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70 Absurd Things We Keep Believing Are Normal, Because Of Them Being Typical Movie Clichés
Being able to suspend your disbelief is important while watching any film or television show. Every detail may not be entirely realistic, but you accept that, in the world of the story, it makes sense. However, sometimes, there are plot points and scenes that viewers just can’t help but call out for being too ridiculous.
Netizens have been discussing the most absurd things that Hollywood has convinced people to believe are normal onscreen, so we’ve gathered a list of their replies below. From hackers magically being able to access any website in the world in seconds to car doors being bulletproof, enjoy reading through these silly details from movies and television shows. And be sure to upvote the moments that you definitely don't buy either!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I'm a medievalist who specializes on the public understanding of the past so... there is just so, so much about the Middle Ages .
I'll start with two silly ones. First of all, back scabbards are not a thing. Sorry, *Witcher* fans-- no matter how cool they look they are deeply impractical and historically were never used. Trying to resheath something very sharp by blindly hitting yourself in the shoulder is a very bad idea.
And sticking just on the sheath; swords do not make a "shiiiing!" noise when unsheathed. Sheaths are generally made of leather-- a "shiiing!" noise would imply metal scraping against metal (and that's usually what foley artists do to recreate it). Those noises are typically added in post.
I got a million more of these if anyone is interested.
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#2
Hackers that furiously tap on the keyboard for 30 seconds..."I'm in".
Rose the Cook 12 hours ago
Again, this also comes up often because there is not enough time to waste showing how long something really takes.
#3
Women always have shaved legs and armpits, even in a zombie apocalypse. They also never have their periods at an inconvenient time. Imagine getting abducted or having to run from the bad guys and - oops, surprise, period is here early!
#4
You can get anywhere in a major city in minutes, and there is always an open parking spot in front of any place.
#5
If you keep bothering her long enough she will fall for you. Nah, she will just think you are creepy.
Laszlo Larthlanc 2 hours ago
Yeah, whoever told me that standing outside of my intended's bedroom window at 1:00 AM and singing a little song I wrote called "You Know You Want Me" was absolutely full of it.
#7
Air conditioning ducts are an easy way to sneak through buildings.
Bill Swallow 3 hours ago
The *ONLY* place I have ever seen where that works is in the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. They have a place where visitors can crawl through 'air ducts' for amusement and to see just how impractical it is.
#8
You can hold all of another person's weight with one arm hanging off a cliff.
#9
Knocking people out with a blow to the skull or jaw is a harmless way to temporarily incapacitate.
Ace 8 hours ago
One of the reasons the medical world changed terminology, from Concussion to Traumatic Brain Injury, highlighting the seriousness. People really thought there were no real consequences from being knocked out, and that you would just wake up after ten minutes and be as right as rain.
#10
We should all hate our mother-in-law. My MIL was a wonderful woman and I miss her.
#11
European here.
That every American lives in a huge house! I mean look at Home Alone for example...
#12
That CPR brings practically anybody back to life, no matter what happened to them.
#13
That autistic people are all savants without empathy. Almost always white dudes at that.
#14
90% of anything to do with a medieval battle (or fantasy battle based on medieval tech). A few highlights:
1) Archers did not use volley-fire (i.e. everyone fires their shots together in volleys instead of as individuals); that's a musket tactic and makes no sense for bows.
2) You do not commit a cavalry charge with your lance already lowered (if you're using a lance, you want it to drop into striking position *just before* it makes contact with the target).
3) Hollywood has absolutely no clue how armour works. Chainmail hoods with big gaps under the chin, articulated plate mail (i.e. basically the most advanced armour made before blackpowder made metal armour obsolete) being combined with things like skull cap, which is from a completely different era, people armouring their shoulders and legs while leaving their heads and throats completely unprotected - armour is a mess.
4) Charges in medieval combat were not massive hordes of warriors screaming and sprinting full speed towards the enemy before engaging in a swirling melee; you charged in tightly disciplined blocks of soldiers and, above all else, you *maintained your formation*! Breaking formation and letting enemies get beside or, worse, behind you was one of the worst things you could do in medieval combat and breaking formation was usually a precursor to the unit turning around and running a few seconds later.
