# True facts that movies have taught you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811 "2011-01-24T17:55:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/1 "2011-01-24T17:55:08Z")
I know that when a police detective is suspended, I can be confident that he will continue working on the case, such is his dedication to catching his man. If he destroys a car or two, it’s not a big deal, especially if they blow up during a shootout. I also know that, according to the documentary _U.S. Marshals_, a U.S. Marshal can call in swamp boats at a moment’s notice. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/2 "2011-01-24T17:59:25Z")
Movies have taught me that shoulder wounds are minor, you can recover from a beating in less than 15 minutes with little swelling or bruising, and women will leave their fiances at the altar if you are charming and goofy enough. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/3 "2011-01-24T18:00:44Z")
I have learned that when people order Chinese food, even if there are only 2 diners, they order at least 8 containers’ worth of food and eat with chopsticks directly out of the containers. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/4 "2011-01-24T18:47:22Z")
Movies have taught me that learning a martial art to a black belt standard from a base of nothing takes only as long as a montage sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/5 "2011-01-24T18:50:29Z")
Movies have taught me that stalking, harassment, and generally dickish behavior towards women is fine, nay lauded, if you are “the right guy.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/6 "2011-01-24T18:50:55Z")
Wrecked cars **always** explode. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/7 "2011-01-24T19:11:42Z")
If you are the good guy in a movie and your car explodes, you can be standing six feet away from it and not only will you live, but you will walk away with maybe a couple of strategically placed scratches for effect. If you are a woman, somehow your breasts will become exposed from the force of the explosion. If you are the bad guy in a movie and your car explodes, you could be running full-speed about 200 yards away and still be killed by the blast. If you are a woman bad guy, somehow your breasts will become exposed from the force of the explosion. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/8 "2011-01-24T19:15:28Z")
If somebody asks you, “Have you told anyone else about this yet?” and you answer “no”, you will soon be bumped off. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/9 "2011-01-24T19:26:53Z")
Getting stuck in an elevator always makes pregnant women go into labor. Any computer can be hacked with a few keystrokes. Teachers only teach one class section, sometimes for years. When driving in a crowded city, you can always find a parking spot right where you want to go. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/10 "2011-01-24T19:29:19Z")
Police forensic labs can get to your evidence within hours, and will have solid results in less than 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/11 "2011-01-24T19:29:48Z")
After the apocalypse, tattered leather will be the only apparel available. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/12 "2011-01-24T19:30:49Z")
Movies have taught me that when your gun runs out of bullets you should just toss it aside, it’s useless. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/13 "2011-01-24T19:36:31Z")
Mobile phones exist that have infinite battery life… but only employees of CTU (or a certain person variously either employed by, or pursued by CTU) have them. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/14 "2011-01-24T19:40:42Z")
Movies have taught me that if you’re a seasoned cop, you never reveal the fact that it’s your final case before you retire. You will die. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/15 "2011-01-24T19:45:10Z")
You should never spend money on a computer mouse because nobody in history has ever used one. Everything on a computer can be accomplished by typing furiously. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/16 "2011-01-24T19:45:30Z")
Movies have taught me that I can build a romantic relationship (with a woman who looks like Jennifer Aniston or Sandra Bullock or Katherine Heigl) based entirely on a lie. She will find out and break up with me, of course, but if I run through an airport or stand in a rainstorm or make a fool of myself in public somehow, she’ll take me back. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/17 "2011-01-24T20:02:29Z")
If a man proposes to his girlfriend, the odds that he will be killed increase enormously. If a married cop has an unmarried partner, the married guy will die. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/18 "2011-01-24T20:04:45Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > After the apocalypse, tattered leather will be the only apparel available. and bits of metal and rubber, you forgot the metal bits and rubber =) ---
**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:** [January 24, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/19 "2011-01-24T20:04:53Z")
Shooting any sort of propane / gas / hydrogen / scuba tank will make it explode instantly. Holding a lighter under one sprinkler will set off every sprinkler in the building. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811/20 "2011-01-24T20:05:34Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > If a married cop has an unmarried partner, the married guy will die. Unless they are chasing a serial killer. Then the married guys wife will die. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-facts-that-movies-have-taught-you/568811.md?page=2)