218Kviews
30 Concepts That Work Just Fine In Movies But Fail To Work In Real Life, As Pointed Out By Folks Online
A lot of us love to watch movies and TV shows as it helps to escape reality for a little while. But what if the things that are portrayed in the movies are so far from reality that it even makes it annoying to watch the rest of the movie? Someone online was curious to know these annoying little things that look so good on the screen but are actually nearly impossible to do or just don’t work that way in real life, so they asked Reddit users to share their remarks. The question “What looks fun in movies, but in real life is miserable?” received 6.5k answers that included things such as laying in tall grass, having to perform CPR on someone, or portraying difficult professions as an easy and cool job. Which one of these things mentioned do you find true? Or maybe there is something that is missing from this list? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
More Info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
High school
Why isn't this no. 1? I had to drop ut of 2 high schools due to mental health issues, and high school was one of the biggest reasons.
CPR. on TV it's just a fun cutesy little water coughing thing that you recover from immediately and in real life it involves breaking ribs and maybe dying anyway
If you're lucky... Normaly it also breaks the sternum......
Load More Replies...
Most people who get CPR don't break ribs, the ribs have a reasonable flex and you should try to perform cpr 1/3 of the chest depth, however better to try than do nothing. People with bone density issues and older people can have fractured ribs. There are only 2 shockable rhythms, flat line is not one of them. The rest rely on drugs and cpr. The survival rate of a heart attack out of hospital in Australia is around 10%. You're much better to call an ambulance with a suspected heart attack and be wrong/alive than to not call and be dead. (Nurse)
Definitely call as early as possible and educate yourself on the variations in symptoms between genders, and the lesser known ones. Ambulance wait times can vary massively on any given day, whether the hospital is 10 minutes down the road, or 45 minutes away, it's not worth ignoring symptoms. Not for you, or your loved ones.
Load More Replies...
I had locked in syndrome (paralysed) in hospital, and shared a ward with an 80+ lady who ended up coding and getting CPR. I'll never forget what I saw and heard, that poor woman. She was 'saved', broken chest and all now, and asked for a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). She coded again the next day same time of day, and passed. I wish they had given her privacy, taken me out of the room. Being there like a frozen witness felt so wrong
Are you better now? I had a few patients with lock in syndrome and the prognosis is not good. On regards to the lady across your bed, I am sorry you had to see that.
Load More Replies...
As a retired hospital nurse (who started as an EMT), any kind medical scene in a movie or TV show really grates my nerves. They could at least TRY to be accurate.
It's also extremely exhausting for the person performing it. I once I had to maintain chest compressions and rescue breathing on my ex bf for about 10 minutes until the EMTs could arrive and I was 100% going on pure adrenaline after like minute 2...BUT...it can and does save lives and I recommend that everyone get certified in CPR through their local health department!
Probably dying anyway. But you're definitely dying without it, so...
Most people who get CPR don't break ribs. The ribs have a reasonable flex. People with poor bone density and the older generation yes, probably. But mostly no. Survival rate of cpr outside of hospital, not good 9-10%. Better to call an ambulance when you have chest pain and weird symptoms (where they have drugs and equipment) and be wrong, than not call and be right, and dead. (Nurse - been involved with lots of cpr.)
Ive never not broken ribs - but also was always in search and rescue situations for people who were lost in the woods and 90% of the time had fallen down steep inclines or off cliff edges, so they may have had damage already, but I have definitely felt them cracking as I was going.
Load More Replies...
If you don't hear cracking you aren't doing it right. And if by some miracle the person comes to they aren't super excited about it due to the pain they're in.
When you perform cpr, YOU ARE MANUALLY PUMPING SOMEBODY'S HEART AND BLOOD THROUGH THEIR BONES AND CARTILAGE. Y e a h. You gon break some ribs and possibly die. Also. Lots of tests and comps afterwards
I'm a retired Respiratory Therapist and laugh at all the scenes on TV and movies when they show CPR and Code Blue. I once described it as organized chaos, and was never anywhere like the clean quick ones that people see on TV and movies.
Yes, proper chest compressions are very powerful. They require you to use your muscles to continue circulating the blood. They can cause pretty significant damage in the attempt to save someone's life.
Yeap, had to have cpr done to myself from my dad and had cracked and fractured ribs. Was so painful moving and even breathing wasn't easy
I didn't have any broken ribs but my chest was just one gigantic bruise. Honestly, I would've been fine with broken ribs though. Without that CPR I would be dead.
And one of the worst things about cracked ribs is that there isn't really any treatment. You just have to wait until they heal.
