Do Movies Influence Our Expectations of Reality?

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The discussion centers around humorous and exaggerated lessons learned from movies, highlighting common tropes and clichés. Key points include the unrealistic portrayal of living situations, such as affordable loft-style apartments in New York City, and the notion that characters can easily defuse bombs or land planes with minimal training. The conversation also touches on the predictable outcomes of fights, where outnumbered heroes prevail, and the portrayal of romantic interactions that defy reality, such as flawless appearances upon waking. Other notable themes include the tendency for characters to speak English regardless of their nationality, the dramatic effects of violence, and the unrealistic timing of events, such as the prolonged death scenes of good characters compared to the instant demise of villains. The thread invites additional contributions, encouraging participants to share more cinematic observations and critiques.
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Things You Learn From the Movies (or at least i have anyway!)

1. Large, loft-style apartments in New York City are well within the price range of most people--whether they are employed or not.

2. At least one of a pair of identical twins is born evil.

3. Should you decide to defuse a bomb, don't worry which wire to cut. You will always choose the right one.

4. Most laptop computers are powerful enough to override the communications system of any invading alien society.

5. It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts: your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors.

6. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your bedroom will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish.

7. If you are blonde and pretty, it is possible to become a world expert on nuclear fission at the age of 22.

8. Honest and hard working policemen are traditionally gunned down three days before their retirement.

9. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their arch enemies using complicated machinery involving fuses, pulley systems, deadly gasses, lasers, and man-eating sharks, which will allow their captives at least 20 minutes to escape.

10. All beds have special L-shaped cover sheets that reach the armpit level on a woman but only to waist level on the man lying beside her.

11. All grocery shopping bags contain at least one stick of French bread.

12. It's easy for anyone to land a plane providing there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.

13. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off--even while scuba diving.

14. You're very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.

15. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German or Russian officer, it will not be necessary to speak the language. A German or Russian accent will do.

16. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.

17. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating, but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

18. If a large pane of glass is visible, someone will be thrown through it before long.

19. If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises in their most revealing underwear.

20. Word processors never display a cursor on screen but will always say: Enter Password Now.

21. Even when driving down a perfectly straight road, it is necessary to turn the steering wheel vigorously from left to right every few moments.

22. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.

23. A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

24. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you meet will know all the steps.

25. Police departments give their officers personality tests to make sure they are deliberately assigned a partner who is their total opposite.

26. When they are alone, all foreign military officers prefer to speak to each other in English.



Are there any others?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
All spaceship captains follow the intergalactic convention as to which way is up.

Njorl
 
Cops always arrive at the end, when every good guy had been shot or killed.
 
dont u mean the cops arrive when the BAD guys have been dealt with?
 
Works as well
 
anything else you have learned from extensive film studies?
 
If you are the sorry sunuva-bee who has to carry the flamethrower for your unit during a war, you will eventually get shot in the propane tank and go up like a roman candle.

(Source: When Trumpets Fade, Saving Private Ryan, Windtalkers,...)
 
My top ten lessons from the movies

10). Watch out for computers that can read lips. --- 2001

9). Most real aliens either glow or they have something that glows...and all aliens can levitate things.

8). Really smart teenagers can outwit the government's best minds and any Ph.D; their computer skills being far superior as well.

7). All phone numbers have the prefix 555.

6). Whenever two people are about to engage in mortal combat, they like to talk first. Often they were once friends so they exchange one or two puns before fighting.

5). Guys who shoot machine guns usually have baby oil on their exposed biceps.

4). Most people who are really sad spend a lot of time looking at the ocean.

3). The engine in any really fast car sounds just like a Chevy 350 with headers and a supercharger.

2). All oppressed people are really much nicer than their oppressors

And my most valuable lesson learned from the movies:

1). It is easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. :wink:
 
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LOL

and a few more for the ladies...in romance fims


1./ Everyone still looks beautiful in the morning

2./ Women always wrap the entire sheet around them when they get out of bed

3./ No-one ever knocks heads or squashes noses when moving for a kiss

4./ Ladies never wear support tights, big knickers, or greying bras

5./ Contraception? what contraception??
 
