# What is the stupidest thing you've ever heard in a movie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531 "2015-03-08T15:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/81 "2015-03-10T02:18:58Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Dear Lord! That’s over 150 atmospheres of pressure! > > Fry: How many atmospheres can the ship withstand? > > Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Well, it’s a space ship, so I’d say anywhere between zero and one. I was going to mention this one. _Futurama_ was pretty much alone in that it had writers who understood science and math. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/82 "2015-03-10T02:57:29Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > So far no one has mentioned: “The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side.” The explanation I’ve heard, which I think is part fanwank and mostly a very cool take on the story, is that this line demonstrates the Wizard’s con-artist nature. Give the Scarecrow a brain? He didn’t give him shit! The Scarecrow is exactly as ignorant as he was before, but now he’s just convinced he knows what he’s talking about, whereas before at least he correctly knew his own limits. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/83 "2015-03-10T10:53:05Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > Bingo! > > ‘Help! I’m drowning! I can’t swim!’. > > Well, you you’ve two choices - drown or try. I mean, even floating might be worth a go, for a start. I don’t get this at all. It’s stupid to say you can’t swim if you are in a situation that calls for swimming? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/84 "2015-03-10T11:57:06Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I don’t get this at all. It’s stupid to say you can’t swim if you are in a situation that calls for swimming? Yeah, I don’t understand that, either. If someone’s panicked and freaking out, I don’t think that’s the best circumstances under which to suddenly learn to swim… ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/85 "2015-03-10T12:12:15Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I don’t get this at all. It’s stupid to say you can’t swim if you are in a situation that calls for swimming? Apparently everyone is supposed to know how to swim or if they can’t they should be able to instantly learn how to master that ability which has eluded them their entire life when immersed in water during a desperate, panic filled situation. Just like in real life where life guards are merely window dressing. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2015, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/86 "2015-03-10T12:15:00Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I have never seen this, ever, in a box of chocolates. The stylized swirls are usually just circles. It’s extremely frustrating not to be able to tell the difference between a delicious vanilla chocolate and a nasty disgusting horrible coconut chocolate. Someone gave us a very nice box of assorted chocolates at work. I went to get one and asked J if she wanted one. She declined, saying that “T had already looked them over”. I had no idea what she meant, so she picked one up, turned it over, and showed me where T had plunged a fingernail through the bottom, exposing the innards. Is that a thing?:eek: ---
**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:** [March 10, 2015, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/87 "2015-03-10T12:16:13Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > Apparently everyone is supposed to know how to swim or if they can’t they should be able to instantly learn how to master that ability which has eluded them their entire life when immersed in water during a desperate, panic filled situation. Magnificent username/post combo. ---
**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 10, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/88 "2015-03-10T12:24:05Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Considering how many copies of the Harry Potter books were sold, and how many millions of dollars (and pounds, and euros, and…) they earned, it’s kinda hard to say that they didn’t have some idea what they were doing. But do you really think there would have been fewer copies sold in the US if it has said “Philosopher’s stone,” because Americans would say “What the hell’s a philosopher’s stone? I’m not reading this.” > [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > True enough - it would’ve made for a pretty clunky line. But ‘OMG! This is three hundred years old! I can’t accept this!’ would have been perfectly clean, and would have avoided the risk of sounding like they were all idiots… > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > It may be clunky, but I think it makes her seem more knowledgeable, which fits with collecting those books being part of her hobby. Though I might get rid of “translation” and just call it “Pope’s Illiad.” > > > > I mean, that sort of thing is used all the time to establish a character as really knowing their stuff–often with what they say not making any sense even to people who know what they are talking about (as the writers don’t). Actually, I’m sure there’s a way to make it less clunky; my point was that they didn’t try because they assumed people wouldn’t know the difference. If you want less clunky, and something you might really find at a garage sale, how about a first edition _Howl_? I know someone who found not a first edition, but a signed copy of that at a garage sale. Or maybe that’s a little too obscure. First edition _Scarlet Letter_? Personally, I think that anyone who knows enough to know that a “first edition” Iliad won’t be a bound edition in English will know enough to know that one of the most famous translations is Alexander Pope’-- or at least recognize the name Pope, and be able to figure out he’s a likely translator, and place him in time. I’d still pick a different book. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/89 "2015-03-10T12:47:06Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Considering how many copies of the Harry Potter books were sold, and how many millions of dollars (and pounds, and euros, and…) they earned, it’s kinda hard to say that they didn’t have some idea what they were doing. It didn’t sell any less in the regions where they used ‘Philosopher’ (that’d be every English speaking market except the US), than in the US, relatively speaking. Which suggests that, no, the underestimation of the intelligence of the average American child did not, in fact, figure into those huge sales. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/90 "2015-03-10T13:27:44Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Dear Lord! That’s over 150 atmospheres of pressure! > > Fry: How many atmospheres can the ship withstand? > > Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Well, it’s a space ship, so I’d say anywhere between zero and one. I liked that as well, but technically, couldn’t a spaceship be built to withstand more than just Earth’s atmospheric pressure? It’s not like Earth is the only planet they ever land on. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/91 "2015-03-10T14:49:56Z")
Re: Harry Potter renaming. Do we _really_ think more English/Indian/whatever 9 year old children know what a philosopher’s stone is supposed to be, vs. American children? I daresay there must be quite a bit of overlap in children’s literary culture amongst English-speaking countries, even prior to J.K. Rowling. However, I was a big Anglophile as a child (as well as a devourer of Victoriana and Medieval/Middle-Ages fantasy) and I wouldn’t say that stories featuring alchemy were exactly prominent, even within British literature. It’s a niche thing, like science fiction about nanobots; you sort of have to look for it, if you like it. The name change was quite stupid regardless, since it had already been published as “Philosopher’s Stone,” right? At any point the publishers could have nicely asked Rowling to throw in just one more pedantic sentence from Hermione, if the link didn’t seem clear. (It’s been a while since I read the book/watched the film) OTOH, “Sorcerer’s Stone” has a nicer ring to it, with all the S’s. 🙂 As you were. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/92 "2015-03-10T15:02:11Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Someone gave us a very nice box of assorted chocolates at work. I went to get one and asked J if she wanted one. She declined, saying that “T had already looked them over”. I had no idea what she meant, so she picked one up, turned it over, and showed me where T had plunged a fingernail through the bottom, exposing the innards. > > Is that a thing?:eek: Unfortunately, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/93 "2015-03-10T15:06:36Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > But do you really think there would have been fewer copies sold in the US if it has said “Philosopher’s stone,” because Americans would say “What the hell’s a philosopher’s stone? I’m not reading this.” No, but I can imagine some kids saying “Philosophers? That sounds like schoolwork. _Boooorrrring_! I’m not reading this.” Of course, most of the kids who would say that are probably unlikely to read _anything_, so I doubt it would have hurt sales very much. ---
**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 10, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/94 "2015-03-10T16:14:00Z")
> [@Elemenopy](#): > > The name change was quite stupid regardless, since it had already been published as “Philosopher’s Stone,” right? At any point the publishers could have nicely asked Rowling to throw in just one more pedantic sentence from Hermione, if the link didn’t seem clear. (It’s been a while since I read the book/watched the film) OTOH, “Sorcerer’s Stone” has a nicer ring to it, with all the S’s. 🙂 If the “Sorcerer’s Stone” were a thing, even just something from D&D, so it were familiar, I’d understand, but it was invented for the freaking book. More people are going to know what the philosopher’s stone is than what the sorcerer’s stone is, because _no one_ knows what the sorcerer’s stone is. “Philosopher’s” stone sounds like school work? to a ten-year-old? I don’t really buy that argument. Either you know what the philosopher’s stone is, in which case, it makes the book attractive, or you don’t, in which case, it’s meaningless. I can’t see kids under the age of about 15 going “Philosopher’s Stone” –\> philosophy –\> school work, because in the US, philosophy isn’t taught in school. I don’t think I even had the word on a spelling test. We get a little Thoreau, but no one calls it “philosophy.” We get the metaphysical poets if we take advanced English our last year in high school, but no one calls that philosophy either. You can get a college degree in the US and not be able to define “existentialism.” ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531/95 "2015-03-11T02:18:52Z")
There is a 1952 movie “Breaking the Sound Barrier” directed by David Lean and starring Ralph Richardson has a British pilot as the first to fly faster then sound by putting the controls in reverse. Chuck Yeagar, the American who actually broke the sound barrier, has stated if a pilot did this, he would kill himself. > **[The Sound Barrier (1952) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044446/)** > > The Sound Barrier: Directed by David Lean. With Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin. Fictionalized story of British aerospace engineers solving the problem of supersonic flight. And then there is “U-571”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-in-a-movie/714531.md?page=4)