# 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:** 46
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/901 "2021-03-18T02:06:14Z")
I got one that was big in the 80s and 90s. A character is looking for a job. They will then proceed through a montage of job interviews where they are told they are completely unqualified. So like, why did you invite him in the first place? Just to tell him personally that the job requires an MBA and 5 years of marketing experience, which he doesn’t have? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/902 "2021-03-18T02:09:46Z")
Not once in my life have I ever been involved in, or even witnessed, a situation in which 2 people role played being someone else to work out how to have a conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/903 "2021-03-18T02:13:41Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I got one that was big in the 80s and 90s In the 1970’s, the way you found out someone was unqualified was by letting them come in, and looking at their paperwork. The practice may have survived until it was killed by the internet? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/904 "2021-03-18T02:16:42Z")
They still had resumes though, didn’t they? Like if the job needed a college degree and they didn’t have one on their resume, why bring them in? ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/905 "2021-03-18T02:17:48Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Or the bluish ambient light in a bedroom gets brighter when the bedside light is clicked off. There was also the blue glow when you looked in the window to the living room in which someone was watching TV. (Although that did happen in real life, as the blue glow was from the CRT.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/906 "2021-03-18T02:30:29Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > They still had resumes though, didn’t they? Like if the job needed a college degree and they didn’t have one on their resume, why bring them in? This is just an organisation thing: you get the applications, you make an appointment to read the paperwork and interview them, you don’t expect the the paperwork to tell you everything about the candidate. Why bother to read the letters in advance if you can just interview everybody and make a decision on the spot? I agree that there are other ways to do it, but I think it was common in the 70’s and prior. I’m old enough to have had contact with the _period of full employment_, when you just interviewed everybody in the hope of getting anybody, and you might get 5 applicants, or none. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/907 "2021-03-18T02:43:57Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > One thing that really irritates me in TV and movies is the driver of a car turning to face the passenger he’s talking to while driving. Don’t try this in your car… My daughter asked me about this when she was five or six: “How can you drive a car if your eyes aren’t on the road?” I explained they aren’t really driving. The car is just being towed by a pickup, and that’s where the camera is. Jim Rockford hardly ever kept his eyes on the road, and when they switched POVs from him to his passenger, the shots never matched. Usually the windows kept going from open to closed. Very perceptive child, my daughter was. She also wanted to know how the wheels on a car can rotate backward. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/908 "2021-03-18T02:47:56Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’d argue that some kind of more subtle lighting could be arranged to illuminate the actor’s face without the suit having obviously unrealistic lights mounted inside the helmet. If I’m not mistaken, the face plates on astronauts’ helmets are coated with a thin layer of gold to protect them from solar radiation. They can see out, but you can’t see in. So IRL, their faces wouldn’t be visible at all. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/909 "2021-03-18T02:53:47Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > They still had resumes though, didn’t they? Like if the job needed a college degree and they didn’t have one on their resume, why bring them in? > > This is just an organisation thing: you get the applications, you make an appointment to read the paperwork and interview them, you don’t expect the the paperwork to tell you everything about the candidate. Why bother to read the letters in advance if you can just interview everybody and make a decision on the spot? > > I agree that there are other ways to do it, but I think it was common in the 70’s and prior. I’m old enough to have had contact with the _period of full employment_, when you just interviewed everybody in the hope of getting anybody, and you might get 5 applicants, or none. Not to get off topic, but I remember in college back in the early 90s when students would hang rejection letters from companies on their dorm room doors. Looking for my first job, I remember having to travel all over the Northeast. Price Waterhouse flew me down to Virginia from a want ad I responded to in the newspaper (years later I would work for PwC as a manager). And you sort of applied for a “job”. Not like now where companies seem to want to hire for some very ultra specific thing. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/910 "2021-03-18T03:00:51Z")
> [@JohnnyEcks](#): > > Complex plans. In fiction, extremely complex and intricate plots and plans are a staple. In real life, complexity is time consuming, expensive, and every new moving part is another chance for failure. The stupid wouldn’t bother, and the smart know that it’s not worth it. The worst offender by far has to be _ **Mission: Impossible.** _ If the bad guys don’t do exactly what they’re expected to when they’re expected to, the whole plan is blown. And the IMF always seems to have exactly what’s needed to trick the mark immediately at hand, like the working interior of a submarine stashed away in a warehouse in some Eastern Bloc country. I saw almost every episode of the original series in reruns not too long ago. I found most of them downright painful to watch. My disbelief is a lot harder to suspend now than it was when I was in sixth or seventh grade. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/911 "2021-03-18T12:36:23Z")
