# Are you annoyed over fatual inaccuracies in works of fiction?



## Staffan (Nov 15, 2011)

Well, are you? This time with multiple choices. Just select you answer and preferences.


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## Flatlander (Feb 25, 2012)

The "T" in my answer is Tenuous.

It depends, for me. I wouldn't pick up a piece of fiction and expect it to conform to the concrete facts of the world outside the fiction. However, I will pick up on the general principles and framework of the piece as I am reading, and that which deviates will naturally stand out.


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

Yeah, its really annoying. I watch a lot of horror movies, or just supernatural thriller, and when they get the characteristics of the entities wrong (there are lots of accounts of these things from witness observation -- and for example, vampires do not sparkle, demons do not collect your photographs from another house to spook you, ghosts do not appear as actual people to a group of people, they can't affect the physical world much at all, etc.) - so I just get really aggravated watching ridiculous things happen in horror movies where they obviously haven't done their research. I mean if they want to start from scratch and completely make up a paranormal entity then whatever -- like critters, these little mean furry things allegedly from space. Whatever, maybe there are things like that, but in all the accounts of the more popular paranormal entities, they share certain characteristics which make a lot of stories ludicrous. Oh, and they really foul up 'psychic phenomena' in a lot of movies too, making it this godly power. Ugh.


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## Staffan (Nov 15, 2011)

That's pretty much how I think too. I don't mind if there is a made-up town in Alaska that isn't on the map. But I would mind if it enjoyed a long and warm summer with palm trees growing everywhere.


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## Staffan (Nov 15, 2011)

Promethea said:


> Yeah, its really annoying. I watch a lot of horror movies, or just supernatural thriller, and when they get the characteristics of the entities wrong (there are lots of accounts of these things from witness observation -- and for example, vampires do not sparkle, demons do not collect your photographs from another house to spook you, ghosts do not appear as actual people to a group of people, they can't affect the physical world much at all, etc.) - so I just get really aggravated watching ridiculous things happen in horror movies where they obviously haven't done their research. I mean if they want to start from scratch and completely make up a paranormal entity then whatever -- like critters, these little mean furry things allegedly from space. Whatever, maybe there are things like that, but in all the accounts of the more popular paranormal entities, they share certain characteristics which make a lot of stories ludicrous. Oh, and they really foul up 'psychic phenomena' in a lot of movies too, making it this godly power. Ugh.


Yes, it's definitely the sort of thing that will break the illusion and ruin an otherwise well crafted movie. Like "The Fourth Kind" in case you've seen it. It could have been scary if I hadn't known anything about alien abductions.


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

Staffan said:


> Yes, it's definitely the sort of thing that will break the illusion and ruin an otherwise well crafted movie. Like "The Fourth Kind" in case you've seen it. It could have been scary if I hadn't known anything about alien abductions.


Hah.. yep, that is a good example. I saw it in the theater.. the owl was creepy but the bullshit alien stuff was just too far-fetched. *Waits for someone who knows nothing about the paranormal to tell me that -anything- about the paranormal is far-fetched. x_x* 

: D


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## Geo (Mar 30, 2012)

Sometimes. I generally don't mind factual inaccuracies, unless:
a) they are glaring.
b) they impair the believeability of the story (probably often overlaps with a) ).
c) the author explicitly or implicitly suggests he's telling the truth.


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## paper lilies (Dec 6, 2011)

I selected sometimes.
I tend to get more amused than annoyed.
Like, "Hah! I just spotted a factual inaccuracy. Am I smart or am I smart?"
Maybe not that grandiose but, you get the picture.


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## Staffan (Nov 15, 2011)

paper lilies said:


> I selected sometimes.
> I tend to get more amused than annoyed.
> Like, "Hah! I just spotted a factual inaccuracy. Am I smart or am I smart?"
> Maybe not that grandiose but, you get the picture.


That's ok, as long as you do it afterwards. There's nothing worse than a smarty pants who makes remarks during the show and ruins it for everybody else.


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## basementbugs (Apr 5, 2012)

Sometimes... maybe leaning ever so slightly more towards 'yes'. It really depends on the type of story and the context. I'm an INFP.


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## FreeSpirit (Jun 1, 2011)

I don't want my movies realistic. I've got real life for that...
however, it does depend totally on how it's done to whether
a fantastical element makes the movie better or worse.

Take, for example, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There
are a billion Chinese action movies with people fighting on
wires, looking totally ridiculous- and then there's this:






I remember when this scene started up when I went to see this
in the movie theater... in the first couple of seconds of someone
floating up into the air, a couple people started laughing like they
expected this movie to start getting stupid. A couple of minutes
after that, you could feel everyone in the audience totally accept
the movie's self-reality- everyone was on the edge of their seat.


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## FreeSpirit (Jun 1, 2011)

As for glaring factual inaccuracies:






*But who cares?! This scene is #$%#$ great.*

Here's a vid on why this is inaccurate:


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## paper lilies (Dec 6, 2011)

Staffan said:


> That's ok, as long as you do it afterwards.


Don't worry. It's always in my head. Never aloud.


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## Jewl (Feb 28, 2012)

Not really, but sometimes. ^^ Usually if it starts bashing on an internal value that the author _obviously knows nothing about_ and fails miserably at actually explaining it... ENFP here.


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## Staffan (Nov 15, 2011)

FreeSpirit said:


> I don't want my movies realistic. I've got real life for that...
> however, it does depend totally on how it's done to whether
> a fantastical element makes the movie better or worse.
> 
> ...


That's more the premise or rules of the story. Like the existence of vampires, time travel and so on. What I mean is when it's just wrong, even on its own terms. A realistic action movie would be like this (not very entertaining):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8shAeJ2nC20


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## Staffan (Nov 15, 2011)

FreeSpirit said:


> As for glaring factual inaccuracies:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think it would have annoyed me had I known it at the time. But that whole movie is so good it can afford it.


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## this is my username (Apr 15, 2011)

noisy explosions in space???????????


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## Staffan (Nov 15, 2011)

this is my username said:


> noisy explosions in space???????????


Yes, that's exactly what I mean. That's just stupid. I don't get how anyone can be ok with it.


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

It really depends on what the error is & the context of the error. I tend to focus on the main themes, the over all story, how well written the dialogue is, character development, etc. Errors of fact may mean little to me if the rest of it is well done. I actually notice "errors" of human behavior most, as in, people doing & saying things that are unrealistic without a plot/story/character quirk to explain it.

An example of this is when people answer & hang up the phone without any greeting/goodbye in movies/TV. Few people do that IRL. Another is when their phrasing is unnatural for someone from their region/nationality (and it's not a character quirk...just bad writing or relying on movie cliches). Or when no characters have cell phones, despite taking place in present day.


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## AW10 (Apr 9, 2012)

My answer is no. The more unrealistic it is, the more I like it. I even write fantasy book myself.


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