Does your knowledge of science ruin movies and tv shows?

Yes movies really do insult my intelligence all the time.
Like how cars blow up from a bullet from a gun? How does lead create a spark?

a reply to: proob4

Or how whenever a car drives off a cliff, it ALWAYS has to explode when it lands.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

it absolutely does. Especially with the sudden flood of forensic shows and shows where computer technology is leveraged for something.

Like that episode of Bones where their computer system was infected by a virus that was coded into their system via a scan of a bone that had characters on it representing the viral code. Yeah...no compiler or anything needed, no need for AI to understand the symbols scratched on a bone. All that was a needed was a huge leap in logic.

I tend to stick with shows that are either funny, involve a lot of violence, or that deal with social science more than actual science (stuff about people interacting within situations, like House of Cards or The Walking Dead).

a reply to: Atsbhct

Thanks, did not know that. It makes sense though.

I don't ask questions that's why I'm the perfect soldier.

I'm also the perfect person to watch movies with, I don't poke holes I just enjoy the ride!

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

But the Walking Dead defies everything we know about how corpses decompose. Just ignoring the fact that they are walking around post-death for a second, everything about the way that zombies behave would end up causing them to destroy themselves in short order. Not being able to feel pain means that they'll accrue injuries until they can't move anymore. The show DOES accurately reflect zombie decay rates though; however it doesn't take into account things like freezing weather then warming up should freezer burn all zombies caught in it, or that zombies in warm weather would decompose VERY quickly. Oh and since the zombies don't seem to digest food, where does all that human meat go when they eat it? Why don't we ever see a zombie whose stomach has exploded thanks to eating too much meat?

I... uh... didn't happen to just ruin that show for you did I?

I tend to turn part of myself "off" when watching shows or movies that I know are inaccurate or just flat out wrong.

"Gravity" was a great example. I spent a lot of time while watching the move snorting or thinking: "Wha??? No. That's now how that works!"

For the most part, I just try to enjoy the story as much as possible, keeping in mind that most people may not realize that something is technically incorrect.

Skip the movie and just watch the Everything Wrong With videos on YouTube.

Well, I like to scream out bull# in pretty much ALL Mission Impossible and Fast and Furious movies, pretty much for any and every scene of action. But that does not mean Im not still entertained by it! It just makes me laugh and prey not too many people believe they can pull off similar feats.

Not at all. It's not supposed to be realistic. I really hate it when someone says a movie or tv show is bad because it "isn't realistic". Good! Realistic tv would be boring as hell!

I'm fully prepared to suspend reality while watching a movie. I welcome the escape, realistic or not.

a reply to: usernameconspiracy

Oh yeah, I agree, I didn't mean to say I don't enjoy the show I mentioned earlier. It's one of my favorites, just I can't help but tell the wife "that can't happen" and stuff like that. I agree, there couldn't be much to get excited about if all the extraordinary things didn't happen.

There's only two things that really come to my mind:

1) In the Walking Dead, I forgot which episode, but it's right before Eugene exposes himself as a liar, but they find the firetruck which isn't running because of zombie guts stuck in the intake or something, but they get attacked by a hoard of zombies and Eugene saves them all by using the water cannon to blast the zombies apart. I made my girlfriend mad when I was yelling at the TV saying "NO! NO! THE TRUCK HAS TO BE RUNNING AND THE PUMP ENGAGED FOR IT TO BUILD UP PRESSURE FOR THAT TO WORK!"

2) In the opening of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, when the car crashes during the Grand Prix, and somehow instantaneously catches on fire and explodes within a second, the first thing out of my mouth was "Well, that escalated quickly."

Sorry for the run-on sentences. I don't feel like fixing them.

For the most part, I'm able to suspend my disbelief and look at science fiction movies the same way as fantasy movies. It's magic! Although it can be a little hard when zombies can survive for months without eating. Kudos to 28 Days Later for addressing that. Artificial gravity, inertial dampeners, and navigational deflectors on spaceships also annoy me, because I think they would be very tough problems to solve. Rarely do you get decent explanations about how these technological feats are accomplished.

One movie I always liked for what seemed to be a good attempt at scientific accuracy was the original Andromeda Strain. I really liked how they showed the team systematically tracking down the virus, isolating it, and determining how to deal with it. It all seemed very plausible.

I always enjoy technical accuracy... and just suspend disbelief for everything else... but accuracy helps me suspend that disbelief.

Gravity bugged me when Clooney is let go... the momentum was used up... he was on a tether, weightless in free fall, and she had to let go because he'd drag her with him?!... no he wouldn't... so a seasoned astronaut committed suicide for no reason... that spoiled the movie for me, actually... too big a hole.

