# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/101 "2015-09-02T13:14:06Z")
I don’t see how a film like While You Were Sleeping works. “You’re his fiancee? Ummm you’re not ANYWHERE on his Facebook, and he didn’t update his status. Do you even have any photos with him on your phone? He’s not even following you on Twitter.” ---
**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:** [September 2, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/102 "2015-09-02T14:07:50Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Almost any horror/slasher picture because someone would give Freddy Krueger, Jason, and that crazy doll Chucky a Wikipedia page and a blog and everyone would be posting about them. Really their scary factor only works if they are kept a secret. > > Can you imagine a real place haunted by say Jason would be swarming with Jason hunters and persons wanting to get a selfie with him. An urban legend, “Bunny Man”, has become self-fulfilling: the site has become a magnet for psychos. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/103 "2015-09-02T15:33:02Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > I don’t see how a film like While You Were Sleeping works. “You’re his fiancee? Ummm you’re not ANYWHERE on his Facebook, and he didn’t update his status. Do you even have any photos with him on your phone? He’s not even following you on Twitter.” That’s easy. There are millions of us who don’t have a Facebook page or a status to update. And millions more of us who don’t have any pictures on their phones. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/104 "2015-09-02T15:53:18Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > That’s easy. There are millions of us who don’t have a Facebook page or a status to update. And millions more of us who don’t have any pictures on their phones. I didn’t know the Amish movement was gaining such steam 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/105 "2015-09-02T16:02:13Z")
The Amish can’t post to the internet. I am a Reformed Mennonite, I’m guessing. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/106 "2015-09-02T16:08:52Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > _It’s A Wonderful Life\*\*It’s A Wonderful Life_ 3: Security video in the bank lobby clearly shows the $8000 deposit being dumped into Potter’s lap; Potter and Uncle Billy both go to prison for conspiracy to embezzle money from the Building and Loan. Nonsense. If the past decade has taught us anything, it’s that bankers never go to prison. Especially evil bankers. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/107 "2015-09-02T16:43:54Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > That’s easy. There are millions of us who don’t have a Facebook page or a status to update. And millions more of us who don’t have any pictures on their phones. The kind of guy who was in the coma in While You Were Sleeping is not one of those millions. He’s self-obsessed and has the latest and greatest of everything. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/108 "2015-09-02T18:06:06Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > _Star Wars_ “I emailed the plans for the Death Star to the Alliance, Vader! They’ve already launched an attack.” That kind of thinking is what got the Bothans killed. 😉 I would assume the Empire can monitor transmissions, the way governments today monitor the internet. Imagine that you have a copy of secret US government plans and you want to get them to your contact in Canada. Hopefully without winding up in prison or dead. Do you e-mail them? Fuck no, you might as well pick out your prison jumpsuit now if you do that. Your best bet is to put the plans on a flash drive, stick it in your pocket, and drive to Canada. Which is pretty much what Princess Leah is doing with the Death Star plans. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/109 "2015-09-02T18:50:38Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > **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. Umm, no. It’s cash and it’s not George’s banking. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/110 "2015-09-02T18:50:56Z")
**Sandlot** – as if kids with on-line gaming are going to meet up in a lot when it’s 98 degrees to battle a smelly dog for a ball. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/111 "2015-09-02T18:53:00Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > _Citizen Kane_ because no one reads newspapers anymore. > _Casablanca_ – thanks to Photoshop there are literally thousands of letters of transit available to Ilsa and Victor, good enough to fool Major Strasser. Yes, people do. Lots of them. Not with a wax seal. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/112 "2015-09-02T18:55:07Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > He, like most modern banks, would be dealing largely in electronic fund transfers. Not true. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/113 "2015-09-02T19:00:55Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > “By the way, Ms. Gulch, I emailed PETA. Touch Toto and they’ll sue your scrawny ass for everything you’ve got.” > > “Let’s see – FAQ about ruby slippers…why, they can take me right back home! Yeah, thanks anyway, Glinda, but I’ll pass on that Wizard guy.” PETA never does anything useful like that. She wouldnt have finished her personal journey of self-awareness. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/114 "2015-09-02T20:13:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > PETA never does anything useful like that. True, PETA thugs would beat Dorothy to a pulp for having the audacity to keep an animal in slavery. They’d then release Toto in a forest, where he’d starve to death because there was no one to feed him. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/115 "2015-09-02T20:17:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > PETA never does anything useful like that. Maybe Mrs. Gulch doesn’t know. I won’t tell her if you won’t.😉 > [@](#): > > She wouldnt have finished her personal journey of self-awareness. “personal journey of self-awareness,” my great-aunt’s fanny. The whole Emerald City/go see the wizard bit was Glinda’s scheme to take out both the Wizard and the Wicked Witch of the West without getting her hands dirty. Which Dorothy would have know if she read any of Glinda’s rants in the BBQ Pit. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/116 "2015-09-02T20:24:50Z")
I’d like to think medical technology has advanced enough that Shelby won’t die after the kidney transplant in **Steel Magnolias.** Hell, maybe even her pregnancy wouldn’t have caused her kidneys to fail. She would have dumped Jackson and gone back to school to become an MD. **West Side Story** seems quaint now, given the gang violence today. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/117 "2015-09-02T21:06:38Z")
After the Death Star is destroyed: Leia: “I knew there was more to you than money!” Han: “Oh, yeah, that reminds me…” Han whips out phone, transfers his reward money to Jabba: “Here you go, plus a little extra”. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/118 "2015-09-02T22:20:22Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > “dafuq? Google Maps stops at Osgiliath? Lame.” There’s your problem. You’ve got Maps configured to give you walking directions. \ See? Complete route when you select driving directions. Evidently, you can’t just walk into Mordor. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/119 "2015-09-03T09:35:08Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **West Side Story** seems quaint now, given the gang violence today. To be fair, it was quaint compared to the gang violence _then_. It’s even quaint compared to the violence in the original _Romeo and Juliet_ play. \ ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229/120 "2015-09-03T12:11:59Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > There’s your problem. You’ve got Maps configured to give you walking directions. > > \ > > See? Complete route when you select driving directions. > > Evidently, you can’t just walk into Mordor. [http://www.eagleair.is/](http://www.eagleair.is/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-modern-movie-plots-wouldnt-work-today-because-of-the-internet/712229.md?page=5)