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People Don’t Expect Movies To Be Completely Realistic But These 40 Things Annoy Them
Many of us love watching movies or TV shows, and while they're made to entertain, that doesn't mean they should be full of unrealistic moments. Take, for example, a hacker aggressively typing on a WordPress site or a character waking up with perfect hair and makeup.
When a Redditor posed the question, "What's always portrayed wrong in movies?" the responses came flooding in. People didn't hesitate to share their frustrations, quickly pointing out the most unrealistic moments that movies just can't seem to get right. Keep reading to see what made the list!
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#2
The fact that whenever someone reads some ancient writing that they translate, it still happens to rhyme in English.
#3
Scientists. Usually they have this one sciencey-guy who knows everything from biology to chemistry to physics, and can do complex calculations mentally. Nope, scientists are not walking wikipedias or pubmeds.
It's fascinating to watch movies, especially when they stretch reality a bit to add excitement or drama. Take 27 Dresses, for example, where Katherine Heigl's character effortlessly catches the bouquet at every single wedding she attends.
In reality, most of us know that bouquet tosses can be chaotic, and the chances of catching one—let alone dozens—are slim. But in the rom-com world, it's a quirky talent that sets the stage for love.
#4
High school students/teenagers. In movies they always have smooth acne-free skin with gym bodies like they all skipped puberty.
#5
Crawling in air ducts. Most of they time it’s too small and won’t hold you. Other times you’ll be torn to shreds by the amount of screws in them.
#6
For context I’m a meat cutter and I run a meat shop on a farm where we slaughter and process animals and cut meat and make produce to sell for retail.
They don’t show it much, but butchering and cutting meat. It’s always some greasy fat guy with disgusting clothes on and just hacking away at some hunk of meat with a cleaver and most times the meat doesn’t even have bones in it so he has no real reason to be using a cleaver and the meat is just like sloppy and loose with blood everywhere. In reality I keep my cut area cold af so the meat stays solid and have different knives for different purposes, most importantly I make sure my clothes stay clean and my face and hands are clean at all times and stay in shape because it can be pretty manual labor.
But sometimes, movies misrepresent everyday life to the point where it feels completely out of touch with reality.
In John Wick, Keanu Reeves' character takes blow after blow—he's punched, stabbed, shot at—and somehow keeps going without breaking stride. In all likelihood, most of us would be unconscious after taking one of those hits. However, Reeves' character simply gets back up and carries on fighting as if nothing had happened. Though intense, that is undoubtedly not how the human body functions.
#8
Characters with dead-end jobs still always manage to afford decent apartments in major cities instead of living in an alley.
#9
Parking downtown.
You're not getting a spot in front of the entrance to the building. EVER. Let alone in the middle of the day.
Many of us can barely make it down the street in heels without stumbling. But in a scene from Jurassic World, Bryce Dallas Howard ran through the jungle in stilettos, fleeing from dinosaurs without even a stumble. It's a thrilling scene that's definitely more fantasy than reality.
#11
Nobody says goodbye on the phone.
And for that matter, the phone etiquette in general is horrendous.
In Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Tom Cruise's character barely avoids explosives, diving away just in time, and comes out perfectly unharmed. Despite being so close to the blast, he's not even slightly burned. We are all aware that such close interactions would result in quite different and far more deadly outcomes in real life.
#14
Snakes, always snakes.
They always portray snakes as hostile, aggressive creatures, which always chase you and are always venomous, this cannot be further from the truth.
Snakes are terrified of humans and prefer to run away than bite 99% of the time, chasing people is pointless, it is a waste of energy, and dangerous.
#15
Digging your own grave. Having dug a pool before, I know there's no way a normal person can dig a perfectly rectangular 6 foot grave without being dead tire and with many hours of breaks and rests.
And then there's Jurassic Park, where a young girl miraculously hacks into the park's super-secure system in seconds just by typing furiously. But in reality, hacking is far more complex and certainly not as easy as pressing a few random keys. But hey, in movie land, anything's possible, right?
#16
Some random passerby gives the protagonist information that leads them right to where they need to go.
