# 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:** 28
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/541 "2021-02-15T17:32:32Z")
How to get in a locked building: Stand in the shadows and wait for someone to come out. Slip through the door after they leave but before the door completely closes. No one will notice this. No one else will be leaving just behind them to catch you. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/542 "2021-02-15T17:32:50Z")
No matter how reckless his driving is, no innocent bystander is ever injured by the hero. Even when he careens through a crowded shopping mall and crashes through a window onto a crowded sidewalk. Or uses the sidewalk as if it’s another traffic lane during his high speed chases. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/543 "2021-02-15T17:51:38Z")
There was a famous instance of a woman who jumped from the Empire State Building and landed on a car. In the photos she actually looks pretty intact, but I’ve read that when it came time to take her to the morgue she turned out to be a virtually liquid sack of mush still contained in her skin. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/544 "2021-02-15T18:04:36Z")
The amputated hand of _any_ worker will get you past _any_ fingerprint scanner in a high-security installation. Back to the bomb trope: Regardless of how many seconds are left on the countdown timer, there’s always ample time for the villain to quote Shakespeare or Sun Tzu, in soliloquistic depth, before detonation and his/her annihilation. Tripler “_Cry havoc! And let slip the d[boom]. . ._” ---
**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:** [February 15, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/545 "2021-02-15T18:05:57Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > There was a famous instance of a woman who jumped from the Empire State Building and landed on a car. In the photos she actually looks pretty intact… This must be the so-called “Most Beautiful Suicide” you’re referring to, right? Link hidden because it contains the image: > **Link** > > [The Most Beautiful Suicide | Picture This](https://sites.psu.edu/hannahirossblog/2016/03/17/the-most-beautiful-suicide/) ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/546 "2021-02-15T18:09:11Z")
I’m kind of morbidly curious to see photos. I _ **believe** _ you. I’m curious on how “cushion-y” the car was to bring her to a relatively slower stop. Tripler How far back was this? 30s? 40s or 50s? ETA: Ninja’d by less than 3 min. All because I stepped away for coffee. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/547 "2021-02-15T18:15:15Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > All because I stepped away for coffee. Coffee is for closers 😄 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/548 "2021-02-15T18:59:32Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > …my Grandpa’s best friend was told he had about 6 months left, and actually died 6 days later… (30 years ago) My Father was diagnosed with colon cancer, far too advanced for treatment beyond comfort management. Surgeon told us Dad had 12-18 months left _at most_. Dad was gone 9 weeks later. (Tumors got into his liver and took him down fast.) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/549 "2021-02-15T19:52:29Z")
There was a report from a woman in London who won one of Paltrow’s candles in an online quiz. When she went to light it, the [candle exploded and emitted huge flames, with bits flying everywhere," she said. "I’ve never seen anything like it. The whole thing was ablaze and it was too hot to touch. There was an inferno in the room.”](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/01/gwyneth-paltrow-goop-vagina-candle-exploded-inferno-sparks) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/550 "2021-02-15T20:23:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There is also tempered glass, which costs more but is not only harder to break, but when it does break it fragments into sort of cube-shaped not-sharp chunks. I was once carrying a glass panel for a home entertainment center up my porch steps, not paying especially close attention. A bottom corner of the sheet **lightly** bumped against a step, and [this](https://imgur.com/a/ALLIbOv) happened. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/551 "2021-02-15T21:06:03Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > There was a report from a woman in London who won one of Paltrow’s candles in an online quiz. When she went to light it, the > [candle exploded and emitted huge flames, with bits flying everywhere," she said. "I’ve never seen anything like it. The whole thing was ablaze and it was too hot to touch. There was an inferno in the room.”](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/01/gwyneth-paltrow-goop-vagina-candle-exploded-inferno-sparks) In hindsight, using celluloid as a candle ingredient wasn’t a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/552 "2021-02-15T21:15:48Z")
> [@Lurking\_Quahog](#): > > Post-coitus bedroom scenes were the woman is still wearing her bra. I mean, I _guess_ it happens, but don’t people usually get naked? Man, I knew I was going to see this one. It comes up every time someone starts a thread of this nature, and it always reminds me of how weird I am because I have sex with my bra on. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/553 "2021-02-15T21:16:00Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > > [@Toxylon](#): > > > > It is also obvious and very understandable why this is. The vast majority of actresses don’t want to appear topless on screen. > > That’s what the L-shaped bedsheet is for. I’ve never understood the complaint about “L-shaped bedsheets.” It’s like people have never seen sheets before. Bedsheets are not stiff & unbendable. You can easily have one person pull them up and the person next to them have them down. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/554 "2021-02-15T21:29:00Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > I’m kind of morbidly curious to see photos. I _ **believe** _ you. I’m curious on how “cushion-y” the car was to bring her to a relatively slower stop. > > Tripler > How far back was this? 30s? 40s or 50s? > > ETA: Ninja’d by less than 3 min. All because I stepped away for coffee. The metal of the car is bent in a manner that almost makes it looks like draped cloth to me. It was originally a hardshell limosine but the roof (and the young lady) was smashed down level with dash/lower edge of the window. She really does look like she’s napping in a bizarre way. It’s a little off, of course - for one thing, she’s missing one of her shoes, her clothes are rumpled, and, oh yeah, she’s nestled in bent steel rather than a bedsheet or blanket - but given what had just happened she looks, well, still beautiful. I guess the best way to say it is that she doesn’t look dead, more like posed… but of course, the body is no longer occupied. Oh, and the year was 1947. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/555 "2021-02-15T21:35:07Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Man, I knew I was going to see this one. It comes up every time someone starts a thread of this nature, and it always reminds me of how weird I am because I have sex with my bra on. That’s not TOO weird… wait, are you a woman? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/556 "2021-02-15T21:40:19Z")
> [@simster](#): > > why would you have stained glass in the park? Because of squirrel poop on it. Oh, glass, not grass. Never mind. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/557 "2021-02-15T21:47:37Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Oh, glass, not grass. Never mind. Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown. ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/558 "2021-02-15T22:33:20Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > What about getting thrown through a plate glass window? Does it ever happen and is it even possible to survive it? We had a patient years ago who punched the glass at the bar he was coming out of. He had an arterial bleed that sprayed all around the room. He was rushed to surgery to close the wound. AFAIK he survived just fine, but it was a mess. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/559 "2021-02-16T10:58:10Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > > [@Toxylon](#): > > > > It is also obvious and very understandable why this is. The vast majority of actresses don’t want to appear topless on screen. > > That’s what the L-shaped bedsheet is for. Well, and it messes with the rating. You can still get a PG-13, even possibly a plain old PG with a bra shot. Naked breasts are going to get you an R, guaranteed. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/560 "2021-02-16T12:33:41Z")
Good reasons aside, it spoils those scenes, in a “those people did _not_ just have sex, and it’s childishly, painfully obvious” kind of way. Twisted world, where you can show people getting shot all day, but in the same rating category everyday, positive relationship situations with the “dirt” only alluded to, are oh so dangerous. [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=27) [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=29)