Noise in space... whatever... a plot point the whole story hinges on? That matters!

originally posted by: DYepes
Well, I like to scream out bull# in pretty much ALL Mission Impossible and Fast and Furious movies, pretty much for any and every scene of action. But that does not mean Im not still entertained by it! It just makes me laugh and prey not too many people believe they can pull off similar feats.

Lol I know what you mean there. In movies that I already know are going to be way over the top, I just take it in as ridiculous and laugh about how ridiculous they get. Somehow, I think I end up enjoying the movies differently than most people do when I watch them like that. They end up becoming comedies instead of action movies or horror movies (because of this, I kind of consider the slasher genre of horror movies to be a comedy genre).

My best example of this is when I saw the Friday the 13tth remake back in (I think) 08. I spent the whole movie laughing at how stupid the people were being while running away from Jason or predicting when they will die.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Yes and no.

IMO it is a good thing as it encourages discussion and it forces writers to embrace the 'hard' side of science fiction and it encourages them to delve in the unknown. I've made my love of interstellar quite clear and video games like Mass Effect also dabble in the hard sci fi-I know that is is not entirely accurate but I love the imagination and the efforts of the writers that make these scenarios possible.

But I also love Star Wars, because it's Star Wars.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

with a zombie you have to at least suspend enough disbelief to presume that zombies are a possibility. The approach of The Walking Dead to this conundrum is interesting, hinting that there is a biological basis for it, and that it is permeating all human existence. But beyond that, its vague. Just enough for me to ignore it. Were we talking about it being caused by a comet passing by...that would cause incredulity.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

It's the whole Walking Dead trying to establish a biological basis for it that makes me over analyze it. If it were just zombies climbing out of their graves like in the old movie "Night of the Living Dead" then at least you can chalk the presence of zombies up to magic, but when they try to be scientific about it, that's when I really start over analyzing things.

By the way, "Return of the Living Dead" ='s best zombie movie EVER! "BRAAAAAAINS!!!"

originally posted by: CirqueDeTruth
It doesn't bother me, until my husband points something out, or my egg head daughter say's "Yeah know, that's inaccurate...actually". They have both informed me, on numerous occasions - there is no sound in space!

Shut up and just let me enjoy the show! I am able to suspend disbelief and loose myself into a story. Why must I suffer because they feel they must - correct inaccuracies.

For example, my husband likes to find editing errors and point them out. "ooh, did you just see the tip of the microphone at the top corner of that shot? No? Let rewind it for you." Or, "It should be a rule American Actors can't play British roles. They can't keep their accents straight and switch back and forth to British and American. Isn't it driving you nuts?"

Uh no, hadn't notice the 'accents' beyond the engrossing story line, oh... you want me to turn it off? Tough Poop!

CdT

My better half does stuff like this all the time. Did you notice that her shoes changed from one scene to the next. Nope I did not. I was not looking at her shoes. I was looking at the explosion happening behind her.



As to not enjoying movies because they are scientifically inaccurate. The answer is no. They are movies. They are not supposed to be accurate representations of reality. If that is what you want. Go and watch a documentary. Or better yet go outside and live life.

Whats the point of watching movies or television shows if you can not suspend disbelief. The need to feel superior to the average person. Who does not have the knowledge that you have. I am sure the royalty and billionaires we all rally against on this site feel the same way about the knowledge they have that we do not. That is how elitism starts.

Television and movies are stories that come from the minds of creative people, they are not CCTV feeds. So watch and enjoy or go out and live life. Or just do what you want. I don't care. I have to catch up on Agents of Shield before going to see Age of Ultron.

I have found that in some cases my scientific knowledge enhances entertainment, because it's kind of cool to be in suspended disbelief 'mode' and then recognize 'true' science...

...And this ends up driving my family nuts, because we'll be watching and there will be some seemingly (most people would think impossible) 'futuristic' science, and I always have to show off -

(can't think of specific examples at the moment) I'll be saying things like -

"You know, according to quantum physics [such and such] would be possible if we had the technology." or like,

"Hey, in the book I just read by Dr. Brian Greene (my favorite physicist), he talks about how [such and such] really can happen!"

I love the show "Doctor Who", because (aside from the issues involved in time travel) whenever there are scientific 'elements' to the plot, they get quite a lot of it right, and many times it will be stuff that the average person doesn't realize is 'true/possible'...

...My family especially hates when I make them pause a show, because 'I just have to' explain the real science within the fictional story.