# What mistakes, inaccuracies, or cliches in TV and film DON'T bother you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343 "2018-06-18T23:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/41 "2018-06-20T00:27:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And in things like the Star Trek movies, I don’t mind that they’re technology to travel faster-than-light all over the galaxy, because the alternative would involve really long boring trips between star systems. (And then in Star Trek, they have real-time videocalls with the admiral back at Star Fleet headquarters, or on some starbase someplace. I’m willing not to think too much about how implausible that is.) I also don’t mind that ships show up on their viewscreen facing the same way. Meaning, with no up or down in space, ships could face any which way and be fine. They always encounter ships who have the same horizontal plane as them. Of course, there would be no point not to have this. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/42 "2018-06-20T07:31:59Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > stereotypical depictions of libraries and librarians in movies (old-fashioned buildings with high ceilings and long wooden tables, staffed by rubber-stamp-wielding women with their hair in buns) That sounds exactly like my [actual](https://capechameleon.co.za/the-cape-town-central-library/) [library](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QQzmKFI1GTU/TWol0g_5jOI/AAAAAAAABz0/ji5BGj_NDZE/s1600/1730+Cape+Town+public+library+interior+%2528Medium%2529.jpg). Except for the bun thing. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/43 "2018-06-20T11:42:24Z")
The “Letters of Transit” in _Casablanca_. Their absurdity bothers me no more than whether Rick’s Café is west of the airfield or east of it. (Yet for some people it seems to be a big deal that spoils the movie. :dubious: ) ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/44 "2018-06-20T12:19:04Z")
The clichés in **Dragnet** (the tv series) never bothered me. In fact, they were the only reason I enjoyed the series. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/45 "2018-06-21T15:22:00Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > “The film is set in the summer of 1962, but he’s driving a '63 Buick LeSabre, which didn’t come out until October of '62!!!” > I’m not a big car guy. As long as they get the general decade right, I’m happy. > > “The cops were using Beretta 9mm 827-K’s, when EVERYONE knows the NYPD was issued the 827-_J_, and furthermore, in that one scene he was holding it as if he had a round in the chamber, but the fangdoodle widget was clearly in the second position so this was impossible!!!” > A gun is a gun. I couldn’t care less. I agree with the ‘exact model’ thing, with one big exception - if they make a big deal out of the exact model or its properties, then they have to get the detail of that model right. I don’t agree with ‘a gun is a gun’ - they need to get the basic types right for the time period, and I think most people find highly anachronistic guns off-putting. If you did a movie like Indiana Jones or a 40s detective flick where everyone was using single-action revolvers and lever-action rifles (cowboy guns) or glocks and M-16s (modern guns), it would throw almost anyone out of suspension of disbelief. A Vietnam movie where the distinctive silhouette of an M-16 never shows up would just feel wrong, and during the inevitable combat scene if the squad was cocking lever-action guns instead of firing bursts it would seem absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/46 "2018-06-21T15:36:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The clichés in **Dragnet** (the tv series) never bothered me. In fact, they were the only reason I enjoyed the series. There were no cliches. Just the facts. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/47 "2018-06-21T15:44:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > There were no cliches. > > Just the facts. Ma’m. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/48 "2018-06-21T17:16:16Z")
I don’t mind unrealistic results of gunshots, ie people flying backwards when they get hit by a shotgun blast or large caliber rifle. It’s totally unrealistic, but it looks more dramatic and is a way of dramatizing how heavy a caliber they’re getting shot with, so it doesn’t really bother me that much. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/49 "2018-06-21T19:00:44Z")
Also in the vein of guns, I don’t mind when people cock the gun menacingly because it sounds cool. Or that cliche sound of a sword sliding out of the holster, either. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/50 "2018-06-21T19:11:56Z")
I don’t mind gravity on spaceships. Yes, there are ways to film microgravity realistically. That’s not going to happen on a weekly TV show. Acceptable break from reality, because logistically there’s no other way. But if you have cheap artificial gravity, at least make it part of the series canon. Don’t just ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/51 "2018-06-21T19:19:19Z")
Of course, there are a lot of inaccuracies that I don’t mind simply by virtue of being unaware of them. Like, if my nerdity extended to cars or fashion or whatever, it probably would bug me to see people wearing or driving things that didn’t exist at that time… but it doesn’t, so I have no clue, and can blissfully ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/52 "2018-06-22T12:34:49Z")
