … Why don’t all banks, liquor stores, and parking garages install these? [/QUOTE] Because then all bank robbers would be on roller skates, harder to catch. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/163 "2007-04-19T19:57:10Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] What they did have in MI was a helicopter being towed into the Channel Tunnel by a train, and lasting for quite a long while without bumping into anything. Uh-huh. :dubious: [/QUOTE] And even before that… it’s the Channel Tunnel train! It’s an electric train! Where are the frickin’ overhead wires, at the very least the ones leading into the tunnel entrance? (I know that until the high-speed line to the coast was built, the Channel Tunnel train used a third rail system on the old UK tracks. But there was a switchover to overhead wires well outside the tunnel entrance.) And where’s that big terminal place in Folkestone where drivers put their cars on the shuttle train? And for that matter, doesn’t the real Channel Tunnel track run parallel to the UK coast before entering the tunnel? And if that was supposed to be the _French_ side, it’s overhead wires all the way to Paris! ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/164 "2007-04-20T01:43:48Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] Real life sometimes inadvertently intrudes, despite any intentions on the part of the filmmakers. For instance, the death of an actor: like watching John Wayne light his cigarette, in almost any movie he’s in, tends to break my disbelieft with the, “Aw, shit, he died from that.” [/QUOTE] It’s possible that he [died](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_016.html) from radiation, and that the cigs didn’t kill him. You should tell yourself that when you watch his movies. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/165 "2007-04-20T01:56:02Z")
Well, except for _The Conqueror_. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/166 "2007-04-20T04:40:55Z")
Apologies if this appeared before and I missed it, but: Vicious guard or police dogs wagging their tails. If they’re wagging their tails, that means they take this as playing and wouldn’t really maul you. Really vicious dogs don’t wag their tails. ---
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/167 "2007-04-20T06:05:54Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Speaking of computers, I find it annoying when characters are shown chatting online and each character actually speaks out loud every word they type. Who does that? [/QUOTE] I do this. Sometimes. Every word. Not every line. Only when I’m alone. Yes, I know it’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/168 "2007-04-20T11:37:55Z")
Please let me know if this really happens in America, but I’ve always been amazed when a character in a film gets into a stranger’s unlocked car and retrieves the car keys from the foldable sun-visor above the driver’s seat. Sometimes the keys haven’t been left there and the character is frustrated. It happens in many films though only Terminator 2 springs to mind right now. Surely this would only happen in the most idyllic crime-free backwater, if at all? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/169 "2007-04-20T12:31:00Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] Please let me know if this really happens in America, but I’ve always been amazed when a character in a film gets into a stranger’s unlocked car and retrieves the car keys from the foldable sun-visor above the driver’s seat. Sometimes the keys haven’t been left there and the character is frustrated. It happens in many films though only Terminator 2 springs to mind right now. Surely this would only happen in the most idyllic crime-free backwater, if at all? [/QUOTE] For 5 years I kept my keys under the floor mat. The door lock was broken and I never bothered to fix it. Only once did someone help themselves to my tapes. other than that, no problem. And that was while living in Los Angeles and Burbank. I kind of miss doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/170 "2007-04-20T12:32:36Z")
555 phone numbers. The whole world knows they’re fake. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/171 "2007-04-24T16:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] Surely this would only happen in the most idyllic crime-free backwater, if at all? [/QUOTE] No, in the idyllic crime-free backwaters, the keys are simply left in the ignition. Incidentally, there’s no connection whatsoever between “idyllic crime-free” (well, low-crime) area and “backwater.” There are lots of places with culture and technology that are still low-population natural settings. Around here, it’s not unusual to go to the post office in the winter and see 30 cars in the parking lot, all with the doors unlocked and engines running. Tractors, ATVs, and trucks sit in driveways with keys in the ignition. Some of the homes around here don’t even HAVE locks on the doors. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/172 "2007-04-24T17:02:05Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] No, in the idyllic crime-free backwaters, the keys are simply left in the ignition. Incidentally, there’s no connection whatsoever between “idyllic crime-free” (well, low-crime) area and “backwater.” There are lots of places with culture and technology that are still low-population natural settings. Around here, it’s not unusual to go to the post office in the winter and see 30 cars in the parking lot, all with the doors unlocked and engines running. Tractors, ATVs, and trucks sit in driveways with keys in the ignition. Some of the homes around here don’t even HAVE locks on the doors. [/QUOTE] True, my mother lives outside of a city that’s in the top 100 largest cities in the USA and she doesn’t think she’s locked her doors since she bought the house in the late 1950’s. ---
