Questions tagged [realism]
The general attempt to depict things accurately in films and tv shows.
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Prince Philip's knife holding
In S5 E6 of The Crown, ca. 23m44s, Prince Philip (played by Jonathan Pryce) is shown eating with the handle of his knife resting on top of his hand, as opposed to 'inside', covered by his hand.
I ...
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Why does the police officer manually pull back the charging handle to release a spent shell?
From this movie clip, from 3:04 ~ 3:07, a police officer shoots a single round that kills a robber.
We can see the weapon this police officer uses is a fully automatical assault rifle, so why would he ...
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Do the quotes from the "Bottom Half of the Internet" exist?
In Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Goodish, once per episode he performs a "Found Poem" as he calls it. This is a compilation of humourously angry and nonsensical comments about an ...
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Why does Eli have a heart attack in the "wrong" place of his body?
Disclaimer: I am fully aware that Desperate Housewives has no intention of being scientifically accurate, so I would prefer not to have this information as an answer.
In the episode "The Best ...
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Why no repercussions of assassinating the Secretary?
While extracting Ethan Hunt, unidentified assailants rain bullets on the car in which Ethan, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and the Secretary (IMF) are traveling. One of the bullets hits the Secretary ...
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How did Seth Powers keep the ball spinning?
In Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Seth Powers is always (or almost always, not sure) seen with a basketball spinning on his fingers. Did the actor actually do this, or was it done by means ...
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Is it realistic for an actor to act in four movies in six months?
Watching Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which, as I understand it, is mostly a pretty realistic portrayal of Hollywood in 1969.
One thing that doesn't feel right, though: the part where the actor is ...
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Does anything like this toy vinyl record topper featured in Season 3 of Evil exist in the real world?
During multiple episodes of the third season of the TV series, Evil, Leland Townsend gifts Dr. Kurt Boggs with a vinyl record of the French children's song, Aloutte.
(...
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Are the computers in Severance real?
Is this computer, as in hardware, fictional? It has a very strange keyboard layout.
Everything with the computers is wrong, given the high-tech background of Lumon Industries.
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How come the ground shook for days after the bombing raids?
In The Nun father Anthony Burke encounters a damaged castle and asks Frenchie:
Father Anthony Burke: A result of the war?
Frenchie: Bombing raids, yes. I've heard stories of how the ground
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How can someone readily know the sky Rose saw when the Titanic sank?
When Neil deGrasse Tyson went to the Joe Rogan Experience, he told the story of how he noticed the sky was wrong, and also the left side was a mirror reflection of the right side.
To know the sky you ...
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Can you drive anything on the roads in the U.S.?
In many American reality TV shows about fixing, modifying, or restoring cars, one can see the mechanics just taking a half-built car on the road for a test drive.
For example, in the first episode of ...
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Is NYC taxi cab number 86Z5 reserved for filming?
I was just watching Jessica Jones and noticed the cab she was riding in was number 86Z5. Immediately afterwards I watched an episode of The Leftovers set in NYC, and one of the characters also hailed ...
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Is the character Johnny based on a real person?
According to the film's Wikipedia page, Armageddon Time by James Gray is "inspired by his childhood experiences".
In the movie, there is a character named Johnny Davis, a rebellious African-...
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What is supposed to be ominous about the 1976 Philadelpha Flyers?
In The Simpsons episode 1F04 "Treehouse of Horror IV", Devil Flanders summons the "Jury of the Damned" to sit in judgment of Homer. The jury consists of "Benedict Arnold, ...
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How can Joey hold his weight and Ross's weight at the same time?
I am talking about this scene in the TV series, Friends
when Joey and Ross were stuck on the roof of the building and they wanted to go down the building another way.
In this scene, Joey was holding ...
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How realistic was the movie "Electric Dreams" for its time?
The film Electric Dreams (1984) is about a man who buys a computer for the first time and connects all his house-hold appliances to it, creating essentially a fully automated home which then becomes ...
