18 Movie Clichs Proving That Scriptwriters Know Very Little About Real Life

August 2024 · 5 minute read

We don’t want to see super-realism in every movie, but sometimes the things that scriptwriters do are beyond acceptable. We just hope that when people see these scenes in movies, they don’t think that they are realistic and they don’t want to try and do the same thing in real life.

We at Bright Side are very careful when watching movies and we never miss the things in movies that are just too unrealistic.

1. Armor

It seems that not all movie creators even know what the purpose of armor is. Because it is very unlikely that in reality, armor was worn to make men more threatening and women more attractive. Not only does this armor not protect the vital organs, but it also limits a person’s movement.

2. Amazing transformations

Stereotypically unpopular girls in movies are usually unattractive because they are wearing boring clothes, but have great potential. Once they change their clothes, they start looking like goddesses and the men around them forget how to breathe. And they instantly change their behavior: from insecure girls, they turn into super-confident extroverts. Unfortunately, in real life, way more work is needed for such drastic changes to happen.

3. Yelling “Taxi!” to get one

Seriously, have you ever seen anyone do this in real life? If you start yelling on the street, people will think you are crazy. We understand that movies show these scenes to demonstrate the impulsiveness of the characters, but it’s time to make up something new.

4. Tranq darts

If you take the effects of tranq darts in movies seriously, then we don’t need anesthesiologists at all because anyone can be put to sleep with darts. In reality, it is really difficult to calculate the right dose for every person and this weapon is very rarely used in the military or by the police. And animals can still run for 30-45 seconds after being shot, so the darts are also useless as an extreme measure.

5. Labor

Everything that has to do with the topic of labor looks unrealistic in movies. A mother feels okay for 9 months and then one hour before the birth, she has contractions. In reality, things are very different. And when babies are born in movies, they are very clean and 2 times bigger than they really are. In reality, however, they are sticky and labor probably lasts for a little longer than an hour.

6. Wounds and comas

Characters are beaten, cut, shot, and then they run away from the hospital after pulling out all the tubes and catheters. And even if the character encounters enemies, they won’t stand a chance. After a week-long coma, the hero will defeat anyone. But in reality, this person wouldn’t even be able to walk.

7. “No time to explain”

Characters often say this when they could actually explain something. More than that, we almost never use this phrase in real life. It is much better to explain the essence of the problem before you make someone do something or make them trust you. “They’re chasing me” or “It’ll help us” would give them at least a little bit of understanding.

8. Computers

A huge problem for anyone who uses computers is how they are depicted in movies. These things make strange noises, the buttons are too loud, the software interface looks as if it was designed by a 3-year-old. In NCIS, the scriptwriters went even further: aside from all the things we’ve mentioned, 2 characters can also type on the same keyboard. Also, 15 seconds of typing is often more than enough for hackers to take control of any device, any place in the world.

9. Conversations without pauses and filler words

Of course, actors learn their lines very well and they train their pronunciation. But it doesn’t always look realistic, because very few people in real life can speak like this. You might say something weird, forget a name, need 3 tries to pronounce something — this is the trouble characters would run into if their lines weren’t written for them.

10. Scientists that know everything

If a character is wearing a white coat or if they own a lab, they are definitely great in any field of science. Building a robot using junk, transplanting one or 2 organs, hacking the FBI security systems — these are just a few things that these characters are capable of. Unfortunately, in real life, it takes decades to acquire such outstanding skills, even in a single field.

11. Sword fights

Movie creators want their films to be spectacular, which is why these scenes look like dances. They are fun to watch, but when someone is really fighting for their life with a sword, it doesn’t look as cool. It is more like an attempt to cut or stab the enemy by any means possible.

12. Perfect hair and teeth in movies about ancient people or war films

Obviously, in these situations, there is no way to keep your teeth healthy or clean. Even today, every other person has dental problems, and in the past, it was a problem for everyone. The same goes for perfect hair and beards.

13. Treating wounds with alcohol or burning

In real life, alcohol is only applied to the skin, for example, before an injection. Putting it on an open wound is only okay if you want to make things worse. The same goes for burning. Maybe, you will stop the bleeding but you will also ruin the skin around it, which will lead to even more serious trouble.

14. School lockers

If characters in a teenage movie need to talk, they will definitely do it near school lockers. And they are always sacred places where they keep very personal things, photos, and stuff like that. It is time to make up something new because, in reality, very few people actually use lockers, they mostly carry their stuff in backpacks.

15. Turning on the shower while you’re standing in it

We don’t know what the houses of scriptwriters look like, but if they tried to do this in a regular shower, they would run out screaming. Sometimes, it feels like there are only 2 sources of water: one of them is connected to the Arctic Ocean and the other one brings the water straight from a volcano.

16. Not agreeing on the time and place for a meeting

Most dates in movies are either arranged off-screen or the characters are psychics. Very often, they say something like, “I’ll pick you up,” or “See you there.” And they never even discuss where they are going or at what time.

17. “Let me show you” instead of “I’ll explain”

It seems that some characters don’t value their time at all, otherwise, why do they do certain things this way? Sometimes, after they get out of a car, they say, “What are we doing here?” As if they didn’t have the whole ride to discuss where they were going and why. Or, one of them wants to know the details and the other one says, “I’ll show you.” After that, they may spend hours getting to the place and then say, “This is where it all started,” like they couldn’t have just pointed at a map or explained it.

Can you add anything to our list?

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