# You understand why they do it but it takes you out of the movie anyway **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928 "2015-10-17T19:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/201 "2015-10-22T20:16:16Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It’s the general amount of abuse people can take and keep on chugging with no outward ill effects. Get knocked out? Come to, get up and are fine. No puking, disorientation, etc… Punch someone in the face bare-knuckles? No tooth gouges in the knuckles, no broken hand, etc… you’re good to go. > > Get shot in the arm? You’re not only not dead, you’re good to finish the movie. IRL, you might not die, but you’d be seriously fucked up for a while and probably unable to really use the arm at all. Science fiction/fantasy author Poul Anderson wrote an essay, “On Thud and Blunder”, years ago about what it’s really like to be hit over the head and knocked unconscious. As well as a lot of other writing tropes. > **[On Thud and Blunder - SFWA](https://www.sfwa.org/2005/01/04/on-thud-and-blunder/)** > > An essay by science fiction writer Poul Anderson on the importance of research, or at least of plain common sense and logical thought, in writing heroic fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/202 "2015-10-22T20:23:36Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I imagine the process of actually suspending a police officer would be a little more complex than “Give me your badge and gun.” > > Probably more like: “After talking to several people as well as the department’s Legal Counsel, we have decided to suspend you. Give me your badge, ID card, gun, and the other gun, and all of your guns, and the keys to your locker, desk, building, vehicle, then have IT walk you through exporting any personal files from your computer, then call your Union Rep and go up to HR because we have an hour meeting where we will fill out a not-insignificant amount of paperwork.” Actually, only one sidearm is issued (if that) the rest are the officers and he gets to keep them. But yeah, you’re right. Not to mention bring in the Union, etc. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/203 "2015-10-22T20:36:57Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Perfectly covered in [_The Other Guys_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNZZhTXw72M) Why were they not cut to ribbons by the flying glass or skewered by strips of metal and wood? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/204 "2015-10-22T21:42:12Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I thought the most overrated and ruinous moment in a movie was “You can’t handle the truth!!!” It’s supposed to be a great moment of something but it just means that the lawyer got to the witness and got him to say something he shouldn’t. The whole idea of the movie is pivoted on this and it’s truly dumb IMO. Huh. I always liked it, and thought of it as a great pivotal moment, taken in context. I mean, Tom Cruise’s character is totally throwing the Hail Mary: he’s bluffing about having testimony he doesn’t really have, and he admits he’s banking his case (and own future) on trying to goad Jack Nicholson’s character into losing his temper: > [@](#): > > SAM: And you think you can got him to just say it? > > KAFFEE: I think he _wants_ to say it. I think he’s _pissed off_ that he’s gotta hide from us. I think he wants to say that he made a command decision and that’s the end of it. (sneering impression of Jessep) _He eats breakfast 80 yards away from 4000 Cubans who are trained to kill him_, and no one’s gonna tell him how to run his base. Least of all the pushy broad, the smart Jew, and the Harvard clown. I need to shake him and put him on the defensive. > > SAM: That’s it? That’s the plan? > > KAFFEE: That’s the plan. > > SAM: You’re gonna trip Jessep and he’s gonna confess. > > KAFFEE: I’m not gonna trip him. I’m gonna lead him right where he’s dying to go. So as the scene plays out, with Kaffee badgering him and Jessep sparring back, when Nicholson finally explodes with the famous line, I instantly went “Ha! Tom Cruise did it,” as Nicholson goes on and totally incriminates himself. I thought it was a cool climax. I would agree that people who quote it around, misremembering as having been a good moment for Nicholson’s character, or one that made him look cool, are silly. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/205 "2015-10-22T22:11:32Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (Why they did it: an impressive stunt, leading to a fight in a high place.) I love Casino Royale, but that scene bugged me for a different reason. Bond should have just followed on the ground. The parkour-guy has to come down sometime. It would be more logical, and a lot safer. > [@OneCentStamp](#): > > and these will cut your hands to bloody confetti, which will have plenty of time to heal as you languish in an iron lung with tetanus. It’s OK, I’ve had my tetanus shot. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/206 "2015-10-22T23:02:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And also- you never, ever drop your gun even if the bad guy has a gun pressed to the head of the hostage. What should happen then is he shoots both of you. Very true…but the reason is obvious. The “real life” alternative is a four-hour stand-off with lots and lots and LOTS of very, very dull dialogue. “C’mon, Sam, put the gun down.” “Nuh uh!” “Sam. C’mon. Put it down.” “Guh 'way!” “Sam. Listen to me…” Four hours of this? Not much of a movie! ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/207 "2015-10-22T23:55:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And also- you never, ever drop your gun even if the bad guy has a gun pressed to the head of the hostage. What should happen then is he shoots both of you. Ah, that reminds me of the other one, dated now, in which someone fires six shots, hears the dread click on the seventh, and _he throws the gun_ at the person shooting, or just away. Why would any one throw away a perfectly good gun for want of a bullet? ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/208 "2015-10-23T00:10:44Z")
Because, duh! It’s the gun, it controls the bullets, so it MUST be more powerful than the bullets themselves, so it’s surely going to take the bad guy down. _character fires all bullets at the target to no effect_ Bad guy - Hmmph, nice try. _character throws the gun at the bad guy, striking his chest_ Bad guy - OOOOWWW! Dammit, that hurts. You jerk! Be careful with that thing. Guns have been known to kill people, ya know! _walks away clutching his chest, cursing and grunting in pain_ ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/209 "2015-10-23T02:06:15Z")