A friend of mine did this when he was driving me somewhere. Made me _very_ nervous the whole trip. Fortunately we didn’t hit anything. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/912 "2021-03-18T12:43:07Z")
In a life or death situation, the fleeing person’s car, which had been performing flawlessly, fails to start. I can’t believe Hollywood still does this with regularity. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/913 "2021-03-18T12:56:32Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > One thing that really irritates me in TV and movies is the driver of a car turning to face the passenger he’s talking to while driving. Don’t try this in your car… > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I also hate that; I’m sitting there wondering when they’re going to rear-end another car. The cop comedy ‘Reno 911’ used to have a running gag lampooning this, in which the cop driving is having an animated conversation with his or her partner about some dumb trivial thing, not paying attention to the road, rear-ends somebody, and the air bag goes off. A lot of taxpayer dollars went to auto repair on that show! ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/914 "2021-03-18T13:00:12Z")
I’ve actually had two interviews- both for crappy food service type jobs- in the last 5 years where I went in, the ‘interviewer’ basically read through my application, and explained why they didn’t want me, based entirely on the application, without asking any other questions. One they said I’d switched jobs too much recently, one said I lived too far away and they didn’t think I’d be able to cover urgent shifts, which they needed. In neither ‘interview’ was my presence in any way necessary. I’d already decided I didn’t want to work at the second place anyway, as their lack of literacy looked like it extended to health codes, from what I saw of the kitchen- and I’ll grant that my address may have been a detail that they’d missed the first read through. The first one was a pure ‘ripping my application to shreds’ session, and I really don’t understand why they bothered calling me in. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/915 "2021-03-18T14:36:54Z")
Some of the examples given in this thread (and every other similar thread) are so mundane or have such an obvious reason for being filmed that way (e.g., “they always find a parking spot right in front of the building they need to visit!” “You can see the astronauts’ faces through their space helmets!”) It reminds me of the Simpsons episode where there is a Q&A with the Itchy & Scratchy voice actors: “In episode 2F09, when Itchy plays Scratchy’s skeleton like a xylophone… he strikes the same rib twice in succession… yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe–that this is some sort of a-- [chuckles] a magic xylophone or something? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.” ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/916 "2021-03-18T15:01:20Z")
Obsolete because of cell phones, but: When two people talk on the phone and one hangs up, the other person immediately hears a dial tone. I don’t think phones worked that way. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/917 "2021-03-18T15:20:59Z")
I’ll bet someone’s done that hang up/dial tone thing recently with a cell phone on TV… ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/918 "2021-03-18T15:21:48Z")
I remember in the early days of cell phones, someone on TV would sometimes pick one up, press a button, hear a dial tone, and then hit the number. I don’t think any cell phone ever had that feature (there may have been one that did, but it certainly wasn’t the majority of them); however, it was necessary on TV since so few people had used one, and wouldn’t get what was going on without the dial tone. Otherwise, they might think the cell phone wasn’t working. I saw a clip on TV about the kids on _Young Sheldon_– they didn’t know how to use 80s era phones-- the first time there was a scene involving one, the actor dialed, then picked up the receiver. It had to be explained to him that he had to pick it up, pretend to listen for a dial tone, then dial. Has anyone ever done a time travel bit where people go only about 25 years in the past, but can’t operate anything? It’s not that far-fetched-- about 10 years ago, a 20-year-old preschool aide I worked with couldn’t figure out how to turn off a record player. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/919 "2021-03-18T17:33:19Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Has anyone ever done a time travel bit where people go only about 25 years in the past, but can’t operate anything? The Star Trek movie (4?) where they go back to save whales had a scene with Scotty trying to access a 1980s computer terminal. He couldn’t get it to respond to voice commands and then picked up the mouse with a WTF look on his face. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/920 "2021-03-18T17:41:42Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > The first one was a pure ‘ripping my application to shreds’ session, and I really don’t understand why they bothered calling me in. My guess: the interviewer was not the same person (or on the same page as the one) who made the decision to bring you for the interview. [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=45) [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=47)