*Hero standing outside an apartment building, sees some homeless guy on the stoop*
"Hey, you know the guy who lives here?"
"Chaz Guevarra? He hangs out at the pool hall on 47th. He's usually there from 5:05PM to 8:16PM. Then he goes around the corner for a shawarma. If he's not there he'll be at his girlfriend's house on 84th. Most nights he sleeps there."
*Hero knows exactly where all those places are*.
#17
Someone getting their throat cut. In reality a torrent of blood erupts from the carotid arteries. Everyone involved would be covered. And these guys that walk away from fights with no bruises or broken teeth. Having worked on ambulances I know, unfortunately, what things really look like.
Waking up early can be a challenge for many of us, often involving a battle with the snooze button before we finally drag ourselves out of bed. Yet, in movies like The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway's character wakes up with flawless hair and makeup, as if she's just had a salon session.
While it would be great to look that perfect every morning, most of us are still working on that reality.
#20
Graves, there's always a headstone immediately. You've got to let the ground settle for about six months before you can put one up.
In Minority Report, DNA test results come back almost instantly. In reality, DNA testing can take weeks, sometimes even longer. But in this futuristic world, it happens at the speed of light, as if science is somehow operating in fast forward.
In the movie Taken, Liam Neeson's character always seems to have perfect phone reception, no matter where he is. He's chasing bad guys across Europe, yet he never struggles with bad signal or a dropped call. Meanwhile, the rest of us can barely hold on to a signal in certain parts of our own homes.
#22
Labor and delivery! They always have this huge six month baby with no umbilical cord. Woman is usually smiling and happy afterwards and it’s not always like that. Some of us are getting stitched up and shaking from being so cold.
#23
Courtroom scenes. A surprise witness shows up with stunning testimony, everyone gasps, and the "good guy" wins/ There are no surprise witnesses. All witnesses and a brief summary of their testimony must be disclosed prior to trial.
#24
A gun silencer (actually its called a gun suppressor) are not that quiet.
they are still pretty loud.
Finding parking in a packed city like New York is usually a nightmare, but not in Friends with Benefits. It was miraculous how Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake's characters always managed to find perfect parking spots right in front of their destination. For most of us, that's pure fantasy, especially in a city notorious for its parking challenges.
#26
Running. If you don't go running regularly, you will gas out in a couple 100 meters, even if you are perfectly fit otherwise.
#27
Many things about school, but here are two that always annoy me:
Teachers are always shown being interrupted by the bell in the middle of a lesson, which never happens. We time things out, and usually use the last couple minutes to put things away, etc.
Also, principals are always referred to in movies as "Principal ______" when in real life, they use the same titles as teachers (Ms., Mr., Dr., etc.); administrators don't get special prefixes of their own.
While these unrealistic scenes are part of what makes movies entertaining, they also remind us how far removed from reality these fictional worlds can sometimes be. Have you ever seen a movie scene that made you gasp or question its realism? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
#28
If you hit someone on the back of the head or karate chop the shoulder, you will not cause them to become unconscious. The person you hit will get angry and punch you in the nose.
#29
Laboratories. They are always super white and minimalistic to look more science-y and sterile I guess. In reality there is (almost) always a bunch of equipment and various materials out on the bench top or visible on shelves. Real labs are often pretty cluttered and can look dirty because a lot of colors turn yellow/brownish after being sterilized in an autoclave.
#30
Fires in buildings. Firefighters putting out those fires. The effects that the people would go through while in the fires.
A lot of the movies will have hundreds of degree fires blazing around them and they aren’t blistering or even coughing. Most of those peoples throats would be closed in minutes due to the swelling.
#31
You don't hack into computers by guessing the password on the third try, and the computer never makes that "deedly deedly dee" beeping sound while slowly printing out text line by line.
#32
Pregnancy and childbirth are always romanticised as this easy, clean, sanitised process, when in reality its a moody, screaming, bloody, messy, poop-filled mess of a miracle.
#33
Injecting someone with a needle. You don’t freaking strike a needle through a vein in a 90 degree angle. Like what are you trying to do? Go trough the arm?
