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People Answer What Movies Get Wrong About Real Life And Here’s 50 Of Their Spot-On Observations
To expect realistic movies from Hollywood would be a constant disappointment. But some of the clichés we see on screen are so bad, they shatter the suspension of disbelief, reminding us that we're watching something made up.
Reddit user u/Nest_Egg decided to find out what things in movies infuriate people the most, so they asked: "What is something that happens in every movie, but never happens in real life?"
From Skype streams with 1080p and 120fps to 5 bad guys attacking the hero one at a time, here are hilariously true and oddly specific answers that others have responded with.
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#1
if a girl is arguing with you in real life and you kiss her to shut her up she will most likely not appreciate it
RELATED:
#2
When the mother of the house has spent four hours making breakfast for the whole family with like 3832523 ingredients that cover the entire kitchen table and the dad or son or whatever walks by, grabs an apple and says they don't have time to eat because they're late for work. I'm pretty sure that person could be legally murdered in real life
#3
Young professionals or college students living in HUUUGE, fully furnished apartments in the city
#4
5 bad guys attacking the hero ONE-AT-A-TIME...
Serial pacifist 3 years ago
Nobody just shoots the dude. Everybody uses gadgets for close-up attacks, and once he beats the crap out of them and starts getting away guys with machine guns emerge and miss him with every bullet.
#5
Movies - “wtf was that!” Don’t bother turning lights on. Go look...
Real life - my wife hears something “wtf was that! Wake up! Go check!!!!!” Turns every single light on, locks the bedroom door behind me, has 911 ready to dial. Constantly yells for me to give an update. Allows me back in the door after triple confirming my identity, using the secret password.... oh that noise?
Dog farted.
Dina Simoné 3 years ago
That wife does not seem to care about the safety of her husband. I would follow my husband as a backup or not let him out of the bedroom.
#6
When the girl that the main potagonist likes doesn't like him back, so the main potagonist bothers and stalks her for so long that she finally falls in love with him. In real life she would probably call the police.
Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 3 years ago
Probably the most problematic movie plot for real life - stalking and ignoring a NO (mostly from a woman) is somehow romantic and not a totally creepy, respectless douche move
#8
Lead actor sits down at bar: "Get me a beer."
Movie Bartender: *silently gets beer*
Real-life Bartender: "What? What kind of beer? We've got 20 beers on tap and an extensive bottle list. Do you want a menu or something?"
#9
Becoming popular after taking down your ponytail and removing your nerdy glasses.
Otter 3 years ago
Many of the nerdy women I know can dress up and look glam when they need to, and the next day they're back with the glasses, the pony tail, the comfy shoes and practical clothes. There's nothing life-changing about fancying yourself up, unless you want to spend time with the sort of idiots who are impressed by fancy clothes.
#10
In movies with any kind of trial scene there's always a dramatic moment where one of the attorneys presents a witness or piece of evidence that completely changes the course of the trial. Something that neither the judge or opposing attorney knew about.
Like sorry buddy, but the discovery deadline was a month ago
Serial pacifist 3 years ago
Attorneys caring about their clients is one of the great fictional tales also.
#11
Whenever people play something back, be it a tape recorder, video recording, or whatever, they can always fast-forward or rewind to EXACTLY the point they want, with perfect accuracy.
#12
A girl waking up with perfect hair and a face full of perfectly done makeup. I don't care how pretty of a girl you are you don't wake up with perfect hair.
Sapna Sarfare 3 years ago
Clearly, you haven't seen me early morning... I make the Clown from IT look like Ryan Reynolds.
#13
No need for cleanup after sex.
Serial pacifist 3 years ago
Also, a superhero woman having sex with her long-deceased boyfriend revived by an ancient rock would be high on my list.
#14
A bunch of students in their late twenties in high school
#15
It isn't romantic to keep pursuing someone after they've told you they aren't interested, it's toxic and creepy. No healthy person is out there saying no when they mean yes.
#16
Phone call : "turn on the tv"
tv: "exactly the correct station at the beginning of the news story the person called about"
Sage Gusano 3 years ago
Turns on TV "Why am I watching a news story about a cat eating lettuce at 2AM" " No. The story before that one!!"
#17
Guns with no recoil and not going deaf despite not wearing hearing protection when firing that M4 indoors singlehandedly and taking down every bad guy with one shot per guy and no reloading...
#18
People working minimum-wage/part-time jobs living in big apartments in the downtown areas of cities.
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago
I didn’t get my own apartment until I was in my 40s, and this was well before the big tech boom made it too expensive for me to live in San Francisco.
#21
A person going from drunk to sober in 5 minutes because they drank a cup of black coffee.
Amsterdude 3 years ago
People going for spontaneous drinks after driving the car to the bar, still driving back as if they are completely sober and nobody's bothered at all.
