# 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:** 152
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3022 "2023-12-08T00:22:13Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > Maybe, but I have also scenes where investigators enter a room with a rotting corpse who immediately turn around, cry out “Oh shit!” or something like that and cover their face. Sometimes there are even people on the scene retching or vomiting. > > I got called in as the on call detective on a particularly bad one. Guy lived alone. Died in the summer. There was no reason why I needed to be there. It was obviously natural with nothing suspicious. I held my breath, ran in and took as many pictures as I could without breathing and ran out. Did that a couple of times. Then waited for the ME. They came in full hazmat suits and took much better pictures than I did. Like I said, no need for me to be there. Not worth the three hours of overtime. So does the trick shown in _The Silence of the Lambs_ (Vaseline applied to just below your nostrils) work to hide the odor? ---
**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:** [December 8, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3023 "2023-12-08T00:32:03Z")
> [@martyg](#): > > I’d love to have a computer as fast as the ones in movies, and I would really like to be able to blow up that photo without it pixellating. Maybe if you got a couple other people to type with you on the same keyboard, as fast as they can using 2 fingers like they have never seen a keyboard before. Then we can crack this case wide open! ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3024 "2023-12-08T00:40:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So does the trick shown in _The Silence of the Lambs_ (Vaseline applied to just below your nostrils) work to hide the odor? its not vaseline that helps, its VapoRub … a heavily scented (mentolatum) paste … it contains prob. vaseline, but that is irrelevant in this case, the very aromatic mentolatum does the olfactorial heavy lifting here. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3025 "2023-12-08T00:52:25Z")
I don’t know if this happens in real life but to super wealthy CEOs just sit around their homes in the middle of the day fully dressed in expensive business suits, drinking scotch in their big home office? Like what the fuck is this guy wearing a suit for? He doesn’t seem to be going into the office today. Did he just want to look really nice in the event some police detective or an arch rival or his daughter’s fiancé (who he completely doesn’t approve of) stopped by? > [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > > [@martyg](#): > > > > I’d love to have a computer as fast as the ones in movies, and I would really like to be able to blow up that photo without it pixellating. > > Maybe if you got a couple other people to type with you on the same keyboard, as fast as they can using 2 fingers like they have never seen a keyboard before. Then we can crack this case wide open! Some years ago the someone came into the office where I was working at walked off with a couple of laptops. We were going through the security footage with the NYPD to see if it captured the thief, so of course I did the [typetypetypetypetypetype]…“enhance”…[typetypetypetypetype]…“enhance”… thing. Obviously it didn’t blow up the image or magically remove obstacles obscuring the thief or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3026 "2023-12-08T01:17:43Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [Sageese77 Troll Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sageese77-troll-posts/994277/3) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3027 "2023-12-08T01:17:31Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > its not vaseline that helps, its VapoRub … a heavily scented (mentolatum) paste … it contains prob. vaseline, but that is irrelevant in this case, the very aromatic mentolatum does the olfactorial heavy lifting here. A friend of mine tried this when he had to attend a particularly smelly autopsy. The ME complained about the smell. The smell of the vapor rub. Told him to never do that again. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3028 "2023-12-08T01:52:13Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I got called in as the on call detective on a particularly bad one. Guy lived alone. Died in the summer. There was no reason why I needed to be there. **Beat cop #1:** You know who needs to smell this? **Beat cop #2:** Yeah, Det. Loach! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3029 "2023-12-08T02:03:23Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I mean, I’ve been in a couple of crack houses in my day (lol, not as a user but as someone going in to gather a bunch of phone books), and they smell _wretchingly_ bad, as in, “I need to hold my breath or I’m going to vomit” bad. Anyone else wondering why it was necessary to gather a bunch of phone books from a crack house? ---
**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:** [December 8, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3030 "2023-12-08T02:57:38Z")
Well, it’s not like they were going to gather themselves… ---
**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:** [December 8, 2023, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3031 "2023-12-08T03:37:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Anyone else wondering why it was necessary to gather a bunch of phone books from a crack house? Because people that live in crack houses shouldn’t stow phones. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3032 "2023-12-08T04:23:17Z")
The movie “127 Hours” is one continuous blooper, for this exact reason. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3033 "2023-12-08T04:24:10Z")
