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Movies allow us to travel from the comfort of our couches. We get to meet people, experience things, gain access to places or even eras we might never in real life. And, of course, we get to learn lots of new and interesting facts. But sometimes, Hollywood gets it completely wrong and leads us down a path of lies.
How many things have you taken at face value purely because you saw them in a movie? You're not alone. It's easy to get so engrossed in an action-packed film, or a suspenseful drama that we don't think twice about fact-checking what we've been fed. Someone asked, "What’s an inaccurate fact that people believe is true because of movies?" and a few of the answers might surprise you.
From myths about hacking to health to crawling through air ducts, Bored Panda has put together the best comments. They're proof that when it comes to making movies, those at the helm truly do believe that you should never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
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#1
USA as the good guys.
Norfolk and good 14 hours ago (edited)
Pearl Harbour and the "I think world war II just started" comment is insulting, given that the war had started over two years previously and millions had already died. The whole plot of U-571 was the US military capturing the first German Enigma machine. In reality this was captured by the UK Royal Navy in 1941 before the US joined.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. This applies more often than not when it comes to the world of moviemaking, with the exception of documentary films.
Throughout the years, our favorite Hollywood blockbusters have been feeding us lies - but it's all in the name of entertainment. When it comes to historical dramas, scriptwriters can get particularly creative.
Take the 2019 movie Mary Queen of Scots, for example, which had many historians hot under the collar. The film was marketed as a gripping biopic of two royal cousins, Mary and Elizabeth, and highlights tensions between England and Scotland during their reigns.
But you might be surprised to know that in real life, the cousins never actually met face to face...
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#2
You can get someone to fall in love with you by stalking them and acting creepy.
Beak Hookage 14 hours ago
I hate how that keeps being painted as cute and romantic. It's not! It's terrifying!
#3
Hacking isn’t someone typing for 10 seconds and suddenly “I’m in"
"Some historians say that if the queens had met, Elizabeth might have felt differently about sanctioning Mary’s tragic ending," reports the BBC.
Critics have also pointed out the fact that in the movie, the Queen of Scotland (as expected) had a Scottish accent. "Mary grew up in France and therefore would almost certainly have had a French accent, unlike Mary in the film who sounds very Scottish indeed," reveals the BBC.
#4
Fire sprinklers all fire at the same time. irl they are heat triggered and pop one at a time locally located directly near the fire. also the water is total black moldy oily disgusting sludge cause its been sitting there for 30 years.
WindySwede 12 hours ago
And can't all be "tested" och a specific time, just by "hacking" the system, like they did in Hackers (1995). See link below to the scene.
#5
That if you get "knocked out" with a blow to the head that you can wake up with a little headache but be ready for action.
No.
No, Sir.
You have a grade three concussion and will need months of slow recovery and will probably never be the same again.
#6
I get a kick out of the mansions "middle-class" families seem to have and a whole table of for breakfast.
Dude, yet get a buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and you WASTE IT? Some people in this world are starving and some can't afford this much food. That is like a week's maybe two week's worth of food on that table kid, eat it.
Some kid in real life is eating Ramen that they got on sale and is sitting in their apartment building with screaming neighbors watching these movies. I know because I was that kid.
Another Hollywood hit that had us on the edge of our seats while "learning" about history was the multi Oscar-winning Titanic.
We were led to believe that many back then thought the ship was invincible. And at one point in the film, Rose DeWitt Bukater’s mother looks at the vessel and says, "So, this is the ship they say is unsinkable."
Historians have been calling bull for years, saying that movie-makers merely added that false fact as spice, so that the sinking would be all the more dramatic when it did eventually happen.
#7
You cannot shock a flatline back to life. Grey's Anatomy has been lying to us for 20 seasons lol.
Nadine Debard 11 hours ago
Have you seen how they represent CPR in that show? I'm always screaming when I see that nice pat they do.
#8
Giving birth is messy and takes a long time and there’s way more things that can go wrong than the movies show, also newborn babies do not actually look like 6 month olds with some petroleum jelly smeared on them 😂
Edit: yes, I know that actual newborns should not be on film sets. I was just pointing out how the movie versions of newborns are still inaccurate lol.
Norfolk and good 14 hours ago
Amy and Jake's baby in Brooklyn 99 came out with a job and a driving licence.
#9
Not movies, but people think that rabbits like carrots in particular because of Bugs Bunny. But Bugs isn’t eating carrots because he’s a rabbit, he’s eating carrots because they’re standing in for a cigar, in imitation of a scene with Clark Gable in It Happened One Night
The other way Bugs has influenced culture is in the word “nimrod” coming to mean “idiot”. People think that because that’s what he calls Elmer Fudd. But Nimrod was a legendary hunter, and Bugs was being sarcastic.
