Realities that don't exist in TV land

[QueSyrahSyrah]

Inspired by the ongoing curtains thread, what realities of the world do you consistently see ignored in TV and Film?

I'll start; Car Insurance. We've been watching a show recently where the characters are forever borrowing or swapping cars with family and friends. Vanishingly unlikely that everyone has open all-driver insurance (unless that's a more common thing in America maybe?).

My problem in period dramas is the opposite a lot of the time!! The stone of Regency country houses in a Regency-set drama isn’t going to look pleasantly weathered and mellow, as we’re used to seeing them in the 21st c — it ‘should ’ be looking glaringly new and raw, like the new money piles they often were. (I get that this is difficult to arrange…)

No one has to give notice on a job or go to a recruitment agent, they decide to leave and at the end of the day that's it, no notice, no handover etc.

I hate it when they leave doors open, I start feeling a draught.

Another observer of bra and other clothes on, either during or just after sex. It actually seems to be getting more prevalent, including in British dramas, I suppose because of the prudish American market.
Also, the “zipless fuck” as described by Erica Jong is still very much with us. Clothes miraculously melting away, no fumbling and definitely no foreplay.

As well as leaving full meals uneaten and drinks undrunk, I have seen people order a drink and then dash off somewhere without even one sip.

My hangup (amo g ma

Wow, fail, sorry.

My hangup, among many, is a character seeing someone face to face and saying 'I have something to tell you' and you KNOW they will never get to tell the person when it would have taken THIRTY SECONDS to impart the life saving information immediately. Does my nut. There is no need to arrange a separate conversation. You are already in a conversation.

Another thing that doesn’t exist whatsoever in TV land is professional boundaries or rules. In The OC a public defender just takes a teenager who he has been assigned to work with home to his house after the mother of this child throws him out of the house. If social work know about this at all they aren’t bothered. He makes no effort to follow any safeguarding procedures, just sets the kid up in his pool house. Frequently on Criminal Minds or Law and Order the cops will get into personal vendettas - they will never be removed from the case once it is clear the killer is specifically targeting them or their family, they will instead simply be left to fight to the death. Schoolteachers in Ackley Bridge will commonly get involved in their students personal lives with no interest in supporting them through proper safeguarding channels, except for in one case where a child was removed from their home briefly.

Yes. I re-watched the battle with the Night King and the Army of the Dead last night for the umpteenth time. Grey Worm keeps taking his helmet off which makes no sense and I'm sure it's so you know it's him.

There other things that make no sense such as why they don't all wait while Jon and Dany burn most of the wights with their dragons and why Drogon fucks off leaving Dany and Ser Friendzone to fight off the wight horde and then comes back when it's all over. But I still like. I don't know whether my eyes have adjusted to the gloom or they've brightened it up since I first saw it.

I know what you mean but I have to say my husband actually does that. He often says: "Can I ask you a question?" which always makes me worry it's going to be something I won't like.

It's usually not. It's a habit he gets from his mum. It's as if they think ambushing someone with a naked question is rude. I agree it's infuriating and a waste of time. I suspect he might say: "Can I ask you a question? Did you know the house is on fire?"

Sometimes he says: "A question for you", which is like being married to a 1950s TV quizmaster.

I guess I meant more the scenario you see all the time with, 'I need to tell you something important. Meet me in five hours (in another location) so I can tell you this critical info.' By which time of course, they'll be dead or have heard a terrible rumour that leads to mistrust or whatever.

Love your incredibly polite husband prefacing his emergency announcements. 😂😂

No one lived through Covid.

Lab coats! They are never buttoned up, rarely teemed with goggles and gloves, and worn usually to do admin in a darkened lab with glass walls

No one uses electric toothbrushes. I realise not everyone does, but when I'm watching something with people exactly like me I'm unconvinced.

I pay close attention to flossing and all other aspects of dental hygiene - count of two on each tooth and move on methodically front and back, upper and lower jaw and the chewing surfaces of the molars and the back over the lower front teeth that always get silted up with tartar if you're not careful. Brushing takes at least two minutes. Electric toothbrushes even have a buzz that tells you when you've done enough.

Yet they are still sawing away with manual toothbrushes for 20 seconds before spitting in the sink.

My hangup, among many, is a character seeing someone face to face and saying 'I have something to tell you' and you KNOW they will never get to tell the person when it would have taken THIRTY SECONDS to impart the life saving information
@ImpossibleDrear I raise you meeting in the middle of nowhere at an ungodly hour.
When they could have told them over the phone.

Also women (I'm looking at Bryce Dallas Howard)
For running in high heels not a bother on her.

What I’ve noticed is that if there is anything in a film or series that I know about, then it’s wrong. And I’m not talking a complicated stuff, basic stuff like life in the 80s or being a teacher.
So I assume that if the basic stuff is wrong then everything is wrong.

New Amsterdam did, and for a show with so many faults I thought that was done well.

People get home after a busy day and have sex, no having a shower or freshening up

Or they come home from work and do a roast.
Or Lasagna.
Never soup or a stir-fry.

See also: doctors, scientists, pathologists with loose swishy hair.

Yeah this I don’t get!

All the parents of young kids with sparkling houses and the kids all nap. Or they do some sleep training bit and it works. Ugh.

Every Police chase, no one sticks their foot out or does anything minor to stop the thieves

If the love of your life doesn’t stop you from getting on a plane you have to leave that country for ever and can never return or receive any messages asking you to come back.

Any they get pregnant so quickly. They have sex and then they test. They also get pregnant the one time they have sex. I know this can happen, but for many of us on the fertility boards it can cause a bit of an eyeroll!

Haven't RTFT but my biggest annoyance on TV shows is mornings. Especially on American shows.

There is always an elaborate buffet style breakfast that nobody eats.

Also on teen shows they all kick about doing stuff in the morning before school. They visit each others houses etc. They must wake up at 4am!

The exercising man’s t shirt sweat pattern. Giant v of sweat on the front, underarm sweat and rest of t-shirt and man bone dry. For some reason I find this incredibly annoying

British soaps, everyone seems to have everyone else’s phone numbers on their phones, even people they can’t stand.

No matter how bad money worries are they eat every meal out, or get a takeaway. Might as well turn the unused kitchens into bedrooms for the remarkable amount of people who live under one roof.

Police announcing themselves halfway down the street, giving the suspect plenty of time to run away. And they’re always surprised when they do.