# What is extremely common in TV or movies but almost never happens in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311 "2021-02-06T04:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 131
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2602 "2023-05-02T21:41:18Z")
I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, or that my experiences caring for adults are the best way to evaluate it. But it is a more common trope than persistent thing. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2603 "2023-05-02T22:28:07Z")
I’d never heard of this until I lived in Mexico, where it’s a thing to smash the birthday boy/girl’s face into his/her birthday cake. (Just enough for laughs – not so much as to ruin dessert for everyone). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2604 "2023-05-02T22:42:16Z")
I had a friend in high school who was a virgin at the time, but she had torn her hymen at about age 8 when she went horseback riding. Her mother knew she didn’t have her period, not yet, but that’s what the doctor said, and what they thought all along. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2605 "2023-05-02T22:42:48Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > It hurts so much that every guy that sees it immediately gets sympathy pains. Skip to 3:40 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/z6vO9VdRVZI/hqdefault.jpg "Fielding Mellish meets Nancy - Bananas, Woody Allen 1971") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vO9VdRVZI) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2606 "2023-05-03T01:16:24Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, or that my experiences caring for adults are the best way to evaluate it. But it is a more common trope than persistent thing. I dunno, I have been sleepwalking since I was a child. Done lots of different, sometimes embarrassing things while doing it, including going outside for a walk in my underwear. It seems pretty persistent in my case. Of course, I’m also someone who’s also straight up shouted something when I _thought_ I was just thinking it\*. Sometimes I’m not sure who’s driving the meat puppet that totes my brain around. \* For the curious, I shouted “PLUS, I DON’T GIVE FUCK WHAT YOU THINK!” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2607 "2023-05-03T02:21:28Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > For the curious, I shouted “PLUS, I DON’T GIVE FUCK WHAT YOU THINK!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PMHt481HsFU/maxresdefault.jpg "Let's just say it moved me ... TO A BIGGER HOUSE!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMHt481HsFU) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2608 "2023-05-03T03:29:52Z")
Well, yeah, pretty much like that, but I didn’t find out that I’d shouted it until I got home. I had been talking to my wife on the phone shortly before hand, and thought I had hung up. I hadn’t, she heard me shout it, and she met me at the door kind of white faced when I got home. She was thinking that I might have gotten into a fight after that, which she somehow hadn’t heard over the phone that I had left open at the time. I really believed that I had only thought what I had shouted, and was “hey, what’s wrong with _you_?” when she opened the door. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2609 "2023-05-03T04:55:26Z")
My best friend and roommate in college sleepwalked (sleptwalked?) quite often. I was frequently woken up by him yelling something after getting out of bed. For a time I roomed with him and a third guy who was ALSO a sleepwalker. I once woke up to the two of them standing in the middle of the room yelling at each other, both asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2610 "2023-05-03T05:48:06Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I never heard of anyone do it, or see it in years of hospital medicine My sister would routinely sleep walk when we were kids. It was spooky to meet her in that condition, in the middle of the night, as a kid myself. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2611 "2023-05-03T11:22:34Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > My sister would routinely sleep walk when we were kids. It was spooky to meet her in that condition, in the middle of the night, as a kid myself. This discussion made me wonder if sleepwalking would be a defense for a crime. While looking it up they found that about 20 percent of people have walked in their sleep. Four percent of adults. And apparently, sleepwalking usually isn’t a successful defense for a crime, but there are exceptions. You should know that you sleepwalk and take measures to prevent yourself from doing crimes in your sleep. I’m not sure what that entails. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2612 "2023-05-03T12:18:34Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Has sleepwalking been mentioned? I never heard of anyone do it, or see it in years of hospital medicine, or complain about it after many tens of thousands of consultations. Comedian Mike Birbiglia has a whole comedy special about his ongoing issues with sleepwalking, called “Sleepwalk With Me”. Short synopsis, minus the jokes: he once ran through a plate glass window in a second floor hotel room because he was having a nightmare that he was being chased by hyenas or something. He subsequently has to sleep tied down with oven mitts fastened to his hands. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2613 "2023-05-03T14:15:58Z")
I have heard the special. Sleepwalking seemed to figure pretty prominently in Scooby-Doo and other shows. (There is also a well known comedy routine about quicksand.). The experiences of a small number of Dopers may mean it is more common in adolescence than my experience. I haven’t seen it myself. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2614 "2023-05-03T17:06:26Z")
After that utterance, you should have looked around and said “That wasn’t my inside voice, was it”? ::d&r:: ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2615 "2023-05-03T17:59:01Z")
It’s been so long since I’ve seen Woody Allen that I had actually forgotten how funny he was. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2616 "2023-05-03T20:55:17Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > And apparently, sleepwalking usually isn’t a successful defense for a crime, but there are exceptions. There was an episode of _ **Forensic Files** _ where a man allegedly knifed his wife and tossed her in a swimming pool to drown. He pled **Not Guilty** because he claimed to be sleepwalking at the time. As I recall, the jury didn’t buy it because he was seen wearing his eyeglasses during the crime. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2617 "2023-05-03T21:36:41Z")
I’d argue about that. Putting on my glasses as soon as I sit up is so engrained that it’s basically muscle memory. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2618 "2023-05-03T21:56:37Z")
I believe the defense made the same claim. It would have given me reasonable doubt too. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2619 "2023-05-03T22:57:32Z")
There’s this poor guy. > **['Sleepwalking' killer Scott Falater still wracked with guilt over murdering wife](https://abcnews.go.com/US/sleepwalking-killer-scott-falater-wracked-guilt-murdering-wife/story?id=75468448)** ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2620 "2023-05-04T23:42:26Z")
A car chase; the Chase-ee gets away from the Chaser when an 18 wheeler suddenly backs up in the way ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2023, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2621 "2023-05-05T04:12:30Z")
A bigger, related answer: car chases. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=130) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=132)