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Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 4:34 am
(This post was last modified: February 13, 2017 at 4:40 am by Alex K.)
If you think of resuscitation attempts, you probably have a vivid picture of the following scenario in your mind: a victim of drowning, a gun shot or a heart attack is lying on the floor being all dead.
A desperate hero/loved one is hitting the chest a few times, possibly applying improvised electro shocks until EITHER they are dragged away after 30 seconds by bystanders who will say something along the lines of "He's gone", the rescuer then yelling "noooooo"; OR the patient suddenly wakes up from the shock, and in case of drowning, coughs up a few pints of water before passionately kissing the rescuer.
Now, these scenes are horribly unrealistic to an extent that most of them would count as malpractise/manslaughter, not least because helpers are pressured by bystanders to surrender to fate waaaay to early from a medical stand point, delivering in my opinion an absolutely toxic moral and medical lesson in the guise of a lazy dramaturgical solution.
Now, if resuscitation is regularly shown on TV and in movies in such a trope-ey misleading manner that it gives the casual viewer potentially harmful misconceptions about the reality of first aid, what other things do we as consumers get hammered in our heads every day, that subtly fill us with dangerous misconceptions about how life works, which we internalize without even realizing it
- how relationships and sex work
- how politics and the state work
etc.
My concern is that a large portion of the population is basing their thought patterns and especially gut decisions on fictional tropes they learned from made-up stories.
Do you think I have a point? Do you have some more examples?
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 4:45 am
(This post was last modified: February 13, 2017 at 4:46 am by Longhorn.)
You do have a point, but I think though the majority of viewers will believe what they see, they will quickly disregard it once met with reality. I can't see TV-based expectations and beliefs preserving for long irl.
Fortunately, in the course of my education in this here corner of the world I've had to successfully perform a resuscitation (on a mannequin) with the whole scenario of making sure your surroundings are safe, checking for breath, for how long, the safe position etc etc. twice, and many have had to do that thrice or more. We were also told what the law states and enacted different scenarios of various accidents. So while many of us might have had misconceptions about it, they were remedied at an early age, before any real harm could be done. And similarly as in this department, I think the rest is probably sorted out too, by parents, teachers or just experience.
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 5:29 am
@vic
Having done a first aid course or better of course makes it obvious that this particular aspect of movies is wrong. But I wonder if other things aren't more subtle and insidious. For example, we are shown time and time again how complicated problems are resolved by a singular heroic act rather than difficult regular grinding work to improve conditions. Now we have President Trump.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 6:00 am
(This post was last modified: February 13, 2017 at 6:14 am by Homeless Nutter.)
Money is very inaccurately depicted in movies and TV. Poor and middle-class people on the screen pretty much universally live way beyond their means. They live in huge apartments, located in highly sought-after areas, they wear expensive clothes, they buy top-brand food and household products. They often travel to faraway places, or make extravagant purchases, in order to facilitate some minor plot. They make disastrous financial decisions - with virtually no long-lasting consequences. All the while - you almost never see them actually working.
And almost nobody ever loses their house, or has to pay off debts for decades. Nobody has to move back in with their parents, or becomes homeless. In the world of popular modern fiction - you can only fail so far, before you magically bounce back, so that at the end of an episode you are in the same position, you were in at the beginning of it.
I believe that's one of the reasons, why many people grow up with unrealistic expectations of what kind of lifestyle their skills and education should be able to afford them and consequently fall into debt and/or feel perpetually unhappy about their perceived lack of professional success.
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 6:22 am
(February 13, 2017 at 4:34 am)Alex K Wrote: If you think of resuscitation attempts, you probably have a vivid picture of the following scenario in your mind: a victim of drowning, a gun shot or a heart attack is lying on the floor being all dead.
A desperate hero/loved one is hitting the chest a few times, possibly applying improvised electro shocks until EITHER they are dragged away after 30 seconds by bystanders who will say something along the lines of "He's gone", the rescuer then yelling "noooooo"; OR the patient suddenly wakes up from the shock, and in case of drowning, coughs up a few pints of water before passionately kissing the rescuer.
Now, these scenes are horribly unrealistic to an extent that most of them would count as malpractise/manslaughter, not least because helpers are pressured by bystanders to surrender to fate waaaay to early from a medical stand point, delivering in my opinion an absolutely toxic moral and medical lesson in the guise of a lazy dramaturgical solution.
Now, if resuscitation is regularly shown on TV and in movies in such a trope-ey misleading manner that it gives the casual viewer potentially harmful misconceptions about the reality of first aid, what other things do we as consumers get hammered in our heads every day, that subtly fill us with dangerous misconceptions about how life works, which we internalize without even realizing it
- how relationships and sex work
- how politics and the state work
etc.
My concern is that a large portion of the population is basing their thought patterns and especially gut decisions on fictional tropes they learned from made-up stories.
Do you think I have a point? Do you have some more examples?
Well, of course. Happy endings, and all that, for one. Good guy wins, underdog prevails. Those things sell tickets, because we all want to believe them ... but the fact is, they rarely pan out.
Fact is, when you roll up on a crash, the sonofabitch is often dead, and if he isn't, those CPR compressions are only pushing broken ribs into overworked lungs. Or the gal has already decided to leave you, no matter the roses you gave her with a sweet note tucked in. Or the whistleblower doesn't get a congressional hearing, but rather prison sentence for divulging secrets.
Life is full of unhappy endings, few of which sell cinema tickets, books, or daydreams.
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 7:07 am
Wait...you mean I'm NOT Batman? Fuck.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 7:45 am
(February 13, 2017 at 7:07 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Wait...you mean I'm NOT Batman? Fuck.
Boru
It's Bruce, not Brian. Common mistake...
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 8:27 am
America wins.
That's a meme that is going to lead to disastrous results one day. I wanna see the Fresh Prince of Bel Air fight real aliens. Let's see how it works out when there's no script.
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 9:15 am
That's a good question. I'mma think on it. Your example seems to be the best that I can think of at the moment. Anything else is just silly things that movies get wrong like military uniforms.
One that I see wrong every time is intramuscular injections. What your supposed to do is stab the needle all the way to the hilt, which makes sure it's delivered at the proper depth, but also fucking stabilizes the needle. What you see in movies is they stab the needle half way in so that every slight movement in their hands translates to a sawing motion in the needle and a lot of pain for the person receiving the shot. Also, your supposed to pull the plunger back a little before you inject. If the syringe fills with blood, you hit a vein and need to back out and start over. You never see that in movies.
I can't remember where this verse is from, I think it got removed from canon:
"I don't hang around with mostly men because I'm gay. It's because men are better than women. Better trained, better equipped...better. Just better! I'm not gay."
For context, this is the previous verse:
"Hi Jesus" -robvalue
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RE: Tropes'R'us - do movie tropes influence our way of thinking
February 13, 2017 at 9:40 am
I find it to be the worst in advertising.
This rock or flower will make them love you.
This salt is non GMO, organic and gluten free.
If you think you're sick, boy do we have the pill for you.
BTW: A huge syringe loaded with adrenaline to the heart is the cure for heroin overdose. It's freaky.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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