#34
Visiting anyone in prison. No, you cannot have your earrings, your necklaces, your watches, your jackets. Everyone has to go through a metal detector and get patted down, even the kids had to go through a metal detector. The kids could not wear short shorts, their shirts could not ride up over their shorts showing their back when sitting, they couldn't wear flip flops, closed-toed shoes only.
#35
Space, in so many ways.
- Even in the middle of an asteroid field, those things are still miles apart.
- Why do all spaceships have the same side up? It's spaceships, not aircrafts. Also, the artificial gravity in Star Trek, Star Wars and similar scifi makes no sense.
- If aliens do exist, they probably do not look remotely human. Even hair, four limbs or teeth have developed so late in our evolution that the chances of them having it are negligible.
- NO! SOUND! IN! SPACE!
#36
Women going through something traumatic displayed as sitting on their couch in sexy underwear with a glass of wine while being completely styled, maybe a bit smudged mascara.
#37
Military custom & courtesy, which would be easy to write into any scene, but they don't even bother to salute properly, let alone address each other or navigate chain of command. They never use communications equipment properly or securely. And there's never any support in the field-- maybe one supply guy.
#38
How easy it is to meet women and get a date. The women never act like you’re creepy. Sure you can give me a ride home on the deserted road I love on in the country, I mean we’ve talked for over 2 minutes now.
#39
Parties. A character has 2 friends and there are 50+ people at their birthday party. Also who are these people sharing their d***s with folks they just met? Never once have I walked into a party & been offered c*****e by a cheerful stranger. NOT ONCE!
#41
The weight of metal.
You just picked up a bag of gold. Picking up a bag full of body building weights is literally lighter. That's clearly just foam props.
#42
Fights. If a woman with long hair is going onto battle, she'll absolutely tie her hair back.
Unless you're a MMA expert, you're not knocking out every single opponent with 1 punch.
IRL, the bad guys don't wait their turn to attack the good guys.
#44
Teaching. The thing that sticks out the most is that they almost always show teachers entering the classroom after the students. Our doors are expected to be locked when we’re not in our classrooms.
#45
Strangling
Ah, this guy didn't just pass out from lack of air, he's obviously dead because I choked him for 30 seconds! I can leave him there no problem now!
#46
I think just general speech. Like movies have all these monologues and stuff. People don't generally do that...right?
#47
People brushing their teeth.
PyroBob316: Don’t you just make a few circles on your front teeth (top and bottom at the same time), dry, and call it good just like everyone else according to the TV?
Also, don’t forget to have a full conversation while you’re doing it, and/or wave your toothbrush around in their face to make your point.
#48
A lot of people have said guns/how guns are used/ gun suppressors, but one thing that's not mentioned is what happens *after* the gun is fired.
When the character fires the gun and just stuffs it down the front of their pants. Yeah Goodluck doing that without burning your privates.
Also archery. Most of the time they use the wrong style for non-american characters.
#50
How doors and phones work - people tend to say "hello" and "goodbye" and almost nobody walks into their house and leaves the door open behind them
but in film/tv folks just hang up and then walk through their front door w/o closing it (and like hop in the shower or some s**t).
#53
The sound a katana makes when coming out of the sheath in samurai movies. Expert samurai train to draw their sword so it makes no contact with the sheath and it would make no noise on draw or sheathing. That noise is a good way to tell if you're doing it wrong but it does sound pretty bada*s.
#54
Playing instruments.
SeeYouInHellCandyBoy: Scratching away awkwardly on a violin with no real technique, yet still producing such a beautiful sound. The violin probably doesn’t even have a bridge either.
#55
Fencing. Any time a character takes fencing lessons, they hack at their opponent like a Star Wars movie. In foil and epee, you attack straight, trying to touch your opponent with the tip of your blade. You swing a bit in saber, but you want them to be as small and quick as possible, like a flick of the wrist, not wild, full-arm axe-chops.
#56
Sword making and blacksmithing in general.
Swords haven't been cast since the bronze age and if you try to cast iron in an open face mold, it will suck. Also quenching a sword into water is more likely to fracture the steel than whatever they think it does.