5) No one ever used boiling pitch/tar to burn attackers during a siege. Pitch and oils were valuable and expensive resources and it would be a complete waste to use them to attack a soldier or two when boiling water or even a sizable rock tossed down from the ramparts would have the exact same effect and was much more easily replaced.
EDIT: A couple more that always grind my gears when I see them.
6) An archer will almost never hold a bow for an extended period of time after drawing it. Most military longbows have a draw weight above 100 pounds, which means that for however long you're holding the bow drawn it's like your muscles are lifting a 100+ pound weight. You'll tire yourself extremely quickly holding it like that, so all those scenes you see where the archers all nock arrows, draw, and then hold while the enemy closes would never happen. Firing generally happens extremely quickly after drawing, allowing only whatever time is needed to correct aim.
7) Nearly all uses of flaming arrows. You would use flaming arrows during a siege, either as the attacker (to try and light homes and buildings on fire and therefore draw defenders away from the walls) or, more rarely, as the defender (siege towers were generally quite flammable and were also one of the more serious threats to the defenders; accordingly, they were frequently covered with wet animal hides to try to mitigate the risk of catching on fire). Beyond that, the only thing you're doing with flaming arrows is potentially lighting someone's corpse on fire after you hit them.
Basically, medieval battles looked almost nothing like Hollywood thinks they did, and a number of people have been conned into thinking a number of Hollywood-myths are actually accurate depictions.
Laszlo Larthlanc 2 hours ago
Add to all of this the myth that the recipient of an arrow succumbs instantly unless it somehow miraculously hits them right in the heart. (Same thing for stab wounds.)
#15
Middle aged men covered with scars from a life of action are physically fit and have full range of motion in all their limbs.
#16
That poverty isn’t that bad. Sure you’re poor but you have a huge open apartment, you’re not juggling to keep utilities on, your landlord will keep giving you a break because you bake him cookies and all else fails, you have a working car and family halfway across the country who will begrudgingly take you in.
Becky Samuel 51 minutes ago
The biggest factor affecting life expectancy, or healthy life expectancy, is poverty. Mental health and learning disabilities are close behind, but it is very hard to disengage the two statistically. If you are unlucky enough to have a combination of the two then you can expect to reduce both metrics by at least 10 years.
#17
Shouting “Objection, your Honour!” in a non-US courtroom will earn you a confused look and an order to pipe down by the judge.
Source: seen it happen in a British Tribunal.
Wonky Donkey 7 hours ago
UK courtrooms are a lot more formal and less theatrical than US courtrooms. Barristers (Advocates in Scotland) and judges in the UK are expected to remain stoic. Whilst we're on the subject, Judges don't have gavels because they aren't auctioneers.
#18
That people with normal jobs can afford the most luxurious of apartments in new york, San francisco, etc.
Bailey 12 hours ago
Part of the problem with this viewpoint is that people look at TV shows and movies from the 70s into the early 90s, but have in their heads the New York of the late 90s 2000s, when gentrification had really kicked in. Crime rates in NY were at their peak in the early 90s, and rents were actually falling on average. You had wealthy areas, but there were still plenty of areas which are now highly desirable but were then affordable, or full on slum areas.
#19
Paramedics are constantly running and push the stretcher into the ER at breakneck speed with doctors and nurses running alongside down the hallways.
StrangeOne 15 hours ago
I've been to the ER a few times. I've never seen nurses frantic or running. I've always seen that as a safety hazard that I'm sure nurses would rather avoid.
#20
If i’m in high school and my mom or dad makes a huge breakfast to cover an entire dining room table, i’m going to be late to school that day cause ain’t no way i’m choosing school over the once in a lifetime breakfast and just grabbing a piece of toast “gotta go or i’ll be late!”.
Rose the Cook 12 hours ago
This crops up often. It stems from promoting America as the land of plenty.