  • #10
Originally posted by jimmy p
26. When they are alone, all foreign military officers prefer to speak to each other in English.

All foreign ppl...not just military ppl...and then everyone knows how to speak english fluently

-Ty
 
  • #11
lol yeah, that's true, and the heroes never make a slip up when they speak a foreign language either.
 
  • #12
Originally posted by jimmy p

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Are there any others?



You've missed this one:

"27. When they are alone, all foreign military officers prefer to speak to each other in English."

From: http://www.authorware.com/humtext.asp?Hum_ID=56
 
  • #13
? that was number 26.
 
  • #14
Originally posted by jimmy p
? that was number 26.

Oops!

How about this?

"During all police investigations, it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once."

From: http://www.authorware.com/humtext.asp?Hum_ID=56


It's number 10 there.
 
  • #15
LOL that's a pretty good one! ..where do i sign up for the movie police??

keep em going!
 
  • #16
Martial arts experts do not know how to use a gun.
 
  • #17
Originally posted by jimmy p
22. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.

But don't sweat it too much, as time dilation inveriably kicks in near te end, ensuring that the last five clicks take 20-30 seconds, or whatever amount of time is needed.

IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP REGARDING...
1). It is easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
;

It is imparative to determine who the "main good-guy (or -gal)" is, so that you can avoid becoming their best friend, old mentor, or "only thing in the world they care about".

If you ever find yourself in a Belisario feature, DO NOT, under any surcumstances, allow the main protagonist to fall in love with you!
 
  • #18
Corollary to Mercator's entry:

A guy fighting with a sword or his fists will always beat a guy with a gun. (exception: Indiana Jones.)

Or how about this one from the politically correct department--

Any male action hero will always make short work of even swarms of male adverseries. Against a female or group of females, however, he will have great difficulty and get beaten up a good bit without even landing a hit. Eventually, however, he will recover and knock out the lady/ladies with one punch each.
 
  • #19
That's exactly the scene I like most about Indiana Jones and we can say that in the history of film making, between the fighting scenes, this is probably the most realistic one. Except for the fight between a 4 and a 3 wheel mini in Mr. Bean.
 
  • #20
Small, good-looking men are much tougher than big ugly men.

Njorl
 
  • #21
What I learned from the last samurai: Japanese are too stupid to slaughter themselves. They need an American to organise it.
 
  • #22
Anyone, anywhere, who has any kind of 'special powers' MUST glow/sparkle/shine/gleem (if it is seen as an 'invisible' power)
 
  • #23
A quick bonk on the head is all that is needed to make someone go unconscious.
 
  • #24
If you are in a western, the easiest way to tell if an outlaw is coming in because he wears black, is unshaven, and the pianist in the corner of the bar ALWAYS switches to minor key.
 
  • #25
Originally posted by photon
A quick bonk on the head is all that is needed to make someone go unconscious.
Unless it is 'inconvenient' then it can go on for hours, "choreographed"...as has been pointed out, already...
 
  • #26
When being pursued by an attacker, be it human or otherwise, never use the obvious weapons at your disposal. Instead, run to some place that you can confront your attacker alone and unarmed - like in dark alley that has no exit.
 
  • #27
Don't forget that when you're being pursued indoors, it's better to flee up than out. Even when you're being pursued outdoors, it's often worthwhile to run indoors so you can flee upwards!
 
  • #28
Whenever something sinister occurs, there is always a big storm which causes the lights to cut out.
 
  • #29
"True Hero's" always have a parking space...

When driving the rear view mirror, well, half the time it isn't even there...
 
  • #30
Originally posted by Hurkyl
flee upwards!

What was I thinking! Of course, you must run upwards. If you can't get into the building then you should climb the fire escape. Then run across the roof and leap from building to building.
 
  • #31
and whenever the hero is on the fire escape and it will not go down any farther, (and the bad guys are closing in from above), a truck (either filled with sand or some soft trash) will always be passing by below at that exact moment so the hero can jump to safety and get away.
 
