# What fiction films have had the greatest effects on the ‘real’ world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081 "2016-03-15T16:20:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/21 "2016-03-15T18:41:13Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > The movie China Syndrome probably almost single handedly killed the US nuclear power industry. And put us on the path to unending Global Warming, too. :mad: ---
**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:** [March 15, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/22 "2016-03-15T18:46:49Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > **“101 Dalmations”**. After the film people began buying dalmatians for their families, not doing any research therefore not realizing that dalmatians are not good family pets. A similar thing happened with people adopting owls because of **Harry Potter**. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/23 "2016-03-15T18:57:14Z")
[_Capricorn One_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077294/) may have started, or at least spurred on, the Moon landing hoax nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/24 "2016-03-15T18:58:50Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > **“101 Dalmations”**. After the film people began buying dalmatians for their families, not doing any research therefore not realizing that dalmatians are not good family pets. Sez who? > **[Are Dalmatians good family dogs?](https://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/dalmations-good-family-dogs.htm)** > > Dalmatians are highly energetic and protective. They need owners that will stay active, so couch potatoes need not apply. > **[Dalmatians: What's Good About 'Em, What's Bad About 'Em](https://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/dalmatians.html)** > > The most honest dog breed review you'll ever find about Dalmatian temperament, training, personality, behavior, pros and cons. > **[Dalmatian Dog Breed Information and Characteristics](https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/dalmatian)** > > The Dalmatian is a distinctive and energetic breed known for its iconic black or liver spotted coat and long history in firefighting. > **[REDWIN69 WEBSITE RESMI SLOT ONLINE TERGACOR DI NUSANTARA](https://joshuavsusyklive.com/)** > > Redwin69 merupakan salah satu website resmi untuk slot online yang memberikan gacor di nusantara But yes, research on any breed is critical. Dalmatians make good family pets- \*for the right family. \* ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/25 "2016-03-15T19:13:31Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > [_Capricorn One_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077294/) may have started, or at least spurred on, the Moon landing hoax nonsense. Good one. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/26 "2016-03-15T19:24:57Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > [_Capricorn One_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077294/) may have started, or at least spurred on, the Moon landing hoax nonsense. Hey, he said _fiction!_ :mad::mad::mad: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/27 "2016-03-15T20:01:42Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > A similar thing happened with people adopting owls because of **Harry Potter**. And clownfish after **Finding Nemo** and “setting them free” by flushing them down the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/28 "2016-03-15T20:03:30Z")
[Easy Rider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Rider) had a huge cultural impact. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/29 "2016-03-15T20:13:11Z")
After the release of the film _Sideways_ (2004), sales of Merlot dropped by 2%, while Pinot Noir sales increased 16%. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/30 "2016-03-15T20:20:25Z")
This is a minor thing, but I _swear_ I never noticed anyone leaving stones or pebbles on tombs or memorials until they showed people doing that to Oskar Schindler’s tomb at the end of \* Schindler’s List\*. Now I see it everywhere. It’s possible that the film merely brought it to my attention, but I don’t think so. I don’t recall seeing it earlier, and it stood out when I saw the film simply because it was a practice I’d never seen or heard of before. I gather than leaving Memorial Stones is an old Jewish practice, but I don’t think other groups did it until the film popularized the idea. Now I see it frequently at memorials. In particular, the Holocaust Memorial in Boston invariably has stones heaped upon the granite portions. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/31 "2016-03-15T20:21:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This is a minor thing, but I _swear_ I never noticed anyone leaving stones or pebbles on tombs or memorials until they showed people doing that to Oskar Schindler’s tomb at the end of \* Schindler’s List\*. Now I see it everywhere. > It’s possible that the film merely brought it to my attention, but I don’t think so. I don’t recall seeing it earlier, and it stood out when I saw the film simply because it was a practice I’d never seen or heard of before. I gather than leaving Memorial Stones is an old Jewish practice, but I don’t think other groups did it until the film popularized the idea. > > Now I see it frequently at memorials. In particular, the Holocaust Memorial in Boston invariably has stones heaped upon the granite portions. why?