#21
USAF cockpits or USN submarines are bright and lit with white lights.
USSR ones are dark and with sinister looking red glow.
#22
They never get chemo right. Yes they have a bald cap but they forget to remove eyebrows and eyelashes. Plus, with modern medicine, side effects like vomiting can be prevented.
I wonder how many women delayed getting a lump checked out because of what they saw on TV
Cite: I'm a breast cancer survivor since 2008.
T'Mar of Vulcan 3 hours ago
Most of my eyebrows fell out, but I still had some. Nobody tells you that only some kinds of chemo make your hair fall out (the "red devil" is one). Once I switched to a different kind (two rounds of different chemo), my hair grew back. And they sh0t me up with so much anti-nausea medication and cortisone that I didn't feel nauseous at all. I had no appetite, but I still ate because... well, you have to eat, you know? I did feel weird almost all the time, though. Kind of like I was floating along everywhere. And sitting down for 3 hours makes your legs go numb no matter how much you move around. I'd get in the car and think, "I cannot sit here, I have to walk!" Then I'd think, "I can get through 5 minutes of sitting." Then another 5, etc. Then I'd be home and could LIE down. The radiation made it that I cannot sweat from my right armpit. My left joined in even though I didn't have radiation on that side. I asked my oncologist why. "Just lucky, I guess," she said.
#23
You must make up with "the one" in pouring rain and propose to them while you look like a homeless wet cat.
Iván Galarraga 3 hours ago
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to d*e
#24
That if you don't want kids, you'll meet *the right person* and suddenly want a brood.
No. The right person would *also* not want kids.
#25
All Americans live in Manhattan or suburban LA. Nowhere else exists. Everyone also has at least a middle class lifestyle and there is no poverty.
StrangeOne 15 hours ago
Unless it's a planned part of the movie, you just never really see homeless people.
#26
That’s you can enhance photos despite the grain or pixelation. If you enlarge a photo you will not get a crystal clear image.
T'Mar of Vulcan 3 hours ago
I remember in the movie "No Way Out" it took the computer something like 6 HOURS to lighten the photo of Kevin Costner, and you were terrified he'd be caught, but he got away before the pic was done. Six hours!!!
#27
That celebreties are highly intelligent people that the rest of us should take advice from.
Bill Swallow 2 hours ago
Yeah, that one is always hilarious! Or the notion that we should give a rat's @$$ about the lives or opinions of any of these people just because they get a lot of publicity.
#28
Carrots are not a normal part of rabbit diets and are too high in sugar for them. We all think this only because of Bugs Bunny.
David Paterson 6 hours ago (edited)
I have a few other animal myths. Roadrunners do not call with a "beep beep" sound. I've been reliably told that their call resembles a dying puppy.
#29
That it's possible to carry on a conversation in a crowded bar without shouting.
(Side note: I've noticed that nearly every cut to a scene set in a bar begins with the sound of billiard balls cracking, just in case the fact that the characters are sitting at a bar counter having drinks doesn't make it clear enough that we are now in a bar.).
#30
Injuries and trauma are temporary and easy to get rid of, then you're good as new.
Laszlo Larthlanc 1 hour ago
I just watched an episode from a series where the villain landed face down after falling from a second floor window, and then after a minute or so -- while other action took place -- got up and hobbled away. His was not a superhuman character.
#31
Sharks are bad! They don't even want to eat you. The grab you with their mouths just to see what you are. They don't want to eat you at all.
#32
1. That people can have entire operations set up in abandoned buildings without being bothered for tresspassing
2. Rogue detectives/law enforcement going awol and working cases they were told not to, then have their entire unit cheering for them when they get the bad guy or rescue someone.
StrangeOne 14 hours ago
Oooo, how about the one where a bad cop is told they're on administrative duties as punishment. They already do 3-4 hours of administrative work per shift. I also notice that police are depicted as constantly working, 24/7, on a case. No beginning and ending a shift. No weekends. No crazy shift hours. Just one cop not stopping until the bad guy is caught. There also has to be that one main character investigator or cop who acts like they solved the case all on their own. In reality, it's a team effort.