> [@Dante\_G](#): > > Because, duh! It’s the gun, it controls the bullets, so it MUST be more powerful than the bullets themselves, so it’s surely going to take the bad guy down. > > _character fires all bullets at the target to no effect_ > > Bad guy - Hmmph, nice try. > > _character throws the gun at the bad guy, striking his chest_ > > Bad guy - OOOOWWW! Dammit, that hurts. You jerk! Be careful with that thing. Guns have been known to kill people, ya know! > > _walks away clutching his chest, cursing and grunting in pain_ I take it back; I don’t understand why they do it, because that’s exactly how much sense it makes. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/210 "2015-10-23T03:12:18Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I take it back; I don’t understand why they do it, because that’s exactly how much sense it makes. Because that’s all he had to throw after tossing his empty canteen. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/211 "2015-10-23T03:19:14Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Ah, that reminds me of the other one, dated now, in which someone fires six shots, hears the dread click on the seventh, and _he throws the gun_ at the person shooting, or just away. > > Why would any one throw away a perfectly good gun for want of a bullet? Or they are in the desert, drink the last drop and throw the canteen away…:eek::dubious: ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/212 "2015-10-23T03:43:13Z")
Or shoot the canteen. Just as Our Hero is taking a drink, Snidely Whiplash shoots it, instead of just, I don’t know, taking it away and saving the water. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/213 "2015-10-23T03:45:46Z")
That Snidely’s a real SOB. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/214 "2015-10-23T03:47:48Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This is more of a general lament but what ruins many an otherwise quality movie for me is the gratuitous, awkward insertion of an unfolding love story, occuring side by side the actual plot of the film. No, they need those. Who would want to see the sinking of the Titanic, or the attack on Pearl Harbor, without a sappy love story to relieve the boredom? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/215 "2015-10-23T04:24:15Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > No, they need those. Who would want to see the sinking of the Titanic, or the attack on Pearl Harbor, without a sappy love story to relieve the boredom? I’d have preferred seeing the heroic but ultimately failed efforts to save the Renault in Titanic’s hold. I’d hoped they’d show Rose’s diamond falling onto the car to make a glittering hood ornament. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/216 "2015-10-23T04:25:18Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > No, they need those. Who would want to see the sinking of the Titanic, or the attack on Pearl Harbor, without a sappy love story to relieve the boredom? > **[A Night to Remember (1958) ⭐ 7.9 | Drama, History](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051994/)** > > 2h 3m | Not Rated > **[Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) ⭐ 7.5 | Action, Drama, History](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066473/?ref_=nv_sr_1)** > > 2h 24m | G ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/217 "2015-10-23T15:35:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > > [@TonySinclair](#): > > > > No, they need those. Who would want to see the sinking of the Titanic, or the attack on Pearl Harbor, without a sappy love story to relieve the boredom? > > [A Night to Remember (1958) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051994/) > > [Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066473/?ref_=nv_sr_1) what was that loud noise? 😃 ---
**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:** [October 23, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/218 "2015-10-23T19:16:41Z")
How many aliens look like humans with skin conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/219 "2015-10-23T19:35:17Z")
I know right! I mean, all the aliens I’ve ever known, they are pretty freakin’ non-humanoid. Most of them are short and have multiple appendages, no distinguishing facial features like a mouth or nose. Not to mention the fact that they don’t speak English. All of our conversations involve a lot of pointing and audible sounds of frustration along with an occasional F-Bomb dropped from either one of us, because, well, the F-Bomb is universal. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/220 "2015-10-23T20:09:05Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I was on a jury last year for the first time, and they did object a lot. But there was a difference between a real life trial and courtroom dramas: they never said the reason within earshot of the jury. They would just say “objection” and the judge would say either “sustained” or “overruled.” If it happened several times in quick succession the judge would ask the attorneys to approach the bench and they would discuss the reasons in hushed tones so the jury couldn’t hear. I often object in practice myself, but, objections in film are done when there should be none in real life. This is particularly egregious because 99 % of objections in film are during witness examinations, IRL you would rarely do so there, unless the opposing counsel made some major error, like leading questions in Chief or asking a witness opinion/ eliciting hearsay, all of which in anycase the judge would usually pick up without you doing to much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928.md?page=12)