Having done a faceplant on concrete, can confirm. Cracked ribs are garbage. Beats being a daisy pusher, tho.
Load More Replies...
I've had bruised ribs twice, one time after falling in a parking lot. The hospital didn't do x-rays on one side because I didn't feel pain there until an hour later. I still think I had a broken rib since it was over a month of pain. Even bruised ribs though is incredibly painful.
I did CPR on someone who accidentally shot themselves, I was on the phone with 911 until EMT arrived but it's not something you stop to think about you just do it to try and save someone, unfortunately he died at the hospital but it's something I'll never forget and no it's nothing like tv
Load More Replies... 
Also CPR isn't really meant to revive you, it's meant to keep oxygen and blood pumping to your brain until paramedics can come and deal with you or a difib can restart your heart so you don't get brain damage.
Defibs don't restart the heart. They don't work on a flatline. They have to detect something and then they shock back into rhythm
Load More Replies...
And then, in case of drowning victims that seemed to be oaky at first after cpr can die anyway, but then from secondary drowning, my SO had recued a 3 year old boy that drowned, but within a week he could attend the funeral because of secondary drowning... Those things are hardly shown....
Secondary drowning, most of non medical people don't know about it. I found out it in the past year or two.
Load More Replies...
If u don't hear a crunch, ur probably not doing it right. But not necessarily either. The sternum usually cracks. I'm not a professional, I've had it performed on me, and have done it too. And heard many stories from my EMT and firefighter nephews.
Yeah, if you're not trained. If you listen, those people on TV say "I know CPR" most of the time before trying it.
I was in Nursing school and we had just gotten our certification for BLS aka First aid and CPR. I went home, picked up my son...as we were leaving my parents house my Dad collapsed .He had a MASSIVE Heart Attack. Fully coded (no pulse). I gave him CPR and saved his life. When EMT arrived, my Dad was conscious and answering questions allbeit, not very well..BUT I BROKE 2 OF HIS RIBS.. BUT he was alive!!!
Dont be afraid of a broken rip and do cpr! when you start cpr the other person is already dead, but can brought back to live. If you fail to resurrect him/her, he/her will not feel the broken rips anymore - and if you rescue the person than a few broken rips are a comparetable small price for ones live.
CPR only works on a "closed system ". Never works on a gunshot wound or whenever there is a lot of bleeding. Even when it is done properly, the outcome is almost always bad.
I have done CPR often as an RN and feeling the ribs break is as bad as it sounds per the survivors of CPR!
As an EMT I've performed CPR countless times. We probably only save maybe 1/10 people. Also, I've broken people's ribs many times.
I once administered CPR to my daughter's boyfriend, who had a heart attack. I broke his ribs, he pissed himself, and he also threw up while I was at it, and obviously I couldn't stop. After the paramedics got his heart beating again I chugged half a bottle of rum, and cried for 15 minutes from sheer emotional overload.
I feel terrible when ribs break, but if you're being to delicate you're not getting their blood to circulate at all.
Remember. 2 inches deep, 100bpm! And you don't have to d mouth to mouth anymore
Maybe dying anyway? You mean probably dying anyway. Only a small fraction of people who receive CPR respond to it.
Actually I feel everyone should know how to give CPR, since you never know when you eill need to use it.
As a retired medic, I can confirm. And to add to that, your CPR will not be effective unless you heard things cracking and popping
There’s very little chance it works and you’ll likely be in bad shape if you do make it. The upside is it’s a chance to live.
Breaking ribs, lacerating the liver, puncturing a lung, vomiting and inhaling the vomitus. at best a 20-25% chance of leaving the hospital. Not that chance of returning to your life, just that chance of leaving the hospital.
Mouth-to-mouth and CPR are not the same thing. They almost never display the CPR part, which is the chest compressions to pump the heart. It's brutal.
During a firstaid course the medic told us, that in case of a heart attack, defibrillator readily available and hospitalised quickly (under 30 minutes): the survival rate is roughly 50/50. So if ever we were in need of using one of those, not to feel bad if the patient doesn't survive. Do nothing and the person dies anyway.
For a second there I thought this was about an Eminem-Puppet, LOL
Im a CPR instructor - right strength and depth WILL break ribs - and I have never heard of or taught a chest thump. You are putting your whole weight on the chest to get enough of a compression. The newest dummies are the best because they actually show the "blood" moving and to pass you need to keep the lines connected on the forehead for 2 minutes - it requires a LOT more force than most people think/use at first.
Load More Replies...