**Chronos** , you’re right, of course. There are many, many errors that don’t bother me because I don’t notice them. This can be because I don’t know enough about a particular area or because the other elements of the movie hide or overpower the error. In some ways, movies are like performances of magic, full of misdirection and designed to create a particular illusion. The directing, writing, acting, cinematography, production design, costumes, makeup, special effects, sounds and music are all part of that illusion. Small errors in any of those areas can detract from the illusion, if you notice them. And it’s practically impossible to “un-notice” them. If I do notice, my reaction depends on the type of movie. The more serious the subject treatment in a movie, the more likely that a mistake or inaccuracy will bother me. I don’t have expectations for accuracy in a light-hearted comedy or animated fantasy but I do for a historical drama where almost all the characters are people who actually existed and the movie depicts events that we know actually happened in a particular place at a particular time. Also, my reaction will depend on how much I am “swept away” by the story. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/53 "2018-06-22T13:10:53Z")
I don’t mind errors in labwork except in two cases: when they affect safety/sample handling (goddamnit with the motherfucking makeup and jewelry!), and when they’re part of a very long expository paragraph. Analysis which take minutes instead of months, it’s unrealistic but necessary for the “crime of the week” stuff; detailed descriptions which are there just to make it clear the character knows a lot of long words and the meaning of not a single one, are definitely unnecessary. ---
**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:** [June 22, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/54 "2018-06-22T13:42:39Z")
I don’t mind that series dealing with the Tudors or War of the Roses if the actors have better teeth or are heavier than their real-life counterparts were 500 years ago. Or if the clothes have zippers, if there is some attempt to conceal them. Or even some of the more mon dialogue, such as Anne Boleyn saying you can’t have three people in a marriage which echoes Princs Diana. However, Catherine of Aragon having black hair, as everything did except the early 1970s “Six Wives of Henry VIII” which had her as the real blond-reddish hair, bugs me for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/55 "2018-06-22T14:02:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One general category: I don’t mind characters saying or doing stupid things. Like, in that one _Firefly_ episode, where Jayne says that his favorite gun needs an atmosphere to fire, when it wouldn’t actually: That doesn’t mean that the show is wrong, or that Joss Whedon is wrong. It just means that Jayne is wrong, which is fine, because Jayne is an idiot. It wasn’t just Jayne who was wrong. In the commentary track, Whedon grumbled that the expert they had hired _told_ them firearms need atmo. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/56 "2018-06-22T14:36:27Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > It wasn’t just Jayne who was wrong. In the commentary track, Whedon grumbled that the expert they had hired _told_ them firearms need atmo. I mean, it’s a pretty easy fanwank to just say that it was just that one type of gun needed atmo to fire. I’ve given up on being annoyed by “zoom and enhance” scenes. The shows that usually feature it are unrealistic to begin with, so does it really matter? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/57 "2018-06-22T14:47:21Z")
OK, so Joss Whedon was, in actual fact, wrong. I still don’t mind it, because it can be easily explained away as just being Jayne. Similarly for Han Solo’s parsecs, which I interpret as just Han being an idiot. And it doesn’t hurt that Alec Guiness rolls his eyes at the line. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/58 "2018-06-22T16:02:48Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’ve given up on being annoyed by “zoom and enhance” scenes. The shows that usually feature it are unrealistic to begin with, so does it really matter? Have you seen the show Barry on HBO? There’s a funny take on the zoom and enhance trope. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/59 "2018-06-22T19:05:42Z")
I understand why most of the aliens in Star Trek/Star Wars are just humans in costumes and make up. Its just cheaper and easier than dpeicting the exotic forms extraterrestrial would probably be. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343/60 "2018-06-22T19:26:23Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > “The cops were using Beretta 9mm 827-K’s, when EVERYONE knows the NYPD was issued the 827-_J_, and furthermore, in that one scene he was holding it as if he had a round in the chamber, but the fangdoodle widget was clearly in the second position so this was impossible!!!” > A gun is a gun. I couldn’t care less. Well, the idea of chambering a round just to show you _really_ mean business does bother me. Of course, unless you are a idiot, you already have a round in the chamber. I give a pass to the medieval films who usually show the stars without helmets\* (which would get them killed, fast). I mean, you hire Kenneth Branagh, you need to see him act. \*or they have open face helmets [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mistakes-inaccuracies-or-cliches-in-tv-and-film-dont-bother-you/816343.md?page=4)