# What takes you out of a TV show or movie that’s actually trivial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [September 23, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299 "2026-09-23T01:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/201 "2026-09-30T11:42:28Z")
I think I’ve mentioned this one in another thread recently. Frank Capra’s classic film **Lost Horizon** was forever ruined for me at the very beginning by a note he posted at the very beginning. I suppose he wanted to make the story more relatable or “homely”, but it immediately took me right out of the spirit of the thing: > In these days of wars and rumors of wars - haven’t you ever dreamed of a place where there was peace and security, where living was not a struggle but a lasting delight? > Of course you have. So has every man since time began. Always the same dream. Sometimes he calls it Utopia - Sometimes the Fountain of Youth - Sometimes merely “that little chicken farm.” …and that did it “Little chicken farm”. My image of a chicken farm was one of those big low-tech buildings crammed with chickens , open to the air, and encrusted with disgusting chicken crap, baking in the summer sun. We used to pass these on our way down to the Jersey shore, and they were completely disgusting. Once Capra’s Shangri-la was perfumed with the stench of a chicken farm, there was no going back – it was completely ruined, no matter how grand the architecture was. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/202 "2026-09-30T12:54:44Z")
Well, to be fair to Capra, modern commercial chicken farming began in the 20s. _Lost Horizon_ came out in 1937, when the development of commercial chicken farming was well under way, but still early enough that the nostalgic farms of old were still well within living memory; some may have still been around then. Before modern commercial chicken facilities, a bucolic family farm would have a chicken coop with maybe a couple dozen chickens, the farmer would send one of his kids to gather eggs to take into town and sell, and the older chickens that stopped laying ended up on the Sunday dinner table. _ **That’s** _ “that little chicken farm” that Capra was envisioning. But yeah, by the time you reached kidhood, the “little chicken farm” looked more like this: [![](https://images.ctfassets.net/ww1ie0z745y7/6Uw3q2e3Ee5LLG53DsDIvP/aaf6ccc729974ff755a476ab4d5ff75e/img-news-article-placeholder_2x.png) ](https://images.ctfassets.net/ww1ie0z745y7/6Uw3q2e3Ee5LLG53DsDIvP/aaf6ccc729974ff755a476ab4d5ff75e/img-news-article-placeholder_2x.png) ---
**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:** [September 30, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/203 "2026-09-30T13:04:52Z")
> [@solost](#): > > _ **That’s** _ “that little chicken farm” that Capra was envisioning. I’ve always thought of it as Dorothy’s home in Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/204 "2026-09-30T13:14:07Z")
> [@solost](#): > > _ **That’s** _ “that little chicken farm” that Capra was envisioning. I’m perfectly aware of the idea Capra had. I’m just saying that , based on my own life experiences, the image (and smell) that his stupid little note brought up has forever ruined that film for me. It’s a stupid thing, but there it is. My point is that it was completely unnecesary – people would have gotten the point without his little spiel trying to make it more relatable. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/205 "2026-09-30T13:19:30Z")
Yeah, I get where you’re coming from, but Capra’s whole _thing_ was creating an atmosphere of homey, nostalgic idealism. To question any part of that is to begin going down a bad path, where you might eventually decide that Capra’s whole oeuvre was nothing but manipulative Glurge. Heaven forbid! 😏 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/206 "2026-09-30T14:47:49Z")
> [@solost](#): > > where you might eventually decide that Capra’s whole oeuvre was nothing but manipulative Glurge The derogative term critics used was “Capra-corn” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/207 "2026-09-30T16:38:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve always thought of it as Dorothy’s home in Kansas. Pre or post-tornado? 🙂 > [@CalMeacham](#): > > The derogative term critics used was “Capra-corn” Most of Normal Rockwell and Art Frahm are the same for me. Intended to be homey and comforting, but viewed across the decades it comes across as suffocatingly smug juvenile banality. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/208 "2026-09-30T17:11:45Z")