Rescue Annie is the dummy I've used most, but I have also used male dummies, infant dummies, and canine and feline dummies. None of them feel like real CPR but some are closer than others. If there's anything discriminatory, it's that exactly none of these dummies were obese
Load More Replies...
Getting knocked out with a blow to the head.
Movies: like waking up from a nap.
Real life: pain, headache, problems for months if not years.
How about in the movies and TV when they get amnesia from a blow to head? Then they get another blow to the head and their memories come back
Sleeping in the tall grass. I'm sure you've seen the memes but in reality, those fields would be infested with bugs and they'd more than likely bite you
“Nightclubs.”
“What?!”
“Nightclubs, in the movies. It looks cool. You meet friends there, instead of grumpy strangers, and you have fun group interactions.”
“What?!”
A feature-length romantic drama filled with conflict and angst that, in real life, could've been resolved with 5 minutes of discussion and a phone call.
Oh yeah! Paired with these movie scenes where someone tries to announce the most important news which would resolve the whole situation and doesn't get to it.
Digging a hole. Cartoons make it look so easy and quick. In reality hours of back-breaking work will get you six inches down.
Here in Colorado the soil is so hard that even a gas powered post hole digger gives up after about 10 inches. (Insert joke about girlfriend named post hole digger here)
Hanging off a cliff with one hand, attempting to pull yourself up.....while someone else is hanging on you also
Shooting a gun indoors with no ear protection
I was watching Terminator 2 with my dad and he got annoyed how both a shotgun and pistol were being fired in a tiny elevator, and they were all fine when in reality they would be basically deaf at that point
Carrying and drinking hard liquor out of a flask. In movies, it looks kind of normal but in real life, you just look like an alcoholic.
It's why if I carry my own alcoholic beverages I typically carry them in a normal thermos. Some of those flasks look cool, and as much as I want to carry them I'd rather people not think I'm addicted to alcohol when I'm just trying to enjoy life.
Stalking women.
I mean, surprise elaborate romantic gestures from a complete stranger.
(She just calls it "stalking" because she doesn't know me and can't see how romantic and handsome and awesome I am in my head.)
Like Joe in You.... that was one creepy serie but quite well played.
Elaborate pranks. Great for comedies…and also great way to f**k up relationships.
Reminds of April Fool's Day (1st Apr everyone pranks each other and justifies it by saying 'April Fool's! in the UK) one year. There was this lovely guy who would do anything for anybody in our football team and he got 'fooled' big-style. One of the other lads rang him up and told him he'd run out of petrol about 30 miles from home and could he come and help. Of course, he went and nobody was there. Poor sod. He was jolly cross.
Kissing while treading water. Good luck not kicking each other, knocking heads, or getting a mouthful of snot.
When superheroes moving at a very very high rate of speed rescue people just in time when in reality if they did that they would probably break the persons back and neck and various other bones and give them brain damage or a concussion from they brain hitting the inside of their skull or just flat out kill them from moving them so quickly from a dead stop.
Sounds like Sheldon judging Superman for making a lumpy jigsaw puzzle of Lois Lane if the movies were realistic
Military movies where there is always action happening. Really? Really Hollywood? Are you sure people don't sit around 95% of the time doing nothing?
Montages where they’re working hard, especially if it’s a “glow-up” thing full of exercise and dieting and self-improvement. In reality it kinda sucks. There’s no fast-forward, no silly music.
I mean, with some earbuds and a pocket-sized device you can get the silly music. Not too sure about the time travel, though
Theme parks!! They don't show that you have to wait over an hour+ for the best ride(s) and how expensive the food cost in there.
My dad was a police officer (with a damn straight moral compass, I *know* what you’re thinking.) and he said that it was pretty much 80% paperwork.
The movie Hot Fuzz was considered noteworthy because they listened to a cop saying how it's mostly paperwork and you never see that in the movies *so they actually put that in*.
Fighting. Srsly, don’t do it. I have six felony charges and can not do anything that I wanted to do in younger years. No one likes an aggressive person. You’re not gonna get any babes, or whatever.
Fighting on top of a moving train. Always make me think of the Archer episode where he was so excited to fight a guy but soon found out the reality of it really sucks!!
Hanging up on people. In movies, it makes you look badass and mysterious. In real life, it makes you look like an inconsiderate a*****e and will prompt a "wtf happenned" callback.
Nobody ever says "goodbye" on the phone in films & TV. It's weird. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/may/10/why-do-characters-never-say-bye-on-the-phone
Moving, painting and fixing up houses/apartments
I'm a weirdo but I love moving! I love to pack everything down and to unpack it all at the new home and putting it in the new spot. 😁 the only thing I hate about moving is getting everything moved from one place to new. I guess you could say that I love moving except the actual move of things. Lol.
