# What modern movie plots wouldn't work today because of the Internet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229 "2015-02-09T15:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/1 "2015-02-09T15:59:13Z")
Presumably spoilers ahoy… Example: National Lampoon’s Vacation. You know those kids would have tried to buy tickets online and/or checked WallyWorld’s website before setting out. Usual Suspects. While Verbal Kint shares his story, the other cops listening in are Googling or checking LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. for the people he’s mentioning. Grease becomes a nine-second film where Sandy tweets “OMG change of plans not moving. Enrolling at Rydell” Danny RTs “that’s amazeballs. Next year will be made of awesome.” Actually they’re “teens” so they’re probably Snapchatting. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/2 "2015-02-09T19:03:13Z")
**It’s a Wonderful Life** : George does his banking online and deposits the $8000 with the click of a mouse. Uncle Billy never gets his Silly stupid old hands on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/3 "2015-02-09T19:28:48Z")
Being able to email her boyfriend on her phone and ask him what he was up to would have avoided all of the confusion and most of the plot of _The Twilight Saga: New Moon._ ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/4 "2015-02-09T19:34:01Z")
\*Planes, Trains, and Automobiles \* would require some very extensive rewriting if it were being remade today. Smart phones and internet pretty well eliminate the basis for all the humor in the original. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/5 "2015-02-09T19:34:34Z")
All those scenes in “Se7en”, with Morgan Freeman looking up info on the Seven Deadly Sins at that poorly-lit library; now Brad Pitt does a quick perusal on his iPhone of the Wikipedia article and can say, “Shut up, old man. I know you are about to retire, but you aren’t gonna lecture me 'bout no deadly sins as I have just read the article!” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/6 "2015-02-09T20:06:03Z")
_Pulp Fiction_: No Harvery Keitel We would see Travolta typing into Google, “How do I…” and Google auto-completing, “…get blood out of car seats.” _Memento_: Only one tattoo necessary. “Read Your Blog (Start At The Bottom)” _Cold Mountain_: “I see from FourSquare that your young man is on his way home. Oh, look, he’s mayor of Durham.” _Rashomon_: “That may be your recollection now, but that’s not what was going on in this picture you Snapchatted… Dammit! It’s gone!” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/7 "2015-02-09T20:22:22Z")
_The Lady Vanishes_. “Yes ma’am, I have a Miss Froy here in the database, so I don’t know why these people are pretending she doesn’t exist.” Meanwhile, two dudes go to [icc-cricket.com](http://icc-cricket.com) and discover the match was cancelled, and Miss Froy emails folktune.wav to [Whitehall.gov](http://Whitehall.gov) ---
**Author:** ![BaldDudePeekskill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@BaldDudePeekskill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaldDudePeekskill)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/8 "2015-02-09T20:33:20Z")
War Games…encryption issues An Affair to Remember…a quick text would have solved that whole Empire State Building Problem pretty quickly. Rear Window…Jimmy Stewart could have done a quick google search or accessed some online telephone/residential records to determine the deceased woman’s identity and her husband/killer. Also he could have set up some Hi-def webcams to monitor the place while he slept… Heck, the whole movie would be shot to hell. He’d have spent endless hours on his ‘device’ and never even glanced out the window once! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/9 "2015-02-09T21:03:21Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > _The Lady Vanishes_. “Yes ma’am, I have a Miss Froy here in the database, so I don’t know why these people are pretending she doesn’t exist.” Meanwhile, two dudes go to [icc-cricket.com](http://icc-cricket.com) and discover the match was cancelled, and Miss Froy emails folktune.wav to [Whitehall.gov](http://Whitehall.gov) Similarly with _North by Northwest_: “Hmn, there’s no George Kaplan that fits this description findable in any search. Bet he’s just a fictional device being used by the government!” Also, the entire last act of \*Romeo and Juliet \*would be seriously derailed if R & J could communicate with each other. ---
**Author:** ![NeneLeakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/76d3ee/32.png) [@NeneLeakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeneLeakes)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/10 "2015-02-09T21:14:28Z")
The Blair Witch Project. The “Find Friends” app would A) expose the location of the Witch or B) get them rescued on that second/third day. (Second post! Hi again!) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/11 "2015-02-09T21:19:06Z")
I don’t think that there any plots that wouldn’t work. Have you not noticed that whenever necessary in modern movies the hero or heroine can’t get a connection to the net or their cellphone suddenly can’t get a signal? Screenwriters have a thousand and one ways to set the clock back. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/12 "2015-02-09T21:22:07Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Also, the entire last act of \*Romeo and Juliet \*would be seriously derailed if R & J could communicate with each other. I’ve thought of a work-around for that: As part of Romeo’s exile, police Capt. Prince\* tells him that his cellphone will be monitored. While Capt. Prince just means his location so that Romeo doesn’t try sneaking back into the city, Romeo and/or Juliet, being prone to drama and not terribly bright, overreact to this and both ditch their cellphones. :smack: 😛 \*Yes, inspired by [this modernized version](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117509/?ref_=nv_sr_1) from 1996 just when cellphones were becoming common. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/13 "2015-02-09T21:28:03Z")
_The Tragical History of Intellectually-Challenged Romeo and Developmentally Disabled Juliet_ ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/14 "2015-02-09T21:49:12Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > _Pulp Fiction_: No Harvery Keitel We would see Travolta typing into Google, “How do I…” and Google auto-completing, “…get blood out of car seats.” “Need answer fast!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/15 "2015-02-09T22:30:34Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > National Lampoon’s Vacation. You know those kids would have tried to buy tickets online and/or checked WallyWorld’s website before setting out. Eh – is it really any dumber than not bothering to phone ahead to have tickets at the will-call window? ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/16 "2015-02-09T22:34:36Z")
> [@BaldDudePeekskill](#): > > War Games…encryption issues Not sure I understand this response. War Games was about finding a backdoor into a system guarded by a poorly chosen password. Sure, you’re more likely to be port-scanning rather than wardialing, but the basic concept is the same. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/17 "2015-02-09T23:22:43Z")
Janet Leigh probably wouldn’t have stopped at the Bates Motel, because its Yelp reviews couldn’t have been too good. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/18 "2015-02-09T23:44:31Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Similarly with _North by Northwest_: "Hmn, there’s no George Kaplan that fits this description findable in any search. Why _wouldn’t_ there be? The whole point of George Kaplan is that people who have the wherewithal to provide him with various IDs busily make hotel reservations for him easy as sending up his dry cleaning; they’d surely make searchable info findable. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/19 "2015-02-09T23:52:54Z")
Spencer Tracy wouldn’t have needed to use his extensive connections to verify Sidney Poitier’s identity and credentials in “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/20 "2015-02-10T00:50:59Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > Janet Leigh probably wouldn’t have stopped at the Bates Motel, because its Yelp reviews couldn’t have been too good. Best one so far! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229.md?page=2)