There's a ton of other stuff, but I can't think of it right now. If anyone has any questions about a specific scene, just ask.
#57
How the enemy always knows what route the heroes are taking and can instantly catch up with them. Even though they were speeding away and the enemy had to get to their cars first to make a pursuit (good and bad can be reversed still same problem). Also that cars of clearly different speeds, masses and stability are equal. They all catch fire for some reason.
#58
Therapy.
No, you really don’t lie down on the couch and talk about just your mom for 50 minutes.
#59
It seems like every scene set in a School or University classroom is a really broad introductory class for the topic. They never start with them picking up from something complicated they didn't finish the class before or something that already takes some specialist knowledge.
#61
Virtually anything medical
I'm banned from watching things with medical scenes in them with my family, because it ends up with me laughing hysterically.
My favourite has to be the intubated patient alone in a closed-door room at the end of the corridor. Yup, that's definitely the safest way to care for a patient who can't maintain their own airway...
#63
Interviewing Deaf people. They put them in the dark, find some bozo who knows a few signs but somehow can interpret full-on ASL with skill and talent all while sitting NEXT TO the Deaf person.
#67
Vets who will treat human criminals out the back door. Or sell them d***s to resell for profit. I’m looking at you, Better Call Saul.
#68
Where to start?
Family life.
There are no long fights IRL, first one to strike a half-decent blow wins.
Saw a video of an ex SEAL saying his biggest peeve with combat scenes is that grenades don't make big flashes and sounds IRL, they just kind of thud.
#69
Zippo-style lighters do not come with fluid in them, so you can't just grab one off the shelf and light your enemy on fire.
Automatic watches generally don't tick, they "sweep". A lot of movies/shows have this trope of a guy owning/being gifted a fancy watch and the sound of it ticking at night keeps them awake because of jealousy/grief/anxiety/whatever. I'd never think twice about it except directors *love* to get close ups on the watch, and most of the time they're automatics. So in reality they'd be darn close to silent unless you hold up to your ear.
#70
Seeing crystal clear underwater.
Remembering a long series of complicated instructions/numbers after hearing it once.
Quoting popular, but totally unsubstantiated, urban rumors/legends and false truisms (i.e. 10% brainpower, cellphones cause cancer, Walt Disney was antisemitic, etc.).
#76
Ancient warfare
Helmets
Why doesn't anybody wear helmets? Anybody in a battle, especially a seige would wear one, why does the protagonist not wear one?
Fire
Why does every arrow need to be lit up? Ridiculous, you are defeating the purpose of shooting an arrow if it is half burned up on the way to its target.
Pre battle speeches
Go on and prattle on about freedom, sure. Then get it to everybody without tech, not happening. Most likely if it did happen it was infrequent, not every bloody battle for certain.
Many more, but those are the stick out ones for me.
#77
Chess. It's bad, but sometimes you can suspend belief. Finding Bobby Fischer is an absolute atrocity though.
#78
Most married couples w/ children. This Is 40 is maybe the most accurate depiction I've seen.
#80
Time. for example ain’t no way the avengers did all they did within 3 hours. had to have been days, even weeks.
#81
The Danger of AI of course it can become dangerous but i think that Humans wont be that stupid to let a sentient AI controll anything dangerous. And in the end we can still just shut down the servers. What's the AI gonna do about it?
What do you think ?
troufaki13 1 year ago
For me it's when two foreign people from the same country talk to each other in English but with an accent.
Bill Evs 1 year ago
When a character with super human strength is fighting a regular person, punches them and sends them flying across a room into a wall. If someone can deliver a blow that powerful to a person their heads coming off their neck or they're going to have a huge hole in their chest.
troufaki13 1 year ago
For me it's when two foreign people from the same country talk to each other in English but with an accent.
Bill Evs 1 year ago
When a character with super human strength is fighting a regular person, punches them and sends them flying across a room into a wall. If someone can deliver a blow that powerful to a person their heads coming off their neck or they're going to have a huge hole in their chest.
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