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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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#1
The fact that whenever someone reads some ancient writing that they translate, it still happens to rhyme in English.
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#2
Zooming in on a CCTV image and shouting 'enhance' makes a super blurry image turn 4K.
#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
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.
#6
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.
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.
#7
When a character wants to destroy a computer invariably they will shoot the monitor.
#8
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.
#9
People crawling around on top of drop tile ceilings.
DetriMentaL (It/That) 2 days ago
Jurassic Park would have been a lot shorter without this movie logic
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.
#10
Characters with dead-end jobs still always manage to afford decent apartments in major cities instead of living in an alley.
#11
Chloroform.
It's takes like, five minutes of inhaling before it knocks you out.
Rocket Surgeon 2 days ago
People saying "this will get buried." The comments never get buried.
#12
Nobody says goodbye on the phone.
And for that matter, the phone etiquette in general is horrendous.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 2 days ago
In many parts of England, the correct way to end a call is by saying “bye” multiple times….
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.
#13
Driving!!!! No one takes their eyes off the road for that long!!!!
#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.
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
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.
Bored Sailor 2 days ago
And if you are going to kill me why would threatening me with a gun you are about to shoot me with motivate me to do your labor.
#17
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*.
#18
Cars exploding when they run into something.
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.
#19
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.
Huddo's sister 2 days ago
Plus a lot are beyond what the characters would be able to afford. Most people don't get big marble ones that stand up, they have simple plaques.
#20
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.
Little Bit 2 days ago
Characters get a life threatening injury but just get up and walk away with barely a scratch.
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
A gun silencer (actually its called a gun suppressor) are not that quiet.
they are still pretty loud.
#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.
Tucker Cahooter 2 days ago
And unlike the scenarios in "Perry Mason", I'm sure the real murderer would have better things to do than to be in the courtroom and run the risk of Perry Mason unmasking them
#24
Running. If you don't go running regularly, you will gas out in a couple 100 meters, even if you are perfectly fit otherwise.
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.
#25
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.
Data1001 2 days ago
Maybe before you post something like this you should do a little research. Hitting someone in the back of the head -- also known as a 'rabbit punch' -- is banned in boxing and other fighting sports precisely because it *can* do severe damage. But knocking the person unconscious is one of the best-case scenarios; people have ended up paralyzed, in a coma, or "unalived" because of a well-placed hit to the back of the head.
#26
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.
#27
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.
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.
#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.
Otto Katz 2 days ago
I am laughing LAUGHING at the blue and green colors in that picture. I worked in a lab for 30 years, and occasionally had to pose for background images, always had to make colorful garbage in the flasks and beakers that were useless for anything scientific, but looked pretty for the camera. Nothing is that blue or green in science. nothing!
#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
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.
#32
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.
#33
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!
Ariom Dahl 2 days ago
As a long time SF fan, I can suspend belief for the sake of enjoyment. Even though I agree with these comments. :)
#34
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?
#35
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.
Lady Miss Pie 2 days ago
Childbirth is ALWAYS shown as yelling, what is this person watching? I had a pretty easy labor, which is never shown on TV. It’s always screaming.
#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.
Hidalgo 2 days ago
Military at war in general. War is so much more horrendous for the participants and victims than portrayed on screen. Only two I’ve ever seen that are even 10% close are the new All Quiet on the Western Front and When Trumpets Fade. While I’m on my rant, no modern war had fewer civilians slaughtered than military. Modern war kills many, many more civilians than military. Especially now that the latter hide under mountains directing drones, planes, and missiles.
#38
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!
#39
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.
#40
Bullying. Movies always show bullying as either tamer than it really is, or overly cruel.
What do you think ?
troufaki13 2 days 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 2 days 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.
David Morgan 2 days ago
Super-human strength is a HUGE drawback if you don't also have super-human durability. Otherwise you just instantly shatter your own hand when punching a wall.
Load More Replies... troufaki13 2 days 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 2 days 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.
David Morgan 2 days ago
Super-human strength is a HUGE drawback if you don't also have super-human durability. Otherwise you just instantly shatter your own hand when punching a wall.
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