# 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:** 159
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3162 "2024-01-10T01:21:52Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Exactly what I was told by a California Highway Patrolman, explaining why he was more worried about getting shot with a .22 than a larger caliber handgun. One thing about a .22- a kevlar vest will stop it cold. Even if your vest stops a .45, it will feel like you just caught a fast ball in the chest. And there are other rounds the typical cop vest wont stop. Even so pistol rounds. (Please note- there is no such thing as a “cop killer” round) > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > If I went to someone’s house and they said “Make yourself a drink” (which has also never happened) and I saw a table full of decanters, I think my first question would be “How the hell am I supposed to know what’s what?” They are usually labeled. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3163 "2024-01-10T01:31:39Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I find my method more fulfilling and hygienic. glad I didn’t post about using the stopper as butt plug, … ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3164 "2024-01-10T01:39:39Z")
Holy cow. I’ve never seen that movie. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3165 "2024-01-10T01:55:43Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Holy cow. I’ve never seen that movie. Based explicitly on Henry Hill from Goodfellas who got in trouble in suburbia running scams while in the Witness Protection Program (he eventually got kicked out). A very, very different take on ole Henry, needless to say 😀. It was written by Nora Ephron, best known for rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally… and Sleepless in Seattle. Who was, of course, the wife of Nicholas Pileggi who wrote Goodfellas and Casino. I find the connection absolutely fascinating and hilarious. I was going to mention the Mafia/.22 connection. Apparently a lot of old timey hit men liked them because they were usually shooting people in the head from behind and from point blank range. The lack of recoil and the relative ease of silencing them was a plus. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3166 "2024-01-10T02:09:14Z")
My parents had a set of decanters. I think they may have received them as a wedding present. They were never used. They were made from lead crystal, and my parents were worried that the lead in the crystal would leach into the liquor. Get drunk and lead poisoning, all at once, you might say. But even empty, the decanters looked great on the sideboard. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3167 "2024-01-10T02:28:59Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > my mother used to put milk and juice into pitchers. Was she That Mom in the commercials (or mediocre teen comedies)? Where, on a normal School Day morning, she’s made a huge stack of pancakes and bacon and there’s a bowl of fresh fruit and those pitchers of milk and juice… … and then Teen Kid rushes past her, grabs a raw Pop-Tart and rushes out the door, and Hubby says “Just coffee for me, hon, I’ve got to meet with Old Man McGinty about the Jablonski pitch, bye, love you!” ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3168 "2024-01-10T04:53:43Z")
My grandmother kept her liquor in decanters. But, she was born in 1910, and my grandparents were well-to-do, high-society types in the 40s and 50s. As mentioned up-thread, I think in her mind, keeping liquor in decanters was just the way it was supposed to be done. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3169 "2024-01-10T16:25:09Z")
At a resort in Jamaica they had decanters of vodka/whiskey/rum because they used generic spirits from a local distillery. The bottles they poured into the decanters were labeled, for instance, **RUM** , black letters, white background. The decanters were way classier. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3170 "2024-01-10T16:35:02Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Was she That Mom in the commercials (or mediocre teen comedies)? > Where, on a normal School Day morning, she’s made a huge stack of pancakes and bacon and there’s a bowl of fresh fruit and those pitchers of milk and juice… > … and then Teen Kid rushes past her, grabs a raw Pop-Tart and rushes out the door, and Hubby says “Just coffee for me, hon, I’ve got to meet with Old Man McGinty about the Jablonski pitch, bye, love you!” Not likely. My dad got up at 4:00 am without any alarm clock. My folks would always wake us up early enough that we always had time to sit down for breakfast. That was How Things Were Done. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3171 "2024-01-10T17:17:03Z")
And that’s why you were never in an '80s wacky teen series on the TOTES MAX FUN Channel, where the dumb jock and the prom queen switch bodies, and the nerd who figures out how to fix it ends up being respected by both of them. (Sorry, it’s raw Pop-Tart _OR_ totally awesome hijinks…) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3172 "2024-01-12T06:14:53Z")
Back when Julia Child was on B&W TV, her “wine” was actually tea. (So, for that matter, was the beverage that Kevin DuBrow - RIP - chugged onstage out of a Jack Daniels bottle.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3173 "2024-01-12T06:16:18Z")
Did you see “Everything Everywhere All At Once”? (That whole movie was one “this couldn’t happen!” incident after another. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3174 "2024-01-12T12:56:16Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Did you see “Everything Everywhere All At Once”? I’ve started watching that movie twice, both times giving up a few minutes in. And yet I’ve heard good things about it. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3175 "2024-01-13T03:01:08Z")
EEAAO is one of those movies where simply suspending your disbelief isn’t enough. There’s an inherent silliness you have to enthusiastically embrace, kinda like a Muppet movie, before the insanity can turn to brilliance. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3176 "2024-01-13T03:34:46Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > kinda like a Muppet movie I loved the scene when Kermit and Fozzy had a dildo fight ---
**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:** [January 13, 2024, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3177 "2024-01-13T04:49:21Z")
Hehehe, best description I’ve seen of the movie, and I love it. It’s perfectly suited for people who have learned to accept the absurdity of real life. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3178 "2024-01-13T05:18:40Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > > > A .22 can be a dangerous round, though. They tend to penetrate the body but instead of smashing through bones along the way they’ll deflect and tear up more soft tissue. There are stories of peoole being shot in the hip and having the exit wound be in the neck or something, or finding that the bullet deflected off a bone and ripped through a liver, kidney, stomach, etc. In some cases, a .22 has killed people that would have survived a more energetic bullet. For example, getting shot in the head, some bullets will just pass right through and if the bullet didn’t hit something critical the person might survive. A .22 in the same position might penetrate thr skull but instead of going through the back and out, ricochet off the back of the skull and rattle around inside the head. > > Exactly what I was told by a California Highway Patrolman, explaining why he was more worried about getting shot with a .22 than a larger caliber handgun. I don’t know if I would go that far. There is a famous incident that is still used in training. In 1992 South Carolina State Trooper Mark Coates was killed during a traffic stop. It was a pretty early example caught on dash cam. He was shot once with a .22 pistol. The bullet travelled diagonally through his body. He bled out without really understanding what happened. The other guy was shot multiple times with a .357 and survived. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3179 "2024-01-13T07:18:39Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve started watching that movie twice, both times giving up a few minutes in. And yet I’ve heard good things about it. I remember the commercials and all the buzz when it came out, but I could never figure out what the story was. All the clips I saw where just weird and didn’t explain what it was about. It won awards and that kids from Goonies and Temple of Doom were in it, but I still wasn’t sure what it was. It was suggested to me one evening on streaming so I figured I’d give it a go, and it was slow getting into, but once an understanding of what was going on was clear, it became an enjoyable ride. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3180 "2024-01-13T21:14:39Z")
It’s also really good on re-watch. You catch a lot of things you didn’t the first time. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3181 "2024-01-13T21:18:20Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Did you see “Everything Everywhere All At Once”?. > > (That whole movie was one “this couldn’t happen!” incident after another. Thanks to this thread, I watched it this morning and really liked. My wife fell asleep and missed an hour and then asked me what happened. I told her that there was no way I could explain it to her. [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=158) [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=160)