**Author:** ![zyzzyva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@zyzzyva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zyzzyva)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/173 "2007-04-24T18:11:54Z")
Here’s one i remembered while the thread was hibernating. Didn’t think it merited a resurrection on its own. When something’s been spotted in the sky and a team of “experts” is quickly gathered to figure out what it is. Someone will inevitably say something like, “it could have been a UFO,” or, “do you think it was a UFO?” Of COURSE it was a UFO! You’re sitting there trying to figure out what it was! “UFO” is not synonymous with “alien spacecraft”. It just means, “it was in the air and we don’t know what it was”. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/174 "2007-04-24T18:36:14Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] You just reminded me of another thing that bugs me in period movies - pierced earlobes on guys. [/QUOTE] One movie that really bugged me with this is _Unbreakable_. I mean, here we’ve got a movie which completely hinges upon Bruce Willis’ character’s invulnerability… and in one scene they show a closeup of his face and reveal that apparently he was able to have his ears pierced. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/175 "2007-04-24T18:51:47Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] I’ve known a number of amply endowed women who wore bras when they slept. [/QUOTE] I used to get mild PMS that manifested as sore breasts- they would hurt if they moved. I slept in a jogging bra for about 5 days out of the month to minimize the pain when I moved in my sleep. ---
**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 24, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/176 "2007-04-24T19:09:21Z")
High school gymnasiums. No matter how big the high school looks in the rest of the film or how many students you see walking the halls, the gymnasium will have only about 4 rows of bleachers. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/177 "2007-04-24T20:19:20Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] One movie that really bugged me with this is _Unbreakable_. I mean, here we’ve got a movie which completely hinges upon Bruce Willis’ character’s invulnerability… and in one scene they show a closeup of his face and reveal that apparently he was able to have his ears pierced. [/QUOTE] It was raining when he got it done. 😉 -Joe ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/178 "2007-04-24T20:53:54Z")
[QUOTE=Throatwarbler Mangrove] That’s the one where he had his rifle sight on [backwards.](http://www.cinebso.com/upload/avances/tearsofthesun/tears01.JPG) [/QUOTE] That is funny. RE: the harrier rotation. Not only is it possible, but I’ve seen it. At an airshow, the harrier hovered up to about 20’ then rotated the nose along the flight line from one end to the other. I was imagining it strafing the lines and I would hate to be the bad guys facing that. However, same movie - same scene. He does manage to hold the Harrier in a stable hover while he reaches over the nose to pull his daughter into the cockpit. That struck me as complete BS. I know for a fact that you need both hands and both feet to hover a helicopter and I can’t imagine the Harrier would be any easier. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/179 "2007-04-24T21:22:41Z")
[QUOTE=brewha] I know for a fact that you need both hands and both feet to hover a helicopter and I can’t imagine the Harrier would be any easier. [/QUOTE] I worked for Sperry when they did an upgrade to the AV-8 (US marine corps version of the Harrier) flight controls. There is some major stability augmentation in that system. Prior to this, a few were lost because if they roll slightly at low altitude, the exhaust reflects from the ground in such a way as to increase that roll, and they flip upside down and slam into the ground before the pilot can say “oh shit!” This feature of the upgrade was known as “auto-hover”…It was the next group down the hall, so I’m not sure how accurate that name was. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438/180 "2007-04-24T21:50:14Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect] In the mid to late 80’s you watched PG-13 films for the boobs and the R films for the violence. [/QUOTE] Whereas you can now get both on premium cable. Man, the 80s were the Dark Ages… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-totally-ruin-the-suspension-of-disbelief-in-a-movie/394438.md?page=10)