Beak Hookage 14 hours ago
To a real rabbit, carrots are basically candy. They like them but shouldn't be eating them for every meal.
If you're old enough to remember The Sound of Music, you might know that it was based on a real-life family and a true story. But actually, the hills were alive with a few white lies...
"The main issue is the family’s escape," explains the BBC. "In the film, the von Trapp family wants to escape Austria after Captain von Trapp is conscripted into the navy, but refuses. If the von Trapp family had indeed run away in the direction of the Alps, and travelled through them, they would have ended up in Germany - the last place they wanted to be." (The film is set in Hitler's era)
According to the BBC, the von Trapp family actually escaped over the train tracks behind their villa before boarding a train to Italy. A day later, the Austrian borders were closed.
#10
That bloodhounds bark/howl while tracking. Several years ago, I helped a friend train hers. They are silent trackers.
#11
That eagles sound like hawks.
#12
That in just a few hours, a 10-year-old boy can set up an elaborate booby trap labyrinth, run all the way from 95th Street to a toy store 40 blocks away, bait two adult men into following him back up to 95th Street, then hit them in the head with a bunch of bricks, and nobody dies in the process.
Sometimes, despite their best intentions, film-makers paint fiction as fact. In the case of Gladiator, history consultants were brought onboard to ensure accuracy in the film. But even then, not all the elements were on point.
In the movie, the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is loses his life at the hands of his son, Commodus. Experts say in reality, he passed away from natural causes. Commodus, meanwhile is taken down in the gladiator arena by Maximus. Incorrect, say some historians. His life really ended in the bath because of a professional wrestler called Narcissus.
#13
That there is a substance (chloroform) that knocks people out immediately for 5-30 minutes if you hold it over their mouth for a few seconds.
Not only does that typically not work but if it did it would take you about 5-10 minutes of holding it over their mouth for it to work in the sense it maybe would knock them out for a minute or two.
Did I say that out loud? 11 hours ago
Yeah, it's surprising how long that takes to work, and how much someone can struggle in the meantime. ....so I've heard.
#14
First thing that came to mind: You can sneak through a building by crawling through air ducts. You absolutely cannot crawl through air ducts, they're MUCH too small.
#15
That all the cowboys out west were white.
keyboardtek 6 hours ago
Most of them did not even own a gun! They were ranchers and cattle men.
Braveheart is another blockbuster that led us down the path of deception. In the film, we are taught that William Wallace, who led the Scottish rebellion against Edward I, was awarded the title of ‘Braveheart’.
Not true, apparently. That honor was apparently given to someone called Robert the Bruce, who later became the King of Scots.
#16
You can't just walk away from a nearby explosion. If you're lucky, you'll just lose your hearing. Also even if you're clear of the fire, you can still be hit by shrapnel or the intense heat from the blast.
Michele Ferretto 15 hours ago
The safest method is obviously to walk away from the explosion without looking back, looking extremely cool. Explosions only hurt people who turn around to watch them
#17
Cars very, very rarely catch fire during crashes. No, you are not going to be caught inside a burning car and get cooked alive if you wear your seatbelt, ex-colleague from Texas.
RedHairedDragon 12 hours ago
I read "cats rarely catch fire", which made me question what kind of myth that is
#18
My wife was born and raised in SF. She chuckled at a scene where Michael Douglas drove up to a nightclub and found parking immediately.
There’s more though, notes the BBC. "William’s kilt wouldn’t have existed when he was alive. Braveheart is set in the 13th century, and kilts weren’t invented until the 16th century. Oops."
The media outlet explains that clansmen would have actually worn "yellow tunics called ‘leine croich’ in battle, dyed with either saffron if they were wealthy, or urine if they weren’t."
#19
How hot fires are. In movies people run into a burning building all the time to rescue someone--in real life if you even see flames it is *so hot*, and almost impossible to even approach the building due to that heat.
Stephanie Did It 7 hours ago
And if there is a huge explosion, the hero always escapes by out running the blast. If they're blown off their feet, they get up and dust themselves off. No blast wounds, no damaged eardrums.
#20
Zoom, enhance.
Space Invader 10 hours ago
In "Wellington Paranormal", the Sargeant asks the tech guy if he can zoom in on the photo, to which he replies "Well, you can move closer to the screen".
#21
Through and through bullet wounds are just an inconvenience.
#22
Because of 3 Ninjas, I believed that if I trained really hard in karate, I could eventually beat up a grown man as a 6 year old 😂.
#23
When a machine flat lines in hospital with a continuous beep it means they’ve passed. More likely means a sensor has fallen off the patient.
Michele Ferretto 15 hours ago
For a proper demonstration of how the beep should work, see the “Machine That Goes Ping!” segment from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
#24
Car doors and tables can stop bullets.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 13 hours ago
Putting sand inside the doors doesn't work either (Top Gear lol)
#25
Hitting someone on the head to knock them out does not result in them waking ok after a short nap.