😕 ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/32 "2016-03-15T20:23:07Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > _Birth of a Nation_. The KKK was pretty much defunct when the movie came out, but it caused renewed interest, and is responsible for the resurgence of the Klan that is still with us today. Yes. The real life Klan got the idea to burn crosses from the movie. They had never done it before. True. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/33 "2016-03-15T20:26:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > why?😕 Why what? Why do they do it? As I say, it’s an old Jewish tradition, apparently: > **[Home - Jewish Cemetery Association of MA](https://jcam.org)** > > \[et\_pb\_section fb\_built=”1″ custom\_padding\_last\_edited=”on|phone” admin\_label=”Hero Section” \_builder\_version=”4.22.1″ background\_color=”rgba(51,51,51,0.55)” background\_image=”https://jcam.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/hero.jpg”... But it’s not an old tradition for most other folks. You didn’t see a lot of this elsewhere. But Schindler’s List brought the notion to people’s attention, so now they know about it. And, being an easy thing to do (stones are always nearby), a lot more people have started doiing it. I see stones placed at the SAlem Witch memorials – which aren’t Jewish. I see them of random historic tombstones. The Boston Holocaust Memorial went up two years after Schindler’s List, so I have no “control” data. But, ever since it went up, I see stones there. And I suspect that not only Jewish people are leaving them there. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/34 "2016-03-15T20:39:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I suspect that the Three Mile Island incident (which happened at the time of the film’s release) probably had a lot more to do with putting a brake on nuclear power. The film, especially with the eerie coincidence of the timing, didn’t help, though. But Real Life has a persuasive power that film lacks. Hard to say; I think that there was probably some synergistic effects going on there, in that the real-life event was about 2 weeks after the release of the somewhat controversial and popular movie and sort of primed the public for 3 Mile Island. I kind of think either one in isolation wouldn’t have been nearly so popular, for lack of a better term. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/35 "2016-03-15T20:39:53Z")
According to Wikipedia: “As a name, [Madison] has become popular for girls in recent decades. Its rise is generally attributed to the 1984 release of the movie **Splash**. From a practically non-existent girl’s name before 1985, Madison rose to being the second-most-popular name given to female babies in 2001.” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/36 "2016-03-15T20:40:49Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Yes. The real life Klan got the idea to burn crosses from the movie. They had never done it before. True. I don’t know about that. Scots routinely burned crosses as a “calling of the clan.” A lot of Scots emigrated to the States and that’s probably how the custom got corrupted, as some yokel saw the symbolism and decided to make it their own. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/37 "2016-03-15T20:46:26Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Hard to say; I think that there was probably some synergistic effects going on there, in that the real-life event was about 2 weeks after the release of the somewhat controversial and popular movie and sort of primed the public for 3 Mile Island. > > I kind of think either one in isolation wouldn’t have been nearly so popular, for lack of a better term. I recall pretty clearly that there was a strong anti-nuke movement before either the movie or 3 Mile Island. In fact, I think the movie was made at least partly as a statement against nuclear energy, ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/38 "2016-03-15T20:49:44Z")
Deep Throat [One of the first pornographic films to feature a plot, character development and relatively high production values, Deep Throat earned mainstream attention and launched the “porno chic” trend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/39 "2016-03-15T20:51:55Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Deep Throat > > [One of the first pornographic films to feature a plot, character development and relatively high production values, Deep Throat earned mainstream attention and launched the “porno chic” trend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat_(film)) That was certainly a trend that didn’t last. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081/40 "2016-03-15T21:25:27Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I don’t know about that. Scots routinely burned crosses as a “calling of the clan.” A lot of Scots emigrated to the States and that’s probably how the custom got corrupted, as some yokel saw the symbolism and decided to make it their own. It has a Scottish history, but the KKKs actions are directly related to the movie. > **[Cross burning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_burning)** > > In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan has burned crosses on hillsides as a way to intimidate and threaten Black Americans and other marginalized groups. > In Scotland, the fiery cross, known as the crann-tara, was used as a declaration of war. The sight of it commanded all clan members to rally to the defence of the area. On other oc... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fiction-films-have-had-the-greatest-effects-on-the-real-world/749081.md?page=3)