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People Describe The Things Hollywood Has Tricked Us Into Believing

People Describe The Things Hollywood Has Tricked Us Into Believing
izayah ramos on Unsplash

Life lesson number one... don't believe anything you see in the movies.

Even biopics are riddled with lies. That's why it's called illusion and entertainment.

I love Hollywood for a lot of reasons, but I stopped believing long ago.

Tim Allen isn't Santa. Star Wars isn't real.

And when your car flies off an embankment, crashes into a tree and is on fire?

You're dead. The end.

Don't hold out hope.

It's good to believe in the magic, that's the fun.

But real life... not so much magic.


Redditorbrotherbrother99wanted to break down all the ways Hollywood has bamboozled us, they asked:

"What are things Hollywood has tricked the general population into believing?"

I mean where do I begin? Sadly I don't believe we can finish our life issues after we've died. I hate that.

ER Issues

"Paramedics are constantly running and push the stretcher into the ER at breakneck speed with doctors and nurses running alongside down the hallways."

Downwhen

"Once the patient is stable in their room though everyone in the hospital appears to turn out the lights and clock out for the night."

myhairsreddit

I Dont Like You Season 3 GIFGiphy

Filthy Truth

"That LA is clean and Hollywood is glamorous (LA is not clean and Hollywood the neighborhood has some of the worst homelessness and after leaving a show on Sunday I nearly walked through piss steaming downhill right off Hollywood boulevard)."

kippers

"LA is gross. When I lived there I remember sitting in a bar one afternoon with my room-mate, and striking up a conversation with a couple of (male) tourists from England who told me they were very disappointed with LA."

"They thought it was going to be like 'Baywatch' (this was the 90's). My room-mate and I were absolutely shocked anyone would think such a thing about a place because of it's depiction on a fictional T.V. show. We laughed about it for years, but it was always tinged with a sadness because of how dumb people actually are."

Librarywoman

Strength Tests

"You can hold all of another person's weight with one arm hanging off a cliff."

WoogzDaBoogz

"And then haul them up! Unless they're wearing a glove, in which case they're dead meat."

Budget-Falcon767

"Me who can barely do 10 pull-ups, and no muscle Ups. Guess I'll die."

Orinslayer

BOOM!!

"You can outrun a giant explosion."

CoolIceCreamCone

"My dad used to be on the state police bomb squad. He said they had one case where a guy in a bomb suit was diffusing a bomb, and accidentally set the bomb off with some static electricity buildup on his hands. The pressure wave quite literally liquified the guy in the bomb suit and they had to scrape what was left of him off of the inside of it."

DoctorWatchamacallit

KO!

"Knocking people out with a blow to the skull or jaw is a harmless way to temporarily incapacitate."

uuuuuuuhburger

Pro Wrestling Sport GIF by ALL ELITE WRESTLINGGiphy

Any hit to the head is a bad idea. Brain bleeds are super easy to fall victim to.

On the Inside

"Air conditioning ducts are an easy way to sneak through buildings."

Artysupport7757

"And without a speck of dust."

incredibleinkpen

bart simpson episode 20 GIFGiphy

It's Over

"That CPR brings practically anybody back to life, no matter what happened to them."

defiantnd

"Yes. If someone’s heart stops, unless they are currently in the hospital, the changes of bringing them back with CPR are almost zero. Not zero, so it’s worth a try, but not very good. This is also true with animals, by the way."

Kayakchica

"And people who need CPR are just instantly stable as soon as CPR is over. No broken ribs, no brain damage, no follow-up needed."

9NotMyRealName3

pop the head...

"Sprinkler head pops easily and the water is clean. As a Fire Alarm Tech, the temperature to pop the head isn’t a low one and the water is usually black and smells disgusting."'

mrnicely876

"People also don't understand the difference between a smoke detector, and a fire detector."

"One is triggered by your popcorn burning. You can reset that one, and not cause any issues. The fire detector goes off with high temperatures, and is wired into the entire building alarm system. You can't reset it. We get so many false alarms in my building because people set off the smoke detector, and then try to reset the fire detector, instead. Then, the FD shows up."

Squigglepig52

"I'm in"

"Hackers that furiously tap on the keyboard for 30 seconds...'I'm in!'"

nestor515

"Yeah, if anyone that primarily does code is typing furiously, they are writing messages of some kind."