Conversations. Always have the perfect thing to say and everything flows. A lot of convos in movies would be considered very abnormal in real life if you really picture it.
Hacking and software development in general. God I wish it was actually as badass as people make it out to be.
Hacking is always shown to be this big exciting screen of code with a ‘I’m in’ uttered twenty seconds later. In reality it’s a long time trying one attack after another, or trying to lure someone into giving you their password (which is easier than conventional hacking) and why we pay professional companies to test our security.
A vacation with little kids.
Done that with 3 kids. The two oldest spent a week being EXTREMELY excited about not being at home. The youngest spent the first evening vomiting all our ALL her clothes and my bf's. He had to wear my pants for a day until his own were washed and dried. Lol. But our conclusion to that week: never ever travel again just us 5. Lol
Smashing a window with your fist
I got into a little kick watching police body cam videos on YouTube and even with a baton they had to hit it several times before it broke.
Spontaneously breaking into song in the middle of public.
I'm oblivious to my surroundings.... when there is a nice song playing in the supermarket, I'll sing and dance, but I do however learned to control the volume and space around me XD
A few people have said fighting, but I feel like it should be specified that *winning* a fight is not a fun experience irl. Most people in actual serious fights aren't gonna have some kind of plot-relevant, narratively satisfying thing on their mind that makes the inevitable bruises/fractures feel like they were worth it for the sake of justice or something, and not just more avoidable suffering that you wish you could've stayed home for instead.
If you win, you'll be happy you're alive, of course, but I have a sneaking suspicion you'll be minorly traumatized at what you had to do to the other person to win. Also, it's gonna hurt. It's gonna REALLY hurt.
Note: this post originally had 48 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Also known as "Fiction isn't the same as reality and that's somehow disappointing". I mean, really?! Would any of you seriously watch a realistic military movie where it's 95% non-action? Or a non-montage travelling sequence where it *really takes* 8 hours to get somewhere, much of it staring out of the same window? Or the tedious paperwork involved in much of police detective procedures? The whole point of movies and fiction is that it *isn't* like real life.
It's batman, but he looks mangled from all the fighting and he walks to danger for an hour each episode because the city is too crowded with cars and the bat signal only works if it's cloudy so he only comes out of the bat cave a few times a year. We get to watch drink his morning coffee for an hour straight at the beginning of every episode....
Load More Replies...
Shopping in a supermarket and grabbing whatever looks good without checking the price.
They always come home with one single non-descript paper bag with lettuce, carrots, apples and if its a crime show then lots of alcohol
Load More Replies...
Suffocating is also one. It takes much longer to kill someone by strangling them than what they show on tv.
I mean... in certain countries like South Korea that's normal. They even go for regular hangovers.
Load More Replies...
No mention of the convenient open parking space in front of a building in NYC?
Back in the '70's, Mannix, Cannon and Rockford Files cracked me and my brother up! Those guys ALWAYS got a parking spot in front of the building! 😂
Load More Replies... I could add lots more: Making love in the sand. When people win in the roulette, taking all the chips from the table, and not waiting for the croupier to pay to you. When the ventilator machine in ICU starts to alarm, soon after the patient codes...that does not happen. P.S. I am a former croupier and current nurse.
1;30 a.m. here so I am sleepy, but what is a "croupier "?
Load More Replies...
I wouldn't want to watch movies without many of these unrealistic elements. They would be incredibly boring. Also sword fighting. Everyone is just dancing around each other, nobody uses any possibility to attack and they aim for each others swords and not their bodies.
My brother went to kick the bathroom door in (medical emergency) and thought it would open like the movies. Didn't open. Made a hole in the door.
In a city: always finding a parking spot in front of the building they're going into.
Movie: Not running away but deciding "I've had enough!" and facing off and defeating a psychotic killer. Real life: Running away and either escaping or being caught and killed by the killer.
How about whenever you need a parking spot... BAM! first place you look! There aren't many movies where people spend a lot of time driving around looking for parking
I'd add "Taking awesome pictures in the rain or at the beach" If you have a great phone or pricey camera rig, the absolute LAST thing you want to do is screw it all up with water or sand. Hard pass for me!
Epilepsy - My most common type of seizure is begin stiff and staring blankly. It's called a "Focal onset impaired awareness seizure". I sometimes have the convulsions, which I call a TV or Movie Seizure. I also have a seizure syndrome called Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures which do not involve the brain in anyway. Also that flashing lights trigger seizures. Not all people are triggered by lights. I unfortunately am. Police and Fire Rescue lights in the dark can trigger seizures in me. Also fast moving pictures for example the intro to "The Big Bang Theory". I cannot watch it.