  • #32
Dressing as a woman to 1.) escape an enemy, 2.) for financial gain, or 3.) to gain access to a real woman, is considered a brilliant idea.

A course, disgusting man, however, will invariably fall in love with any man in drag for the above reasons.
 
  • #33
Anyone wearing either a 'fake' moustach, or 'sunglasses', instantly becomes unrecognizable to people they have known, all their lives...
 
  • #34
This is why they say Hollywood movies are directed towards blue collar workers: only they are stupid enough to accept it as reality?

Actually, I learned a lot of philosophy from Hollywood as well as prospective technological innovations to come in the future.
 
  • #35
Oh, and how can we forget that a superhero can't be recognized if his secret identity wears glasses!
 
  • #36
**Hero** walks/runs into factory...turns on every single machine in the place, using the light switch on the wall...**hero** runs ...
 
  • #37
On the side of the good guys, there is ALWAYS one seasoned veteran of the field. And he has a deep/gravelly voice. Or he is muscle-bound.
 
  • #38
Originally posted by jimmy p
On the side of the good guys, there is ALWAYS one seasoned veteran of the field. And he has a deep/gravelly voice. Or he is muscle-bound.
Thereby (and/or for) ripping his shirt...
 
  • #39
loool...funny...i got one tho.


As the victim is running at high increasing speeds, the attacker always seems to catch up even tho he's walking
 
  • #40
Dont know if this fits?..but when a movie is hyped up by a preceeding trailer, then all hardened Male Students will develop a misgiuded interpretation of the said film when they accompany a female Student where the Female insists that the film is one of the greatest love Stories ever?

Example TITANIC the leonado-de-capio one, during the first couple of weeks a number of Students who I conversed with about many things(as you do in UNI) kept nagging me to go and see Titanic (apparently by the fourth week in the UK I was probably one of the single figure persons who had not seen the film!..anyway another month went by and Students were going to see the film more or less every single evening, still they were explaining the theme 'LOVE' and the story of the film to me, anyways I promised that I would go and see it whilst on Holiday in Canada. Upon my return, I WAS FLOCKED BY STUDENTS wanting my opinion..you know the Sloppy Love story!..wasnt it fantastic?

They were dismayed when I stated that the whole theme that was threaded through the film was not Love as such, it was about DREAMS.

I explained that the whole film revolved around ROSE actually living the Dream that was promised to her by leonardo (Jack) and the underlaying message of the film was Dreams can fall by the wayside, if you are not being true to your own Dreams and not say of your Parents wishes (Rose's mother dreamt of her Daughter marrying into money)
Titanic ( The Ship of Dreams-later Sank!) actually Titanic itself was Hyped to the Status of Unsinkable!

Steerage Class Victims (were all dreaming of AMERICA-new life-The American Dream)

After surviving Rose went out and did all the things Jack Promised they would do when they arrived in America (Rose always took the photographic evidence -Horseriding etc..etc with her when travelling-keeping the Dream alive?)

The reference's are thick and fast(sometime a little to fast for students!) throughout the film Dream sequence's..Dream of the Ocean..ROSE in later part of the film actually die's in a/her Dream.

Anyway..the following evening the whole lot of Students went and seen the film now taking with them a 'de-briefing' of the seminar Igave them on my personal take on the movie, most of the male Students later stated that they were quote: Sidetracked?.. by Hype and their Female companions, and under normal curvamstances they would have easily spotted the obvious 'hidden thread woven throught the film'!

After they seen the film umpteen times?..I doubt it! ;)

The film quotes the words Dreams umpteen times, the word Love does not hardly get a mention, listen for yourself next time you see it thing Love..make Students
 
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  • #41
lol that is just human nature to not be wrong, i work in a bookies and every time one of the customers makes a mistake on his bets, he blames his wife or says its one that his wife has written out!

Anyway that's a good point nonetheless ranyart.

Keep posting!
 