"I kinda want that to be part of a movie at some point. Like a hacker pretends to be doing movie hacking because the bad people are forcing them but they are actually secretly sending messages to the good team. Detailed descriptions and useful information, etc."

ak_doug

Perfect Family

"If i’m in high school and my mom or dad makes a huge breakfast to cover an entire dining room table, I’m going to be late to school that day cause ain’t no way I’m choosing school over the once in a lifetime breakfast and just grabbing a piece of toast 'gotta go or I'll be late!'”

thatswhat_shesaid1

Season 8 Nbc GIF by The OfficeGiphy

Grenade for You!

"You can pull the tab off a hand grenade with your teeth, it’s more like the tab of the grenade pulls your teeth out."

Accio_sanity

"This fallacy actually originated during the Vietnam conflict (I think. Might have been Korea). Soldiers would un-bend the legs of the safety pin to make them easier to pull out. Mostly this was so they could throw the grenade with one hand while continuing to fire with the other.""

"It's incredibly unsafe and has been cited as the cause of tons of accidents, but when you're being shot at THAT much, you tend to be okay with taking your chances since the odds are so bad anyways. Same thing with hanging grenades by the pin. One should NEVER do that, but when it came down to defensive fighting, soldiers would do that so they could arm the grenade simply by pulling it off their vest."

brocktavius

In the Sky

"That helicopters can sneak up out of nowhere."

CaseyBoudreau

"While it's an extreme example, we have RAF Chinooks pass over at least twice a week and you can hear them clearly about 10 minutes before they pass. The last minute before they pass the windows will be rattling audibly. As an aviation fan I enjoy it quite a bit but I've seen plenty of complaints on the village facebook group."

StonkDreamer

Pull the Lever

"Fire alarm pull stations setting off the sprinkler system."

Skuddy587

"I want to add to this. I pulled a fire alarm due to a fire, our receptionist had to get on the speaker to inform everyone that it was not a drill and to exit the building. When fire alarms are pulled in a movie, people either panic or calmly leave. The reality I witnessed included people just staring into it like a camp fire and/or ignoring the very loud alarm."

Wolfrost1919

No Rules!

"That mavericks who play by their own rules have a ridiculous amount of job security."

Doodle_Brush·

"This is my biggest pet peeve when I come across it in the real world. The people who think they are super competent so they don’t have to be nice or play by the rules. I refer to it as Sherlock Holmes Syndrome. Most of the time these folks aren’t half as good as they think they are either."

Schorsi

Tom Cruise Goose GIF by Top GunGiphy

Fly By...

"That missiles/RPG rounds are slow and easily dodge-able by a human. RPG rounds fly at 300m per second, you are not dodging that."

amra_the_lion

"When one is coming right at you, it looks slower than it actually is, similar to a train. Aaaand then it flies by and you realize it was hauling a**. Source: near-miss with an RPG, where I just looked at it dumbly."

RedGreenWembley

Gotta Eat!

"If I’m in high school and my mom or dad makes a huge breakfast to cover an entire dining room table, I’m going to be late to school that day cause ain’t no way I’m choosing school over the once in a lifetime breakfast and just grabbing a piece of toast 'gotta go or i’ll be late!'

thatswhat_shesaid1

Flesh Wound

"Bullets can be shrugged off like a flesh wound."

TheChainLink2

"Except when you’re a bad guy, then you die immediately when shot or stabbed. Unless you’re shot in the head or heart it can take several hours to die."

Trinytis

"You have to rip off a strip of your dirty t-shirt and tie it over it and you're all set!"

EurekaSm0ke

ZOOM

"That’s you can enhance photos despite the grain or pixelation. If you enlarge a photo you will not get a crystal clear image."

raisingambiguity

"Zoom and enhance is my least favorite Hollywood trope. What’s worse is I’ve seen several plots on tv shows resolved using that method, showing that in reality that killer or villain would easily have gotten away since enhancing to Hollywood levels isn’t a thing."

brettmbr

Walk of Yuck

"How glamorous the walk of fame is, Hollywood Blvd is dirty and full of cheap shops selling crap and homeless people."

Horace_P_MctittiesIV

Olivia Newton John Star GIF by Movistar+Giphy

Classic HS...

"Bullying. While classic high school and middle school movie bullying can be seen in real life, it’s realistically and commonly much less direct. It’s more passive-aggressive. Sometimes they even pretend to be nice but you can tell they’re only speaking to you because their friends find it funny, or it was a dare."

"Rarely will you see a jock push a nerd up against his locker. Students, in my experience, will immediately call them out for that. Bullying is a lot more complex, from what I’ve seen."

RafeReddits

Lies, lies and more lies. Hollywood has left us in a world confusion. I love isn't happily ever after...


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People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.