Stuff I've learned from films (non-ironic)
Submitted by buddy on Thu, 07/21/2005 - 09:54
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- Always (1989) – It’s acceptable etiquette to eat any sort of fowl with your hands.
- Double Jeopardy (1999) – In the U.S., you can’t be convicted of the same crime twice. (Okay, I’ve never actually seen this film, but the ads made this point pretty clearly)
- Jurassic Park - That there are species of amphibians that are capable of changing their sex.
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding - That the Greek word “Opa” is an exclamation of celebration. (Ah, so the name of that Greek restaurant makes a little more sense now!
- Wayne’s World - That wolves are monogamous, and are believed to mate for life.
- Wayne’s World - That the two guys who played Darren on “Bewitched” were both named Dick: Dick Serjeant, and Dick York. (I seriously would never remember this factoid if I hadn’t seen in on "Wayne’s World")
- Contact - That the name for the concept of “the simple answer is usually the correct one” is called "Okham’s Razor".
- Days of Thunder - How you can go as fast with less effort simply by driving right behind someone, due to the decreased wind resistance.
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - That ants are incredibly strong, and can lift many times their own body weight.
- Trainspotting - That detoxing from heavy drug use is very, very far from pretty.
- Dogma - That the Metatron is the Voice of God. (Yes, I’m aware of the irony of my learning this during a speech in which he complains that people only know stuff they’ve seen in films.)
- Twins - That a car with its back end lifted greater than 45 degrees will turn off its alarm, because it thinks it’s being towed. (I’ve no idea if this is even true. I’ve just assumed that it is.)
- Pulp Fiction - That a shot of adrenaline is needed to counteract an overdose.
- Me, Myself & Irene - That men pee funny after a night of sex.
- Pianoshootis
- He Got Game - Earl Monroe was once nicknamed Black Jesus
- MarlaSinger
- Se7en - The seven deadly sins are: greed, gluttony, envy, sloth, pride, lust and wrath
Author Comments:
These are just some random things I happen to remember learning from films. A few of them I knew already (like the bit about "Okhams Razor"), but remember most consistently by recalling the character in the film explaining it.
Please feel free to share whatever you've learned through film, though please bear in mind I'm not covering philisophical generalities. For example, learning that "war is hell" from Saving Private Ryan isn't the kind of thing I'm looking for.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
I wouldn't go putting the Double Jeopardy knowledge to use. In the movie she's convicted of killing her husband, but it turns out he was faking his death so she's free to murder him. They were actually two different crimes, the first one she was innocent of.
Something I learned from a film:
He Got Game - Earl Monroe was once nicknamed Black Jesus
Well, as I neither live in the U.S., nor have any immediate plans to commit a crime there, I think I'm safe. Thanks for clarifying, though.
The actual law is "Being tried twice for the same offense; prohibited by the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. '[T]he Double Jeopardy Clause protects against three distinct abuses: [1] a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; [2] a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and [3] multiple punishments for the same offense.' U.S. v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 440 (1989)."
I think the U.S. Constitution is the greatest document of its kind.
Some friends of mine tried that 45 degrees thing with some cars (their own cars, don't worry), and it didn't work. Might just be a myth, or maybe the alarm manufacturers changed that feature after Twins came out... :-)
I've learned from Fight Club, that you can make napalm with gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate. Unfortunately, I found out that's just a myth, too.
Oh, and I've learned from Se7en that the seven deadly sins are greed, gluttony, envy, sloth, pride, lust and wrath.