What are some common Hollywood medical faux pas?

[NobodySpecial]

http://www.makemymood.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/csizoom.jpg

 

[nismaratwork]

http://www.makemymood.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/csizoom.jpg

 

[DaveC426913]

That is freakin' awesome.

 

[nismaratwork]

That picture really captures what a goofy bastard Caruso really is. He should have stuck it out on NYPD BLue damn it!

 

[JaredJames]

That strip is one of the best things I've seen on here this month. It reminded me of the Red Dwarf Back to Earth scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUFkb0d1kbU

For those of you who don't know what Red Dwarf is, this scene is a p*** take of shows such as CSI that do image enhancement.

 

[leroyjenkens]

I remember a part of the movie The Negotiator with Samual jackson. Sammy was looking at a list of sound files on the computer and the other guy was controlling the keyboard. Sammy told him to go down, so you hear him clicking the down key on the keyboard while the camera is on Sammy's face, and Sammy is like "WAIT WAIT WAIT. Go back up one" and then when you see the screen, he's only 2 files down from where he started.

 

[mugaliens]

...at some point you just let go if you enjoy the story, and either way it's not worth dwelling on.

True for many things. After all, who's going to have access to a cardio needle loaded with some chemical?

My primary concern is when they get the basics incorrect, the stuff we should all know how to do (ABC checks, CPR, direct pressure for bleeding, arterial pressure points, splinting, recognizing and treating shock, heat stroke/exhaustion).

You know - the things that if you get it wrong because your only training was lifted from your favorite TV show that you're likely to further injure, maim, or kill the person.

I created this thread not so much to point out all the blunders, but to raise awareness of the social responsibility writers have of getting their information correct before putting it on the silver screen where there will undoubtedly be some dimwits around who'll copycat it during a crisis.

Congrats, writers - you've just helped someone kill another human being.

I'm hoping some Hollywood writers read this and take the time to yank the sensationalism from their medical scenes and replace it with fact, which, interestingly enough, is fairly sensational when it's presented properly!

 

[JaredJames]

What they show on screen shouldn't make a difference. It is the public who need to realize that what happens in films and on TV doesn't always reflect real life. People assume what they show is accurate which as you point out can be lethal.

Common sense should tell you not to copy a film or the TV. Unfortunately, it isn't something the world has an abundance of.

Besides, too much realism can distract people. You need people to focus on the story.

 

[Danger]

Congrats, writers - you've just helped someone kill another human being.

To be fair, it usually isn't the writer's fault. The producers, and ultimately the studio suits, determine what finally makes it to the screen. Most "procedural" shows have qualified technical advisors, but even they are powerless to enforce realism in the face of beaurocracy.

 

[nismaratwork]

To be fair, it usually isn't the writer's fault. The producers, and ultimately the studio suits, determine what finally makes it to the screen. Most "procedural" shows have qualified technical advisors, but even they are powerless to enforce realism in the face of beaurocracy.

Yeah, there are usually a lot of "suggestions" made by producers during the "notes" process. It baffles me when a director has true experts weigh in, but then they disregard literally EVERYTHING offered by that expert.

Mugalians: Fortunately, if you're not qualified to administer CPR and you do so, you're on the hook for the harm you do to the poor sap you're "helping". I grant you that doesn't bring them back to life, but I'm not sure that people who watch ER and think they're ready to establish an airway, staunch bleeding and insert a chest tube are completely in touch with reality. It would be NICE if they could have an accurate depiction of those basics you mentioned, but as JarednJames said, realism can do damage to the story. I would add that people often find even the small elements of reality shocking and disturbing, from the noises that people make when injured, to the the look of a seriously disarticulated limb.

 

[JaWiB]

How about the "Tap on the Head"?

 

[Evo]

NobodySpecial, that was awesome, that is exactly what they do. Buwahaha.

 

[nismaratwork]

How about the "Tap on the Head"?

Yeah, now we have the "sever the spinal cord with neurosurgical precision and a K-Bar." Or the "easy neck-breaker".

Oh it can be done, on both counts, but not without training and a massive element of surprise and strength.

 

[mugaliens]

Wataminute... When I last visited this morning we were talking about preventing less damage, and now we're discussing inflicting mayhem, paralysis, and death?

(scratches head, stumbles off into the sunset...)

 

[JaredJames]

Speaking of inflicting paralysis and death...

In Transformers, Sam falls off the roof at the end, plummets for a few seconds and is caught by Optimus. Now this applies to any film this happens in, but catching a person falling by simply 'stopping' them during the fall would kill them. Some major blunt force trauma there.

 

[DaveC426913]

Speaking of inflicting paralysis and death...