#33
That women will *flip out* if a dude accidentally walks into the wrong bathroom and sees them all doing horrible things like washing their hands, fixing their hair, and checking their makeup. We don't. We usually just tell you you're in the wrong room, or ask if you are looking for someone.
Laszlo Larthlanc 1 hour ago
A bit different, but I've been in the men's washroom on two different occasions when a fairly frantic looking woman flew through the door and said something like "I'msorryIreallyhavetogopleaseexcuseme!!!" and ran into a vacant stall. Those of us who weren't actively peeing (or doing anything else) left and waited until she finished and left, blushing a little, and without making eye contact but still quietly saying "Thanks". A lot of us have sisters and partners, y'know? (And we all have moms.)
#34
That you can gain access to any high security facilities as long you have obtained a access-card from a employee.
#35
That America will save the world from an eventual catastrophic event.
Spencers slave no more 14 hours ago
I'm beginning to think America will be that catastrophic event.
#36
The birth of a child takes under an hour, starting with a huge splash and "uh-oh!" as her water breaks then the baby is here within a few minutes, requiring a mad dash through the hospital in a wheelchair.
StrangeOne 14 hours ago
The mother shouting and screaming at hospital staff and her husband. The nurses and Ob-gyn just tolerating it, like they haven't had to deal with other births that day. The baby being presented to the parents absolutely clean and relaxed. Some "newborns" looking months old.
#37
That attraction leads to ripping each other’s clothes off, smashing mouths and having panting, vigorous, relief filled animal like intimacy.
But please, correct me if I’m wrong ….
#38
That as soon as you cross the border into Mexico you enter either the old west or a third world wasteland.
#39
The shy girl next door, with glasses, just needs a good makeover.
Bill Swallow 2 hours ago
And don't get me started on all the drop-d**d gorgeous characters Hollywood tries to pass off as 'ugly' with bad hair, wardrobe, makeup, and glasses.
#40
Basically everything Hollywood tells you about the military is propaganda, and that's by design.
The military lets Hollywood play with their toys. In exchange, the military gets to fill the script with propaganda.
Thanks, Top Gun.
T'Mar of Vulcan 3 hours ago
Except ranks and uniforms in Stargate. The Air Force made sure everything was correct. There's a scene in one episode (Prodigy) in which Sam and the cadet are walking through a hallway talking. They were supposed to be outside, but then they would have had to have hats on, and the director didn't want that. In the pilot episode they hadn't started working with the Air Force, and on the commentary Brad Wright goes, "That's why you see a lot of hats indoors and inappropriate saluting!"
#42
How glamorous the walk of fame is, Hollywood blvd is dirty and full of cheap shops selling useless things and homeless people.
#43
That people always talk in clear, coherent and meaningful sentences without any umms or ahhs.
David Paterson 5 hours ago (edited)
This one. In my country even prepared political speeches and formal debates are punctuated by umms, ahhs and contain incomplete sentences. At home, sentences just never get finished at all.
#44
- Cops have to tell you if they're undercover or it's entrapment. (It's not.)
- You're legally entitled to a phone call. (You're not.)
- There is a reading of the will. (There isn't.)
- Juries are nothing like "12 Angry Men." It might be a great film, but it's practically the opposite of how juries work.
Earonn - 5 hours ago
I served in a jury and minus all the personal crackdowns it wasn't too far away, unfortunately. Bigotry, assumptions, and yes, "let's not check this because it takes time and might mean we have to return next Monday but we want to go home and finish this case NOW". The jury system is deeply flawed. Better options (Schöffen) are available.
#45
That there is sound in outer space. NO, THERE IS NOT. There is no air to vibrate, ergo, there is no sound.
#46
Jumping from one moving train to another is safely doable. Nah fam, I can barely do it while they're standing still and pretty close on spur lines, no chance Jason Bourne or even Captain America are doing that ish.