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Why have there been no birth defects to all children born of close relative marriages?
It is well known that children born of close relative marriages are very likely to have birth defects.
But all children in the Game of Thrones universe do not suffer any birth defects, given they are ...
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Why wouldn't soldiers eat meat of cows killed by their enemies?
In the movie 1917 (2019), there is a scene in which Schofield takes a ride with a group of fellow British soldiers in a truck/lorry.
When they see dead cows lying around the road they are travelling ...
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Is the Unix operating system featured in Jurassic Park real?
When the film Jurassic Park came out, and I saw that scene where Ariana Richards is sitting in front of the computer and says;
This is a Unix system. I know this. It's the files for the whole ...
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Was the American interview at the end of "La Vie En Rose" real?
In one of the final scenes of the Oscar-winning Edith Piaf biopic La Vie En Rose (2007), a now elderly Edith is sitting on a beach and approached by an American reporter conducting an interview for an ...
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How does a rifle fire backwards?
In the movie, The American, Jack modifies a rifle for a female assassin; later he realises this rifle will be used to kill him so he modifies it further without telling the female assassin.
When the ...
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Do they really have apartments that vibrate with trains in New York?
In the movie, Se7en, Detective Mills and Tracy live in an apartment that vibrate when a train comes by.
How realistic is it? I would imagine building quality inspector would have disapproved its ...
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Vader is immune to laser beams?
Ok, I just noticed this: Han Solo shoots laser beams at Darth Vader who apparently is completely immune. Ok, so if Jedi are immune to laser beams, why even bother to deflect them with a light saber? ...
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Is it plausible that Walt was hit without feeling it?
In the final episode, he notices the blood and this seems to be the first time he knows he has been hit.
Is there a way a huge round like that could hit a person anywhere without them feeling some ...
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In S3 of Veronica Mars, Wallace buys previous exam papers & answer keys. Is his subsequent treatment consistent with realistic university policies?
In season 3 of Veronica Mars when Veronica and Wallace go to university, Wallace buys previous exam papers and answer keys. Apparently, this is cheating.
In my alma mater, this was being resourceful: ...
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Why use a slide rule and not an electronic calculator?
In Season 2 Episode 2 of The Wire at around 31:30, we see a guy (forensic medical examiner?) use a slide rule. Why not use a normal electronic calculator? I'm not really familiar with the show - is ...
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How realistic is it to have maggots to remove dead flesh?
In House of the Dragon, S01E02, the maester is giving King Viserys I a very unique treatment for his pinky finger.
By burying it into a swamp of maggots.
The purpose is to allow maggots to eat away ...
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Why did the electric bike flip in "Nope"?
Why did the electric bike flip when its power got cut off by the alien in Nope (2022)? Wouldn't its wheels continue spinning as it loses speed until it comes to a stop?
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Do prisons offer electricity to inmates 24/7?
In the TV show, Black Bird (2022), Jimmy is given the case file of a serial killer in prison and he starts reading it during one evening in his cell.
I am not really sure how realistic this is. I ...
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How realistic is it for OJ to ride his horse the way he did with the horse hooded and its eyes covered?
In the final act of Nope (2022), OJ covered his horse with a hood to prevent it from looking at the alien. Can you really ride a horse like that with its eyes covered? Or did I read the scene wrongly?
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Are female officers addressed as "sir" out of writer ignorance, or some intentional reason?
Since I served in the U.S. military, it rankles me to hear female officers in Hollywood productions addressed (non-sarcastically) as "sir" (instead of "ma'am," or their proper rank or title).
Can “...
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Is the protective armour in the shooting scene in Wrath of Man realistic?
There is quite a long shooting scene in the movie, where antagonists wear some sort of protective armour that is capable of protecting them from numerous bullet hits from the relatively close range. ...
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Is the healing technique of Karate Kid practically possible?