#26
As a person who works in radiation safety it's how quickly ionizing radiation hurts you. Radiation burns and sickness don't show up right away. It takes several hours up to a day for it to appear. Even if you did get enough dose to pass from it, it would still take a couple of days for you to do so. Grueling agonizing days but still days.
#27
Super buff, crazy abs and "cut" muscles = super strong.
Granted comics made this a thing, so most are just copying.
also i was a mover for 9 years, I was not once offered "another way to pay" .....stupid movies.
Con O Cuinn 14 hours ago (edited)
I've been offered "a different way to pay" a few times but it's never s*x, always drûgs
#28
That you can just burst through a glass window and land on the other side, standing uninjured and ready to kick some butts.
#29
That fighting is easy and not at all exhausting.
Stephanie Did It 7 hours ago
Also when the good guy is fighting several opponents, they politely attack him/her one at a time so they can be neatly defeated.
#30
That rats/mice/even spiders make squeaking noises constantly. That would be a bad tactic for a prey animal.
Beak Hookage 14 hours ago
Rats also won't be sitting right out in the open while squeaking loudly. You might as well douse yourself in BBQ sauce and lie down on a plate. If you have rats in your place you're going to hear gnawing first and foremost. Same with mice.
#31
That the average Everyman family, has a 5 bedroom house, in LA, NYC or Chicago area.
While the poor person has a 1 bedroom apartment in those cities, that they live alone in.
Beak Hookage 14 hours ago
Crazy to think that once upon a time Homer Simpson was considered a pathetic impoverished burnout when he had two cars and supported an entire household with three kids on a single income.
#32
Type 1 Diabetics DO NEED INSULIN but not when they're hypoglycemic. It's the worst thing for em. Hyperglycemic? Dose up on insulin. Hypoglycemic? Get em carbs and food.
Happy Onion 9 hours ago
The only one that gets this right is Steel Magnolias. Shelby has an episode at Truvy's and they get her juice.
#33
I've never visited, but from my understand, Mexico isn't just yellow.
Michele Ferretto 15 hours ago
It’s wild how the Hollywood yellow filter activates the moment you cross the border. Not in Mexico City... that’s way too far. The second you step into Tijuana, boom: sepia mode!
#34
Shooting a gun in a car/elevator/any enclosed space won't result in everyone inside to become deaf. Worst case is permanent hearing loss. Best case is temporary hearing loss. Either way, everyone inside is going to have severe ringing, pain, and complete loss of hearing.
#35
I think we all grew up believing you could hack anything by typing really fast. In reality I'm pretty sure real hacking is just Googling error messages for 6 hours straight.
keyboardtek 1 hour ago
I had a friend who was a Microsoft support line tech for years. He said he basically was taught the most efficient way to Google to get the answer.
#36
That swords constantly make shwing sounds (nope), that they can cut through metal armor (absolutely not) and that they end people instantly (even a definitely lethal wound will take a few moments before the opponent is completely unable to retaliate, unless he's beheaded or something that extreme).
Also, that two opponents crossing blades right next to their faces and pushing really hard is somehow a standstill. In reality, this situation is difficult to get in and very easy to get around once you're there. No time for a long talk about your motivations and mutual hatred. And pushing straight onto your opponents blade will not help at all.
#37
Manhattan apartments are big enough to have gatherings?
#38
That you have to wait 24 hours to report a missing person.
Liliana Spiro 9 hours ago (edited)
Report. The law enforcement response is based on risk assessment, not a clock: If considered high risk, the first 24 hrs are critical
#40
That grown American adults have free time during daylight hours. And mental energy to get up to hijinks.
Герберт Майн 9 hours ago
And they are always chilling in a cafeteria somewhere just talking. No one has chores.
#41
Everybody buys a loaf of French bread when they go grocery shopping.
#43
Obstacles can always be overcome through perseverance.
#44
If you smash through a barrier with your car and are extremely lucky you may just need some body work. Most likely, your car will break down very soon afterwards otherwise. Cars are designed to disintegrate in even very minor crashes, that's why they're so safe.
Beak Hookage 14 hours ago
Strangely enough, a car is very unlikely to explode in a huge fireball for no reason. Unless it's a pinto. Or a cybertruck.
#45
My uncle was an EMT for 20 years. He told me the movie slap you know, slapping someone hysterical to calm them down actually makes everything worse. He personally responded to three calls caused by someone trying it. He delivered this information calmly and then asked for the bread rolls.
Earonn - 2 hours ago
However, if you have someone on the phone and they talk themselves into a rage, you can try and 'apologize for the noise my cat makes in the background' (if at work, say it's the office dog). Mentioning pets seems to get people out of that dynamic. No research, just my experience in customer service, but worked every time!