Shaky Cam. It does not add realism to have jerky camera movements. In real life, people actually pan from one object or person to another without the visual target leaping about. Grossly ahistorical movies are hard to accept. Oliver Stone makiing D.A. Jim Garrison into a hero uncovering conspiracy in ‘J.F.K.’, as opposed to the reality of Garrison being a semi-unhinged, self-promoting sleazebag, made that movie hard to take except as a sort of comedy. On the other hand, Indiana Jones clinging to the outside of a U-boat traveling hundreds of miles or more and arriving safely in port without the sub ever submerging for evasion or training purposes, didn’t really bother me at all. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/209 "2026-09-30T17:20:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > On the other hand, Indiana Jones clinging to the outside of a U-boat traveling hundreds of miles or more and arriving safely in port without the sub ever submerging for evasion or training purposes, didn’t really bother me at all. Not that surprising, really. Subs travel faster on the surface, and it doesn’t run the batteries (which you might really need later) down. I can see not training while on a mission. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/210 "2026-09-30T17:29:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@terentii](#): > > > > I’ve always thought of it as Dorothy’s home in Kansas. > > Pre or post-tornado? In Kansas, tornadoes are the spice of life! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/211 "2026-09-30T17:43:56Z")
Ever-reliable AI informs us that "While on a tour of duty (war patrol), German U-boat crews conducted critical training drills (including crash dives)on a near-daily basis. Though maybe in the mid-'30s when the movie was set, they were more lax about such things. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/212 "2026-09-30T18:22:20Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The only notably hilly/mountainous parts are either the Marathon mountains out in Big Bend (geologically related to the Ozarks and Appalachians), or the Hill Country, which is not very high, but kind of dramatic topographically. El Paso has elevation in the background… I guess it isn’t like that in most of the state, though. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/213 "2026-09-30T18:46:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > You know, of course, that he never said that line. It’s attributed to more than one movie, usually **The Black Shield of Falworth** (1954). But it’s not in any of them. But it made for a great D&D line. We were playing with a DMs who just loved horses. She insisted on us getting all the details- horse blanket, saddle, and especially food right- she insisted our warhorses needed grain, not just graze. Our poor mounts were not doing well, since we had not brought many hundreds of pounds of grain along. Thus, when we saw a castle ahead, I asked if we could get grain for the horses there, and she said yes. So I said _“Yonder lies the castle of our fodder”._ 😛 > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Shaky Cam. > > It does not add realism to have jerky camera movements. In real life, people actually pan from one object or person to another without the visual target leaping about. I concur. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Grossly ahistorical movies are hard to accept. Oliver Stone makiing D.A. Jim Garrison into a hero uncovering conspiracy in ‘J.F.K.’, as opposed to the reality of Garrison being a semi-unhinged, self-promoting sleazebag, made that movie hard to take except as a sort of comedy. Yeah, too much. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Ever-reliable AI informs us that "While on a tour of duty (war patrol), German U-boat crews conducted critical training drills (including crash dives)on a near-daily basis. Though maybe in the mid-'30s when the movie was set, they were more lax about such things. No global war at that time. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/214 "2026-09-30T19:07:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not that surprising, really. Subs travel faster on the surface, and it doesn’t run the batteries (which you might really need later) down. Slight nitpick…this is true only for WWII-era diesel boats. Modern nuclear subs with teardrop-shaped hulls are considerably faster when submerged. Nor do they depend on batteries. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/215 "2026-09-30T20:50:22Z")
Just the other day I saw a Nash Bridges episode where the title character is driving his expensive muscle car and chatting away with his partner Joe when he strikes a skater. And Joe insists (through most of the episode) that Nash wasn’t watching the road. The episode was a parade of Nash’s friends and coworkers urging him to settle, but he dug his heels in. Alas, they wrote it so the skater was revealed at the end to be a scammer who wasn’t really hit. I was really hoping they’d carry through on this old saw for once. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/216 "2026-10-01T00:02:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > On the other hand, Indiana Jones clinging to the outside of a U-boat traveling hundreds of miles or more and arriving safely in port without the sub ever submerging for evasion or training purposes, didn’t really bother me at all. You can hear the German sailors yelling “dive, dive” so it did submerge. In the original script, the U-boat submerged to periscope depth while Indy clung to the periscope, eventually lashing himself to it with his trusty whip and getting dragged all the way to the island. They even filmed or at least considered filming it. [![](https://media.aintitcool.com/media/legacy/images2009/BTSraiderswaterbig.jpg) ](https://media.aintitcool.com/media/legacy/images2009/BTSraiderswaterbig.jpg) I’ll leave it to you to decide if it’s more believable that it never submerged, or that he could belly-surf behind a sub that inexplicably kept its periscope up for the entire trip. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/217 "2026-10-01T01:45:53Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Slight nitpick…this is true only for WWII-era diesel boats. > > Modern nuclear subs with teardrop-shaped hulls are considerably faster when submerged. Nor do they depend on batteries. Yeah, but we’re talking about WWII-era diesel subs. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/218 "2026-10-01T02:57:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > Slight nitpick…this is true only for WWII-era diesel boats. > > > > Modern nuclear subs with teardrop-shaped hulls are considerably faster when submerged. Nor do they depend on batteries. > > Yeah, but we’re talking about WWII-era diesel subs. Ok, but your statement was not only more general than that (just “subs”), but you also spoke in the present tense. IME, people have so many misconceptions about modern submarines that I try to dispel them when I come across them (assuming nothing classified is involved, of course). I suspect many of these misconceptions come from old WWII movies. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/219 "2026-10-01T03:53:55Z")
There was a war going on in 1936- The **Second Italo-Ethiopian War** Started in 1935. It caused issues with shipping in the med. > **[Second Italo-Ethiopian War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War)** > > The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Italy against Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to May 1936. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Italian Invasion (Amharic: ጣልያን ወረራ, romanized: Ṭalyan warära), and in Italy as the Ethiopian War (Italian: Guerra d'Etiopia). The war is regarded as the largest colonial campaign in history. On 3 October 1935, two hundred thousand soldiers of the Regio Esercito ... Egypt was technically neutral until 26 August 1936 , when they signed the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936. Even so, there were limitations on British troops, etc. > **[Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Egyptian_treaty_of_1936)** > > The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 (officially, The Treaty of Alliance Between His Majesty, in Respect of the United Kingdom, and His Majesty, the King of Egypt) was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egypt. The treaty significantly reduced Britain's influence in Egypt's domestic policy but Britain still had significant influence in Egypt's foreign policy and defence, especially the Suez Canal. Under the terms of the treaty, the United Kingdom was required to withdraw a... The Ahnenerbe was formed in 1935. It had no expeditions in Egypt. My thinking of Indy and the Sub was that it briefly submerged , then ran on diesel until the island. How Indy was not spotted is a … miracle! > [@robby](#): > > IME, people have so many misconceptions about modern submarines that I try to dispel them when I come across them (assuming nothing classified is involved, of course). I suspect many of these misconceptions come from old WWII movies. Good points. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/220 "2026-10-01T13:24:55Z")
Parts are, but the thing is that most of the historical events didn’t take place in the desert-ish areas, with one exception. The Goodnight-Loving Trail for cattle drives did drive cattle from Fort Belknap (NW of Abilene) south to Ft. Concho (near San Angelo), and from there, west to the Pecos River and into New Mexico. Then they drove them north to Denver along the eastern edge of the Rockies. That particular cattle drive _would_ have had deserts, mountains, etc.. Most of the other cattle trails ran somewhere west of Fort Worth, but not that far. In fact, the famous Chisholm Trail more or less mirrored today’s I-35 route, and the prior Shawnee Trail went straight through Dallas. No mountains, not desert either. The Texas Revolution? Took place mostly between San Antonio and Houston, with a few sites like Goliad being even closer to the coast. No mountains anywhere near there, and not terribly dry either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299.md?page=12)