In The Karate Kid (2010), Jackie Chan uses some fire technique for healing Dre's wounds. I want to know if that technique is real or complete fiction.
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Does the concept of bribing the whole FBI in Ozark season 4 make any sense?
In Ozark season 4, the plot relies on the fact that the FBI top officials want to keep the seizures happening, apparently as a source of money benefiting the FBI itself. In the story the Cartel boss ...
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Is the device Beca uses in Pitch Perfect 3 a real musical device?
In the Pitch Perfect 3, Beca creates sounds "Ah~ Oh~" with this loop pedal device that don't have labels. I don't know what's name and I haven't been able to find anything by searching for ...
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How realistic for jet fighter pilots to communicate via gestures instead of wireless comms?
In the movie Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Maverick and Rooster are intercepted by two enemy fighters one of whom communicates with Maverick and Rooster using gestures, trying to identify friends from ...
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Did the actors in All Creatures Great and Small actually have their hands in the animals?
During the holidays I started watching the old BBC show, All Creatures Great and Small again. Some scenes in the Yorkshire stables seem a little strange. Did Christopher Timothy actually have his hand ...
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Is living inside the Matrix actually a bad thing? [closed]
I have to create a video essay in school about a topic of my choice, and I have decided to talk about why living inside the matrix is actually not that bad.
In my opinion living inside the matrix is ...
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How realistic is it for Gus Fring to dig a tunnel between two houses across the road?
In Batter Call Saul, season 6, we have seen multiple times that there is an underground tunnel between Gus Fring's personal residence and the house opposite to his house across the road.
The two ...
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Would police answer a girl's call based on her dream?
In the horror movie The Black Phone, Gwen keeps having dreams about her brother's abduction and finally she decides to call the detectives to inform them about the house she sees in her dream.
How ...
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How do buried land mines really work?
This happens in many movies. A guy steps into a mine then does a clever trick and escapes. It seems bad design if you have a land mine, and it doesn't explode.
A similar thing happens with Claymore ...
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Are Top Gun 2 dogfights & airplane maneuvers real?
In the 2nd trailer of Top Gun 2, a plethora of swift airplane maneuvers and at least one dogfight take place. Are those scenes real, captured by a chase airplane?
Or they're just simulation (Computer ...
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Ruth's motive to steal from Marty?
In Ozark (2017-22), Ruth gets waterboarded by Helen and her associates when it appears she may have been an informant.
After this, Ruth (with the urging of her father) attempts to steal "Marty's ...
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Other Species' Lifespan Compared to Lions'
In The Lion King, we are shown a family of lion royalty over multiple generations, as well as its subjects and other animals involved with its kingdom, the Pride Lands. Recently, I have noticed how ...
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Could Michael have used the e-mail surveillance program to stop the distribution of his photo?
In the episode Email Surveillance, Michael is given the ability to monitor e-mails. We can clearly see Reply, Reply to All Foward and the X for delete.
He's monitoring Stanley's inbox when these ...
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How can Beth call in sick for school when she is a national celebrity?
In episode 3 of The Queen's Gambit, Beth and her adoptive mother travel the country to compete in many chess tournaments. During their travels, Beth is acquiring more and more fame all the while she ...
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Is it realistic for so many planets to have breathable atmospheres?
Lost In Space showed many planets as having breathable oxygen in their atmospheres. How realistic is it for all these planets to have breathable atmospheres?
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Is it realistic for Beck to chew out Roman in the beginning of The Negotiator? [closed]
The Negotiator (1998) begins with a short hostage situation unrelated to the film's main plot. Once the crisis is resolved, the lead tactical cop (Beck / Morse) chastises the hostage negotiator (Roman ...
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Is tinfoil possible to prevent missile tracking radar?
In the beginning of The Bourne Legacy (2012), Aaron Cross was in training in Alaska, and met with another agent. There's a scene when Aaron ran out of the cabin, and the missile destroyed the cabin. ...
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