#47
No food shopping trip is complete without a baguette poking out of the top of the shopping bag!
#48
Bullying.
While classic highschool and middleschool movie bullying can be seen in real life, it’s realistically and commonly much less direct. It’s more passive-aggressive. Sometimes they even pretend to be nice but you can tell they’re only speaking to you because their friends find it funny, or it was a dare.
Rarely will you see a jock push a nerd up against his locker. Students, in my experience, will immediately call them out for that.
Bullying is a lot more complex, from what I’ve seen.
David Paterson 5 hours ago
Yes and no. It can be more worse than that in real life but also less obvious to an outside observer.
#49
That when people drown or are drowning there's a lot of noise and flailing about.
Drowning is often incredibly quiet.
#50
That clear shower doors have this innate bio sensor that allows them to limit the steam up affect just high enough to obscure from the outside.the more private parts of human anatomy.
#51
That as long as you love someone it'll work out, nevermind the amount of work it takes to make a relationship work or that how you feel about someone will change because both of you change.
#52
That the difference of rich and poor in America is just upper middle class and middle class.
#53
That high schoolers look like they’re in their mid to late twenties.
Bill Swallow 2 hours ago
Directors be saying "Aw, C'mon, it's hard enough herding cats - er, *Casts* - without making us use *real* teenagers!"
#54
So help me god if I see another movie saying we use ten percent of our brain.
#55
That you can use a defibrillator to shock an asystole rhythm back. A defibrillator is used to correct an abnormal heart rhythm, but won't do jack if the heart isn't beating at all.
Ace 7 hours ago
Yupp. I still recall hearing the "shock pas nécessaire" when they tried to use one on my wife. I knew that it meant that no heart activity was detected. She was already gone even before I started the CPR (having first unlocked the front door and called the ambulance). Stopped is stopped.
#56
That all cars are made of unstable explosives.
Jan Rosier 7 hours ago
sometimes you can even see them exploding a second before impact with anything
#57
Almost every car chase ever. The power of the car almost never makes a difference.
Especially common with motorcycles. Your 10 year old 100hp Honda wont keep up even for a few seconds with any bike north of 70hp. That bike is gone. Also dirt bike chases.
Ace 7 hours ago
The bike comment isn't really true, assuming properly maintained, there's been remarkably little advance in real-world motorcycle performance over the last 20 years. All the advances in electronics, smoothing out the power, stopping wheelies, ABS brakes, etc. etc. make very little difference to performance on real public roads.
#58
That you need to wait 24 hrs before you report someone missing.
#60
That high school was gonna be this epic thing.
StrangeOne 14 hours ago (edited)
High School was an odd feeling. You weren't always in the same class as everyone in your grade. There were different levels of courses. Ever notice in movies, in between classes everyone is socializing and ambling around, as if they have so time to get to the next class? In my school, no matter how far from the other side of the school, and what floor you're coming from, we had 3 minutes to rush to class. That left no time to go to your locker and grab text books and binders, or your gym clothes.
#61
Really surprised NOT to see this here:
That all frogs make the 'ribbit' noise.
It's just the sound of a frog that lives in the Hollywood hills. Other frogs make all manner of sounds including barking.
#62
You can gain 50 pounds of muscles in 3 month with chicken, rice, brocoli and 15 pounds dumbbells.
#63
If someone goes missing, the community cares enough to form a search party, hold press conferences, etc.
Did I say that out loud? 8 hours ago
That does actually happen, though. There's a very sad case recently in the UK where a 3 year old went missing.
#64
That the whole world speaks english. take emily in paris, barely anyone speaks english there.
David Paterson 6 hours ago
A large number of people speak English. I can only understand what they are saying a small percentage of the time, even those with the same accent as me.
#65
During the Pandemic lockdown of 2020, they fooled a vast proportion of general population into believing that they, multi-millionaire celebrities, with lifestyles and property Joe Public could only dream about, were hit as badly as them.
