10 Overused Movie Clichés That Have Nothing to Do With Reality

Cinema is not an ideal source of knowledge, even though it’s trendy. Many people watch fictional movies compared to those who prefer documentaries, but the former often twist reality to make the plot more enjoyable. This is why many viewers end up believing a lot of myths.

The sun isn’t yellow.

Maybe movie creators don’t want to show things that might not look the way we’re used to seeing them. The sun appears to be yellow because our atmosphere distorts its color. And if you travel to space, you will see the truth: it’s white. Unless you’re a movie character, of course, because in movies, the sun is always yellow.

A person’s rights aren’t read during an arrest.

The scenes in movies where rights are read to suspects look pretty silly: a person is put into the car and told that they have the right to remain silent and anything they say might be used against them in a court of law. What can they see, and what are they being asked about? The rights have to be read, but not during an arrest.

It’s called the Miranda warning: a suspect should learn their rights before an interrogation. Without warning, the confessions have no legal power.

DNA can’t be preserved in amber for a long time.

In Jurassic Park, for example, scientists extract a DNA sample of a dinosaur from a mosquito that bit one and got preserved in amber. Of course, this is only possible thanks to some writers’ imaginations because DNA decomposes, and amber is not the best for storing it. Unfortunately, we can’t extract the DNA of real dinosaurs. And if there’s a place where we should look for it, it’s in permafrost conditions.

Instant communication across vast distances is impossible.

Sometimes, writers think that if we can speak to someone from a different continent in real time, we can do it with astronauts in space. Well, we have bad news for them: they are breaking the laws of physics. We can talk to someone on the moon, but if someone is on the surface of Mars, it’s impossible. Even if we send a signal at the speed of light, it will take around 12.5 minutes to reach Mars.

Sharks can’t sense a drop of blood from miles away.

These predators have a great sense of smell, but it’s exaggerated in movies. While some sharks can detect blood at one part per million, that hardly qualifies as the entire ocean. And judging by the results of experiments, human blood doesn’t interest them. Of course, it’s better not to swim in open water with an open wound where sharks might be lurking.

It’s pointless to ask bartenders about visitors.

Even if you come to a bartender with a photo of a suspect, most likely, they will not remember anything. And offering them $100 won’t help. Bartenders see hundreds of people daily; unless it’s a robot, like in Passengers, bartenders can’t memorize all these faces.

Mice don’t like cheese.

It’s not clear what the origins of this misconception are, but today, mice and cheese are inseparable in mass culture. And cheese is probably the last thing mice would eat if they had a choice.

In an experiment, mice were offered cheddar cheese, grapes, and peanuts. And in most cases, they would run toward peanuts, and sometimes they would choose grapes, but never cheese. Maybe they prefer more expensive types of cheese over cheddar.

The good cop and bad cop approach is not very practical.

This approach is such an overused cliché that suspects often recognize it in modern movies, while older movies show it as a very effective method. It’s the popularity of this approach that made it useless. Ultimately, the bad cop might make the suspect not want to talk to them.

Photographic memories don’t exist.

Many movie and TV show characters can memorize things with incredible accuracy, like Mike from Suits and Lisbeth from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But, in fact, there is no evidence that it’s possible.

There’s highly superior autobiographical memory detected in less than 100 people worldwide. But it’s not the same thing. People with this condition don’t remember things better than others, but they can recall what they ate on a particular day 10 years ago.

You can’t dye your hair blonde without discoloration.

We don’t know what wonderful products movie characters use, but somehow they manage to avoid the discoloration part of the process. They just use the dye, and boom — their hair is white as snow.

The problem is the dye can’t just cover dark hair. You will most likely end up having the same hair color, but the hair will be really dry. Plus, you can never dye your hair without gloves like the character from Red Sparrow.

What other movie clichés are you tired of?