  • #42
Originally posted by jimmy p
lol that is just human nature to not be wrong, i work in a bookies and every time one of the customers makes a mistake on his bets, he blames his wife or says its one that his wife has written out!

Anyway that's a good point nonetheless ranyart.

Keep posting!

Of course! Human nature means that we are no way perfect. Some of the STudents actually thanked me for pointing out some of their own failings( for whatever reasons?..maybe the male/female proximity got the better of them:wink: But nevertheless, they sure as hell don't go to any Films with a pre-concepting view now?

I should actually say that one of the Students gave me a fantastic book as a direct result of our conversations-The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho..and I am more the wiser for reading it..and forever greatful.
 
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  • #43
Humm, if movie trailers are open game too...

*clears throat to get grizzly, deep, ominous tone*

IN A WORLD...

WHERE (vaguely describe ridiculously dire/ominous/problematic circumstances)...

AND (further describe circumstances)...

ONE MAN (describe how ONE MAN is miraculously facing up to the impossible odds)...

COMING THIS (insert appropriate season/month)...

(insert actor name) IS... (insert movie title)

RATED Rrrr...

example:

IN A WORLD...

WHERE TIME IS RUNNING OUT...

AND BETRAYAL IS A WAY OF LIFE...

ONE MAN... WILL FIGHT FOR JUSTICE...

COMING THIS WINTER...

PAULY SHORE IS... NINJA WEAPON.

RATED Rrrrr...
 
  • #44
LOL Hynagogue, that's great!


When on the run in a middle eastern country, it is customary to be chased through a market scene, where people are jostled, chicken cages are knocked over, and carts full of spices and chillis are tipped.

Most detectives in films can afford flash cars...on what pay?? (especially if they are always getting suspended!)

In most films when there is a party of people, at least one woman is present and she NEVER dies. If there are two, the least attractive one usually chokes it.
 
  • #45
Originally posted by jimmy p
When on the run in a middle eastern country, it is customary to be chased through a market scene, where people are jostled, chicken cages are knocked over, and carts full of spices and chillis are tipped.

Also when you are in a power plant in a foriegn country it is normal for terrorists to find out of your existence and try to wipe you out, forcing you to blow up the power plant (either that or they destroy the world), save the pretty foriegn technician, and lift off on a helicopter while being shot at from several directions by nameless, faceless terrorists.

Of course, the helicopter that you have taken comes with a front-mounted XM-214 minigun and dumbbell missles. Take out the enemies, fly back home, and become hero of the world.

Movies are so realistic hehe.
 
  • #46
Hypnagogue, that's hillarious!
 
  • #47
And just how many movies either begin, or end, with the (Now proverbial) "Ambulance scene" Hero/Heroine child/husband/wife taken away from/to scene of urgent need, now fulfilled...
 
  • #48
Like this??...

IN A WORLD OF THE PF FORUMS...

WHERE THREADS ARE RUNNING WILD...

AND BANDWIDTH IS WIDENING THE ECONOMIC GAPS...

ONE MAN... WILL POST HIS WAY TO NIRVANA

COMING, THIS WINTER/SPRING/SUMMER/FALL...

"SUPERPOSTERBOY"

RATED AAAAHHRRRRRrrrrggggggggGGGGGGGGGYA!...

This 'prequel' is the sequel, to the introductory story, that was the precept of the intial concept, that started the story line, that produced the ensuing sequels, that sequentially will follow the prequel that had had placement, prior, to the pre-pre-prequels introductory introduction, back before it began...
 
  • #49
LOL MRP

Whenever is bad guy is shot/killed they die instantly. If a good person is shot/killed then they are dying for about 5 minutes where they manage to tell the *HERO* their life story and any secret plans.

*MAJOR ANNOYANCE FACTOR*

The last MATRIX film (sorry if you haven't seen it) where Trinity is skewered on tons of sharp objects, but manages to bang on for about 10 minutes about how much she loves Neo. Most people would have been dead almost instantly.
 
  • #50
Only bad people smoke.

spoken by Mulder in the X-Files
That black lunged bastard!
 

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