PARKING is a fantasy in every movie in a BIG city. A convenient parking space just "happens" to be available right where someone needs to be, not 2 - 5 blocks away . . . no paying, no meter, rarely see anyone lock a door. In reality any large city now has parking problems. Nothing is convenient! You will be walking. And nobody . . . NOBODY ever whips out their wallet to pay for things!
Running in movies annoys me, they seem to be able to sprint for miles and be experts at parkour. In reality they would probably manage about 10 seconds and then would feel like their lungs were about to explode and collapse wheezing and panting.
That's why, just watch anime, you know it almost always complete bull****.
Smoking cigars. You have to keep puffing to keep it lit and the heat from the smoke makes you want to spit
Also known as "Fiction isn't the same as reality and that's somehow disappointing". I mean, really?! Would any of you seriously watch a realistic military movie where it's 95% non-action? Or a non-montage travelling sequence where it *really takes* 8 hours to get somewhere, much of it staring out of the same window? Or the tedious paperwork involved in much of police detective procedures? The whole point of movies and fiction is that it *isn't* like real life.
It's batman, but he looks mangled from all the fighting and he walks to danger for an hour each episode because the city is too crowded with cars and the bat signal only works if it's cloudy so he only comes out of the bat cave a few times a year. We get to watch drink his morning coffee for an hour straight at the beginning of every episode....
Load More Replies... Shopping in a supermarket and grabbing whatever looks good without checking the price.
They always come home with one single non-descript paper bag with lettuce, carrots, apples and if its a crime show then lots of alcohol
Load More Replies... Suffocating is also one. It takes much longer to kill someone by strangling them than what they show on tv.
I mean... in certain countries like South Korea that's normal. They even go for regular hangovers.
Load More Replies... No mention of the convenient open parking space in front of a building in NYC?
Back in the '70's, Mannix, Cannon and Rockford Files cracked me and my brother up! Those guys ALWAYS got a parking spot in front of the building! 😂
Load More Replies... I could add lots more: Making love in the sand. When people win in the roulette, taking all the chips from the table, and not waiting for the croupier to pay to you. When the ventilator machine in ICU starts to alarm, soon after the patient codes...that does not happen. P.S. I am a former croupier and current nurse.
1;30 a.m. here so I am sleepy, but what is a "croupier "?
Load More Replies... I wouldn't want to watch movies without many of these unrealistic elements. They would be incredibly boring. Also sword fighting. Everyone is just dancing around each other, nobody uses any possibility to attack and they aim for each others swords and not their bodies.
My brother went to kick the bathroom door in (medical emergency) and thought it would open like the movies. Didn't open. Made a hole in the door.
In a city: always finding a parking spot in front of the building they're going into.
Movie: Not running away but deciding "I've had enough!" and facing off and defeating a psychotic killer. Real life: Running away and either escaping or being caught and killed by the killer.
How about whenever you need a parking spot... BAM! first place you look! There aren't many movies where people spend a lot of time driving around looking for parking
I'd add "Taking awesome pictures in the rain or at the beach" If you have a great phone or pricey camera rig, the absolute LAST thing you want to do is screw it all up with water or sand. Hard pass for me!
Epilepsy - My most common type of seizure is begin stiff and staring blankly. It's called a "Focal onset impaired awareness seizure". I sometimes have the convulsions, which I call a TV or Movie Seizure. I also have a seizure syndrome called Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures which do not involve the brain in anyway. Also that flashing lights trigger seizures. Not all people are triggered by lights. I unfortunately am. Police and Fire Rescue lights in the dark can trigger seizures in me. Also fast moving pictures for example the intro to "The Big Bang Theory". I cannot watch it.
PARKING is a fantasy in every movie in a BIG city. A convenient parking space just "happens" to be available right where someone needs to be, not 2 - 5 blocks away . . . no paying, no meter, rarely see anyone lock a door. In reality any large city now has parking problems. Nothing is convenient! You will be walking. And nobody . . . NOBODY ever whips out their wallet to pay for things!
Running in movies annoys me, they seem to be able to sprint for miles and be experts at parkour. In reality they would probably manage about 10 seconds and then would feel like their lungs were about to explode and collapse wheezing and panting.
That's why, just watch anime, you know it almost always complete bull****.
Smoking cigars. You have to keep puffing to keep it lit and the heat from the smoke makes you want to spit
