A couple months ago, I wrote about a Reddit thread that asked people what things instantly ruin movies for them. Since there were so many good comments on my post, I decided to write about even more things that fully ruin movies for people!
1. "Houses are immaculately decorated with new furniture. At Christmas time, every door and window is surrounded with garlands. Thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of garlands. But, 'We may have to move out tomorrow because mom doesn't have the rent.'"
2. "When people are texting and there's no chat history. It's very clear that this isn't the first time they've texted this person so why make it look that way?"
3. "How about movies where teenagers are able to solve a crime before seasoned detectives can?"
4. "In every historical movie, you have the Cough: the surreptitious look at the handkerchief followed by them quickly hiding the handkerchief. We all know it’s got blood on it. OH LORD, IT’S THE CONSUMPTION!"
5. "Women in action movies ALWAYS have the same 'injury': just a small cut on their upper cheek after being basically thrown out of a helicopter. Just enough to make her look 'tough,' but not enough that it'll ruin her beauty."
6. "Empty suitcases! Characters on their way to the airport lift suitcases into the car with one finger. Spot it every time."
7. "The way mental health wards are portrayed; people in straitjackets or bouncing off the walls. It is not like that and that reinforces very dangerous stereotypes most people have about serious mental illness. I have worked in mental health wards where we have movie nights or cook together or just hang out. It infuriates me!!!!"
8. "When straight couples lie in bed, the woman always has to cover her boobs, unlike the man. Don’t understand our obsession (or fear apparently) of females' nipples."
9. "It's a small thing but when the plants are very obviously plastic, it kind of bugs me."
10. "When there just happens to be a missing person’s poster that JUST showed up right before the wanted person walked in the door. Or the wanted person’s face is on the TV RIGHT when they walk in the store."
11. "When people in movies wake up looking immaculate, with perfect hair and makeup, no greasy skin or bags under their eyes, and just generally look amazing. No one that I know wakes up looking that perfect. It’s so unrealistic."
12. "I've been in pretty brutal wreckage and damage. I've never walked on a neat pathway cleared through it."
13. "I hate when there's a 'smart' character, and then a hot character we didn't know was smart comes by and is like, 'Hey...are those numbers?' And the smart one is like, 'OMG, you've heard of numbers before??? No one else here knows what numbers are. I'm in LOVE!!!!'"
14. "I hate when there’s water on the camera lens. Like it’s raining and they make a point of showing water dripping down the lens. I don’t want to be reminded that this is a movie???"
15. "Female throws up. Boom, must be pregnant. Zero symptoms before the vomiting or has no idea until a friend says, 'Maybe you're pregnant.'"
16. "I don't like the portrayal of dissociative identity disorder (previously known as split personalities) in the media. It's always used as an excuse to have a violent killer alter, when in reality most people with DID are more likely to be victims of violence."
17. "It’s the random shower scene that has nothing to do with the story for me!"
18. "I hate when a building falls and you're supposed to run, the characters just stand there until the building almost falls on them and then they start running. When the building falls, I'm like, 'Ugh, just run, why the hell are you still standing there???'"
19. "When people have to take medications and they are always carrying a pill case around, shake out a couple, and just swallow them dry during random moments."
20. "Female (and male!) characters always being perfectly groomed — clean hair, perfect white teeth, smooth hairless pits and legs, etc. — even when they’ve been marooned on a desert island for months or when the film is set in the 1500s. Puhlease."
21. And finally, of course, "Not saying goodbye on a phone call. Bugs me every time! I swear it must be a Hollywood inside joke at this point to just have characters hang up. They know how much it annoys us and keep doing it anyway!"
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.