#22
Boarding a plane after the gate has closed. No, not even for true love!
#23
5 machine guns somehow missing the protagonist in the room
#24
I've worked in a hospital as a nursing assistant and I can hardly stand to watch any medical related movies now. They always depict the doctors as being closely involved with patient care and doing everything the patient needs, such as handing out meds, conducting tests, etc. This simply doesn't happen in real life. While the doctors do make a care plan, there are hundreds of other professions in a hospital setting that carry out that plan. Nurses hand out meds and do wound care, NAs help patients with activities of daily living, a transport team takes patients to their tests where other nurses/techs actually conduct the tests. It's an intricate system that doesn't revolve solely around the physicians. Don't get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for doctors and I plan on going to medical school, but movies do so many other jobs in healthcare an injustice by not depicting what they actually do.
Vicky Z 3 years ago
I'm also in the medical field and even though i know it's fiction i cannot stand some things!! Waking up from a coma and being able to speak stand and walk??? Yeah right! Or even when they show therapy it lasts about one day and then you are fine! Or after car accidents when they announce you that you broke your spine but we will fix you and you'll be fine! Yeah good luck with that!
#25
They don't make keyboard mistakes or have to backspace. Movie characters get it on the first shot, whether it's sending a text or hacking into the Pentagon.
Serial pacifist 3 years ago
They just keep on hitting the keyboard like in a monkey spelling experiment and then all of a sudden, "OK, we're in."
#26
Characters can hear every word of dialogue perfectly in a noisy environment.
Captain frantically whispering to the private - "I need you to charge that machine gun nest."
Private - "um actually I can't hear you I'm completely deaf from 3 hours of constant gunfire."
Serial pacifist 3 years ago
And teens having deep, meaningful conversations about the meaning of life, stock markets, goblins, etc.
#27
Grocery bags in movies ALWAYS have unwrapped French bread and some green leaf lettuce sticking out of the top.
Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 3 years ago
And they are never seen with toilet paper or sanitary pads, unless it is explicitly used in the plot to embarrass a character.
#28
People that are experts in their highly scientific field are not usually young and hot. It takes a long time to become so highly qualified for nuclear physics and that sort of thing. But no, in movies, it is always someone that looks to be in their mid 20s at the latest.
#29
People cough and it's always indicative of an incoming terminal illness. A phone rings and it's terrible/pertinent news.
In real life people cough because there's something tickling their throat or because they swallowed something funny. You answer a phone call and Liz is trying to sell you a cheap stay in Las Vegas even though you've told that c**t to f**k off more than three times in the last month.
#30
Jumping inches away from an explosion blast won’t do s**t.
#31
NO ONE HAS BLACKOUT CURTAINS IN MOVIES. Why?? Everyone wakes up to bright sunlight and no curtains and beautifully clean bedrooms ... that is NOT reality!!!
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago (edited)
I know no one who has blackout curtains. I have Venetian blinds, and they keep the room dark, should I so wish.
#32
Huge catastrophe happens - everyone in the whole city is dead, except my whole family! How lucky I am!
#33
The phone only rings to move the plot along. IRL my phone only rings due to scammers or bots calling from an Arlington, Va number.
Lauren Caswell 3 years ago
I would absolutely love a phone to ring in a movie, and it be a telemarketer! For some reason I could see that happening to deadpool
#34
People waiting their turn to talk.
Imagine a realistic drama where one character confronts the person who wronged them, and about 2 sentences into their big, inspiring, mic-drop moment, the other person cuts them off with "Go f***k yourself, a**hole".
I mean, I've had my share of arguments. Not many people sit patiently through several paragraphs of well thought out reasons why they're wrong.
#35
I've never seen anyone apprehend criminals while causing millions and millions in damage to the city.
#36
People shrugging off a flesh wound like it's nothing. They even say "It's just a flesh wound." The movie Last Action Hero does a good job of mocking this by having Jack Slater incur a flesh wound in "the real world," and it's a big deal. But then he goes into the movie world and it's barely a scratch.
In fact, Last Action Hero has a lot of examples, like people being able to punch through car windows, or the women working at Blockbuster being way too attractive.
#37
Medical examiner comes back with a tox report and DNA match in a matter of minutes. IRL, this stuff takes days or weeks.
#38
People never have to go to the bathroom and are rarely hungry or thirsty, and can go for weeks with virtually no sleep.
#39
The way actors dramatically circle each other while they're having conversations. It's something stage actors are taught to do to make the scene more dynamic, but it's not something people ever actually do in real life. Imagine chatting with your buddy somewhere and he just starts circling you mid-conversation: "So anyway, I think we should . . . uh, where are you going? What is happening right now?"
Serial pacifist 3 years ago (edited)
Driver constantly looking at the codriver while conversing, while driving on a highway.