Oh the deprivation and poverty they suffered, hiding in their gated mansions with vast acreage, wealthy, condescending, while the public panic bought, endured shortages and were afraid of bankruptcy, ruin, joblessness. The Hollywood glitterati showed how out of touch they were with us 'plebs'. But how they whinged and demanded our sympathy and attention.
That Imagine video said it all.
#66
That every piece of technology constantly makes beeping sounds.
#67
Two items:
1) The use of Apple computers like iMacs or Macbooks in government offices. In the Michael Bay Transformer movies, I could apply "suspension of disbelief" to the giant robots or to someone that looks like Shia being with Megan Fox. It's sci-fi fantasy, after all. But during the scenes inside the Pentagon, every computer was an iMac. That's a bridge too far, Mr. Bay.
2) Hollywood tends to overstate certain demographics. Quick thought exercise: Take a totally randomized group of 4 people. Would you expect at least one of them to be gay? Okay, say a randomized group of 10 people? Surely now, right? Random group of 20, you'd be guaranteed one, right? Well that's the hollywood effect. You'd need to pull a random group of [59 people](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/how-many-people-lgbt/) before you could reasonably expect JUST ONE gay person.
#68
Water from a sprinkler system is crystal clear and, from the character's reaction, odorless.
John O'Donnell 8 hours ago
Having seen one go accidentally, it definitely isn’t clear or odourless.
#69
That it's okay to give milk to cats.
Cats are lactose intolerant. Giving them ANY amount of cow's milk to drink is essentially animal cruelty.
Edit: Downvotes don't normally bother me, but in this specific instance? They're pretty alarming and depressing. If anyone that sees this comment doesn't believe what I said, then please call your local vet and ask them about it yourself. If you truly love your pets, then you owe it to them to view this as learning experience.
Spencers slave no more 14 hours ago
Lactose intolerant isn't the same as allergic to dairy though. It is not animal cruelty to give cats dairy products IN MODERATION. There is also a thing called lactose free cows milk, cheese, butter, ice cream etc. Ask any decent vet and they will say it's safe in moderation.
#70
That a 120lb female can fight a 180lb male and win.
He won't really even feel those punches she lands, IF she even lasts long enough to connect one.
Jamie Jones 4 hours ago
Oh hell no, once you toss out all the macho posturing what really wins a fight is committing to the violence and training is just teaching you to commit.
What do you think ?
Door Door 14 hours ago
1.'There's a m******r on the loose. Let's split up!' 2. Someone wearing a spacesuit or some other sort of safety gear takes their helmet off.
David Paterson 5 hours ago (edited)
The time between the m****r and the arrest. Timescales in films are totally unrealistic all the time.
Load More Replies... Rose the Cook 12 hours ago
The most common complaints involve shortening how long something takes. Films, TV episodes have to condense lengthy procedures or audiences would lose interest. If you want to nit pick you will find all sorts of mistakes in most films and TV. Please people just relax, it is entertainment not reality.
Antoinette the Red 1 hour ago
Like people just ending a call without saying "goodbye".
Load More Replies... Chich the witch 27 minutes ago
All military/hero guys are huge and muscle bound . They have the endurance of a puppy. Quick burst of energy and then naptime.
Door Door 14 hours ago
1.'There's a m******r on the loose. Let's split up!' 2. Someone wearing a spacesuit or some other sort of safety gear takes their helmet off.
David Paterson 5 hours ago (edited)
The time between the m****r and the arrest. Timescales in films are totally unrealistic all the time.
Load More Replies... Rose the Cook 12 hours ago
The most common complaints involve shortening how long something takes. Films, TV episodes have to condense lengthy procedures or audiences would lose interest. If you want to nit pick you will find all sorts of mistakes in most films and TV. Please people just relax, it is entertainment not reality.
Antoinette the Red 1 hour ago
Like people just ending a call without saying "goodbye".
Load More Replies... Chich the witch 27 minutes ago
All military/hero guys are huge and muscle bound . They have the endurance of a puppy. Quick burst of energy and then naptime.
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