Are you the Doper who’s been in a family business that distributes phone books? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3034 "2023-12-08T04:38:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Standard modern handgun cartridges can easily penetrate the thickest law textbook from 25 feet away. .25acp? .32acp? I doubt that, but maybe. 9mm- sure, but there could be other factors like it passing thru a car door first or a ricochet. > [@msmith537](#): > > [Noooope.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8y5h95E1Q) > > This guy shot through a Webster Dictionary with a .22, a 9mm and a .45 ACP. The .22 trial was bogus since the back of that book had already been shattered by other handgun rounds. [Penetration of a .22LR - The Firing Line Forums](https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=577391#:~:text=22%20LR%20can%20penetrate%20four,and%20eventually%20goes%20through%20it). _A .22 LR can penetrate four pine 2X4 studs stacked together in my experience. Phone books will easily stop them, interestingly, even more effectively than solid wood._ Still, I wouldnt want to rely on a book for armor. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3035 "2023-12-08T07:19:25Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I notice this most often in police procedurals, where the characters enter a situation that obviously stinks to high heaven, but they don’t act like the week-old body, the crack house, the shitty apartment which has never been cleaned, whatever, has even the slightest odor. I’ve been re-watching Orphan Black (which is holding up better than I remembered, probably because I’m bingeing it this time) and I was actually struck by a recent scene. Two very not-hard characters are digging up a few months-old, still juicy body. They were retching, swooning and near-vomiting quite realistically. Struck me as a strong contrast to the usual TV or movie where the smell might be mentioned with a little bit of a facial wince, but nowhere near the visceral impact a still-rotting corpse should command. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3036 "2023-12-08T10:21:34Z")
There’s a scene in Goodfellas where the crew have to dig up a six month old body to rebury it, and Henry Hill is visibly retching and covering his nose the entire time while Jimmy and Tommy are standing around making jokes at Henry’s expense. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2023, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3037 "2023-12-08T10:59:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > Standard modern handgun cartridges can easily penetrate the thickest law textbook from 25 feet away. > > .25acp? .32acp? I doubt that, but maybe. 9mm- sure, but there could be other factors like it passing thru a car door first or a ricochet. > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > [Noooope.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8y5h95E1Q) > > > > This guy shot through a Webster Dictionary with a .22, a 9mm and a .45 ACP. > > The .22 trial was bogus since the back of that book had already been shattered by other handgun rounds. > [Penetration of a .22LR - The Firing Line Forums](https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=577391#:~:text=22%20LR%20can%20penetrate%20four,and%20eventually%20goes%20through%20it). > _A .22 LR can penetrate four pine 2X4 studs stacked together in my experience. Phone books will easily stop them, interestingly, even more effectively than solid wood._ > > Still, I wouldnt want to rely on a book for armor… When I was young and stupid and had just acquired my first 22, I wanted to see what a fired bullet would look like. I grabbed our Tulsa phone book, which was the combined white and yellow pages and headed into the back yard. The book was pretty thick but the bullet had no trouble getting through it. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3038 "2023-12-08T12:58:14Z")
Classic! I applaud you and award you One Internet Point. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3039 "2023-12-08T13:25:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The .22 trial was bogus since the back of that book had already been shattered by other handgun rounds. > [Penetration of a .22LR - The Firing Line Forums](https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=577391#:~:text=22%20LR%20can%20penetrate%20four,and%20eventually%20goes%20through%20it). > _A .22 LR can penetrate four pine 2X4 studs stacked together in my experience. Phone books will easily stop them, interestingly, even more effectively than solid wood._ > > Still, I wouldnt want to rely on a book for armor. hence my fat kid remark … easiest found around McD … they consistently stop pistol rounds, so Det. Loach can later on do their olfactory job 😉 ---
**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:** [December 8, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3040 "2023-12-08T13:44:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > .25acp? .32acp? .25ACP isn’t what I would call “standard” by any reasonable definition. .32ACP **will** penetrate a second year torts text. At least the FMJ round will. Didn’t have any hollow point to test. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3041 "2023-12-08T14:18:16Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > its not vaseline that helps, its VapoRub … a heavily scented (mentolatum) paste … it contains prob. vaseline, but that is irrelevant in this case, the very aromatic mentolatum does the olfactorial heavy lifting here. Heh. The “heavy lifting” quip reminded me: IIRC, they did a comic-book storyline where a weakened Superman — by which I mean still _inhumanly_ strong, just not _throw a Buick into orbit_ strong — tags along to, uh, lift stuff during an investigation with Batman, who does the peppermint-scent-just-under-the-nose bit with our hero and explains, yeah, the upside is, it’ll make dealing with a stinking corpse more tolerable; the downside us, any time you smell peppermint, it’ll remind you of this. [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=151) [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=153)