#46
GenX is not the slacker generation. That came from a Michael Moore movie. Always been The Quiet Achievers.
#47
You only use like 10% of your brain.
Michele Ferretto 15 hours ago
Yeah... We all know the whole “you only use a small % of your brain” thing (and movies like Limitless) is complete nonsense. But the claim that ALL humans use 100% of their brains does seem a bit hard to reconcile with the experience of reading online comments every day.
#48
That a Tyrannosaurus rex can only see you when you are moving.
That was briefly put forward when the novel Jurassic Park was written but has been debunked since then.
Phantom Phoenix 10 hours ago
Thanks. I'll keep that in mind for all the real world scenarios where I'll encounter a T-Rex
#49
That an undercover cop has to tell you if you ask.
#50
That lightning never strikes the same place twice. Movies make it look dramatic, but it can actually happen.
#51
A cigarette is not lightning a puddle or vapors of gasoline, however if you light the cigarette, congratulations you made the evening news.
Nadine Debard 11 hours ago
In certain conditions of concentration of the gasoline vapors, can be. However it's impossible with diesel/gasoil.
#52
The sun is not yellow. It's white. Every sci fi movie where a ship flies past the sun and it's a beautiful yellow/orange blob with flares shooting up...is a lie. From space, the sun is white.
#53
Everyone thinks you can hold your breath for 10 minutes just because of action movies. like, i can barely make it to 30 seconds without passing out.
Nadine Debard 11 hours ago (edited)
Super trained people can. The record for apnea is Stéphane Mifsud (11 min 35 s, 2009) and Vitomir Maricic even held his breathe 29 min 3s by taking pure oxygen before the record. But they surely can't run, dive and swim for that long.
#54
In the movies soldiers in a war are all strong, stoic, hyper patriotic self-starters from small towns in the "Midwest". In real life most of them are either the nerdy kids from high school who sat and played Magic: the Gathering at lunch or the trouble maker who never did anything *really* bad but you didn't want to hang around him because you knew his actions would get you in trouble if you did. And there's way more of them from places like New York, Boston and LA than small towns.
#55
A phone call can only be traced if the caller stays on the line long enough.
David Andrews 12 hours ago
Not really a fake fact, just something that is no longer relevant due to technology advancing. Back when you needed to manually trace the call at an exchange, you needed the call active long enough to find where it was coming from
#56
The average office worker clocks in 9 to 5.
I wish.
In the real world (at least in my experience), you work 8 to 5 because your two 15-minute breaks and half-hour lunch aren't paid.
Mallory Morrison 1 hour ago
I work 8-430 because our 2 15 minute breaks are paid. 30 minute lunch is not.
#57
Defibrators are not meant to restart a stopped heart. The name 'de-fibril' already states that. They are designed to stop rapid atrial fibrillation and thus actually cause the flat line. Only when the heart no longer twitches involuntarily instead of pumping can blood be pumped through the lungs and body again using chest compressions.
Ace 11 hours ago
That explanation is just as wrong as the myth it's debunking. No, they do not in any was cause a "flat line" or in any way stop the heart, the shock will cause a major contraction in the heart muscles which will stop the muscle spasms we call fibrillation, and allow the muscles to then relax and respond properly to the next 'beat now' signal from the brain.
#58
The idea that windmills dont cover their own cost has been a frequently believed misconception since a monologue from the TV show Landman.
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What do you think ?
Beak Hookage 13 hours ago (edited)
This one is fake too. EDIT: I was responding to a spambot but their comment got deleted and ruined the joke! XD
Bored Jellyfish 5 hours ago
BP actually deleted a spambot?! This is one of those “fake facts” right? 😏
Load More Replies...
reuben kift 12 hours ago (edited)
That during modern skirmishes in war, soldiers have their guns permanently set to full auto and the battles are a bullet storm. Or that super huge, muscle-heads make awesome fighters.
Did I say that out loud? 1 hour ago
It's even more ridiculous when you know that later models of the M16 don't even have full-auto, but have a 3 round burst setting instead. And the standard British training is to fire 20 aimed rounds per minute.
Load More Replies... Beak Hookage 13 hours ago (edited)
This one is fake too. EDIT: I was responding to a spambot but their comment got deleted and ruined the joke! XD
Bored Jellyfish 5 hours ago
BP actually deleted a spambot?! This is one of those “fake facts” right? 😏
Load More Replies... reuben kift 12 hours ago (edited)
That during modern skirmishes in war, soldiers have their guns permanently set to full auto and the battles are a bullet storm. Or that super huge, muscle-heads make awesome fighters.
Did I say that out loud? 1 hour ago
It's even more ridiculous when you know that later models of the M16 don't even have full-auto, but have a 3 round burst setting instead. And the standard British training is to fire 20 aimed rounds per minute.
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