#40
Free available storefront parking
#41
A young married couple buying a massive 2 or 3 story Victorian that is completely updated and has full attic and basement as their first home like that's a normal thing. Even with a discount for the demons that hang out there a new married couple that just spent upwards of 40 grand on a wedding is not gonna be able to afford this huge remodeled house.
#42
Will power seems to be greater than any injury in every movie.
4 broken ribs, countless lacerations, and eyes swelled shut probably wont be remedied by the time you are fighting the next wave of baddies.
#43
Someone asking like 20 people to leave a room so they can have a conversation with one other person. "Can we have the room?" Or "Give us the room."
This happens all the time in movies. It has been driving me crazy since I started noticing it.
Everything AGR 3 years ago
ive never seen a movie where this happens but it feels super accurate so im upvoting lol
#44
2 Candles lighting up a room the same way a lamp will.
People brushing their teeth with no toothpaste foaming like a rabid dog.
Miss Frankfurter 3 years ago
Or it dribbling out of their mouth, down their chin and into the sink. And they're always standing straight up looking in the mirror, and never have to spit it out.
#45
When someone hacks a 'mainframe' in five seconds
ben woskje 3 years ago
and the huge GUI.... Access Denied.. (or Granted) is massive red or green letters....
#47
When soldiers die on the battlefield in movies, its usually a whole ordeal with last words and grunting and the injured soldier slowly becoming lifeless as a buddy holds him in his arms. All the while the battle seemingly lulls off as this one random guy is dying.
This just doesn't happen. Usually battlefield deaths are quick and very sudden. A lot of the time the guy hit either isn't noticed until later or is dead before they hit the ground.
#48
Immediate comebacks. Even the sharpest people will not have a comeback for everything, every single time.
#49
People establishing family (outside of mothers, fathers and grandparents) relationships in their greetings so anyone that happens to overhear knows how you're related.
"Hey brother, it's been a long time!"
"What's going on, sis?"
"How are you, cousin?"
#50
Highschoolers very openly and obviously throwing house parties or going to clubs and getting wasted.
Being drenched the second they walk outside while raining
One person running in and saying something along the lines of "omg i have to tell you so and so...." getting interrupted by the person they want to talk to saying "i don't have time for this" and leaving. Of course you're going to want to know why someone needs to obviously and urgently tell you something.
What do you think ?
Beeps 3 years ago
I think the biggest mistake in movies that we have all become aware of over the lat 18 months is that if there is some sort of virus or zombie outbreak in a movie, the general public immediately go: “Holy smokes, there’s a virus/zombie outbreak, we’d better follow government instructions/expert advice!!” In reality, there is an initial 12 months of people going: “It’s just the flu” / “The virus is not real” / “More people die from heart attacks every year” / “The so called experts are just scaremongering sheeple”
Martin Kaine 3 years ago
My personal favorite is portrayals of mental illness. Such as when the character is going to therapy and has a breakthrough moment and completely changes after that. The breakthrough is not the end of your journey, that's the beginning (I'm looking at you, Good Will Hunting). Or love trumps true emotional disorders or addiction (ahem, Silver Linings Playbook). Love and support helps, but its no cure all.
Trillian 3 years ago (edited)
Women in disaster or adventure movies. Stumbling around for days in their shorts and yet their legs are still smooth.
Becky Samuel 3 years ago
The absolute killer for immersion for me is hands. Everyone from the hard-punching protagonist, to the girl who's just crawled on her hands and knees for miles, or even a six-month old zombie - neatly trimmed nails, perfect cuticles, no bruises. It's rare for any movie or show to get this even vaguely right.
Load More Replies... Beeps 3 years ago
I think the biggest mistake in movies that we have all become aware of over the lat 18 months is that if there is some sort of virus or zombie outbreak in a movie, the general public immediately go: “Holy smokes, there’s a virus/zombie outbreak, we’d better follow government instructions/expert advice!!” In reality, there is an initial 12 months of people going: “It’s just the flu” / “The virus is not real” / “More people die from heart attacks every year” / “The so called experts are just scaremongering sheeple”
Martin Kaine 3 years ago
My personal favorite is portrayals of mental illness. Such as when the character is going to therapy and has a breakthrough moment and completely changes after that. The breakthrough is not the end of your journey, that's the beginning (I'm looking at you, Good Will Hunting). Or love trumps true emotional disorders or addiction (ahem, Silver Linings Playbook). Love and support helps, but its no cure all.
Trillian 3 years ago (edited)
Women in disaster or adventure movies. Stumbling around for days in their shorts and yet their legs are still smooth.
Becky Samuel 3 years ago
The absolute killer for immersion for me is hands. Everyone from the hard-punching protagonist, to the girl who's just crawled on her hands and knees for miles, or even a six-month old zombie - neatly trimmed nails, perfect cuticles, no bruises. It's rare for any movie or show to get this even vaguely right.
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