In Transformers, Sam falls off the roof at the end, plummets for a few seconds and is caught by Optimus. Now this applies to any film this happens in, but catching a person falling by simply 'stopping' them during the fall would kill them. Some major blunt force trauma there.

No no no.

No matter how far or fast a person is falling, if you stop them one foot before touching the ground they are undamaged.

Superman does it all the time. So did Batman with Vicky Vale in Tim Burton's Batman.

 

[JaredJames]

Regarding science fiction, I've just noticed that the Sci-Fi channel has been renamed Sci-Fy as in Science and Fantasy (at least in the UK anyhow).

 

[Newai]

My nitpicks:

99% of aliens look like and talk like humans.

You can hit a person on the back of the head and they quietly go unconscious. Or you can sneak up from behind and take them out in a second or two, usually sans complaint.

Spaceships with easy gravity.

Lasers fail to penetrate invisible shields. And they're slow. Must be tracers.

Time travel.

 

[JaredJames]

99% of aliens look like and talk like humans.

Or they/we can either pick up the language very quickly to the point of fluency or some computer can analyse a few 'sounds' of the alien language and instantly translate anything said by a human into it or from alien to human. In real time. In fact, in some cases they claim the listener doesn't hear the spoken language, but hears only the translation from the computer.

 

[Borek]

Or they/we can either pick up the language very quickly to the point of fluency or some computer can analyse a few 'sounds' of the alien language and instantly translate anything said by a human into it or from alien to human. In real time. In fact, in some cases they claim the listener doesn't hear the spoken language, but hears only the translation from the computer.

Oh, well, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

 

[JaredJames]

Oh, well, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

There's technology, then there's hearing me say "I just farted" and being able to grasp my entire language.
(Strictly speaking my native language is Welsh, a language I'm not convinced most Welsh speakers fully understand, let alone any computer.)

 

[nismaratwork]

There's technology, then there's hearing me say "I just farted" and being able to grasp my entire language.
(Strictly speaking my native language is Welsh, a language I'm not convinced most Welsh speakers fully understand, let alone any computer.)

All I know is that Welsh has far too many W's and F's for me to translate. You'll always have Catherine Zeta Jones however, so that's a point for Welsh genetics if not the language.

 

[JaredJames]

The Welsh language is like the physics in movies. You know someone, somewhere understands it, but no matter how hard you try it just doesn't work in real life.

 

[nismaratwork]

The Welsh language is like the physics in movies. You know someone, somewhere understands it, but no matter how hard you try it just doesn't work in real life.

I hear you. I've found a study of cuneiform, proto-saxon, and Russian to be easier on the brain than Welsh... although it is a lovely a language to hear spoken.

To me the economy is like the Dutch language, I'm told it makes sense, but I have my doubts.

I could imagine "Welsh" or "Celtic" in place of Dutch.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Speaking of inflicting paralysis and death...

In Transformers, Sam falls off the roof at the end, plummets for a few seconds and is caught by Optimus. Now this applies to any film this happens in, but catching a person falling by simply 'stopping' them during the fall would kill them. Some major blunt force trauma there.

In the movie Hancock, he throws that boy up in the air extremely high and then catches him. Throwing him that hard would kill him and catching him would kill him.

He also grabs a whale by a small part of his tail and throws him extremely far. The piece of tail he's grabbing would easily tear off way before he even moved the whale.

99% of aliens look like and talk like humans.

Star Trek is guilty of that. They have aliens that look exactly like humans except for a wrinkly nose, a few spots on their head or a metal eyebrow.
And they all speak English. Sure, some have their own native language, but they speak English with no accent.

 

[Danger]

Or they/we can either pick up the language very quickly to the point of fluency or some computer can analyse a few 'sounds' of the alien language and instantly translate anything said by a human into it or from alien to human. In real time. In fact, in some cases they claim the listener doesn't hear the spoken language, but hears only the translation from the computer.

What I truly admire about the sophistication of their translator technology is that it also holographically overprints the speaker's mouth with lips synchronized to English for the benefit of the deaf.

 

[JaredJames]

What I truly admire about the sophistication of their translator technology is that it also holographically overprints the speaker's mouth with lips synchronized to English for the benefit of the deaf.

You know, I've never thought of that. Well noticed!

 

[nismaratwork]

Heh... as deeply unscientific as it is, the only series to address that issue was Stargate: humans were seeded across the galaxy, so they're not aliens to begin with. The only "aliens" are the Goa'uld, and they interface with the host brain. Then again, they're going back and forth through a wormhole without considering the issue that they'd also be traveling in time so... yeeeaaahhh... bit of a trade-off.