18 "Facts" From Movies That Are Not Facts At All — Like, They're 100% False
Movies and TV can be a treasure trove of information.
For instance, I learned that you cannot get your hair wet for 48 hours after a perm from Legally Blonde, and that there's no post on Sundays from Harry Potter.
But some of that knowledge — even when it pops up in MULTIPLE shows and movies — is straight-up false.
Fox
Here are 18 times TV and movies taught us incorrect "facts" and made us look like damn fools:
1.That Twinkies could survive the apocalypse.
Sony Pictures Releasing
In a myth popularized in movies like Zombieland and shows like The Simpsons, Twinkies are said to have so many artificial ingredients that they could last years.
In actuality, their shelf life is 45 days. A Maine classroom doing an experiment has kept a Twinkie for decades, and while it hasn't fallen apart, it has turned gray and inedible.
2.That people use only 10% of their brain.
This idea was propagated by the action film Lucy.
Every part of the brain has a function, and even simple tasks use far more than 10% of the brain — scientists have confirmed this with PET and fMRI machines mapping brain activity.
3.That you can be swallowed up by quicksand.
NBC
We've seen it in shows like Days of Our Lives and adventure movies like the Indiana Jones films, but it actually has no basis in reality.
Because people are mostly water, they float even in quicksand — and while you can definitely get stuck, you won't sink to the point where it's pulling your head under. It's still dangerous, though!!
4.That mice and rats love cheese.
Pixar
This has been in SO many movies and TV shows, but the above GIF is obviously from Ratatouille.
In fact, they like cheese no more than they do any other available food. The myth may come from rats often chewing cheese wheels in people's cupboards and pantries — but this is likely just because it was a large amount of food in one spot that's easy to get to and sneak around in.
5.That if you don't read someone their Miranda rights, they can be released.
While it's still a major oversight not to be read your rights — and will definitely help your case if you go to trial — it only means that anything you say prior to being read your Miranda rights will not be admissible in court.
Police are under no obligation to release you if they have other evidence, which is likely if you were arrested.
6.That urine is sterile.
20th Century Fox
You've probably heard this sentiment in movies like Fight Club and Dodgeball — but it's actually false.
Urine isn't sterile at all — it has bacteria in it. And you should not drink it unless you absolutely have to in order to survive — in which case you should drink it immediately after it leaves your body so it doesn't attract further bacteria.
7.Similarly, that peeing on a jellyfish sting stops the stinging.
NBC
While it's possible that some parts of urine (like ammonia) may help, others (like sodium) may make it worse. Sea water would be better, though it also has salt.
8.That lightning won't strike the same place twice.
It actually strikes the same place often, especially tall things like the Empire State Building.
9.That wolf packs have an alpha.
MTV
This idea is common in pop culture, even among werewolf films and shows like Teen Wolf.
They do have parents — which are in charge the same way human parents are — but there is no "alpha" or "beta" or "omega" in wild wolf packs.
10.That absinthe can make you hallucinate.
20th Century Fox
When I was younger and saw this Moulin Rouge scene, I totally thought that if I ever drank absinthe, I, too, would see a magical green fairy.
Absinthe is just like any other high-proof drink. It'll get you drunk, but it has no hallucinogenic properties — not even back in the day.
The compound thujone was thought to cause the hallucinations — leading to bans on absinthe and regulations about how much thujone bottles can contain — but researchers eventually discovered that no bottle of absinthe had enough thujone to cause those types of effects.
11.That piranhas attack humans and are exclusively carnivorous.
The Weinstein Co.
According to horror films like Piranha 3D, piranhas are deadly, vicious creatures.
In reality, it would take about 300 to 500 piranhas to eat a human, and while there is some evidence of piranhas eating human flesh, it's in cases where the person was already dead. Also, many piranhas are omnivores, and some are even vegetarians.
12.And that sharks attack humans unprovoked.
Universal Pictures
Thanks for a lifelong unfounded fear of sharks, Jaws.
Humans are not a part of sharks' natural diet, and they'd prefer to eat something else. Sharks rarely attack humans, and if they do, it may only be because they were curious or confused — studies show that they may mistake humans on surfboards as seals or sea lions.
13.That King Tut's tomb has a curse inscribed that threatens anyone who disturbs it.
No such inscription exists now, and it's unlikely that it ever did. Instead, it seems to have been a claim invented by journalists or by excavator Howard Carter to keep people away from the tomb. Similar phrases have been used in past literature about other tombs and graves, which is probably where they got it from.
14.That dying elephants go off to an "elephant graveyard" to die.
Disney
Not The Lion King!!
This is nothing more than a myth. While skeletons are sometimes found in the same spot, this is likely because there was softer vegetation there for older elephants whose teeth had worn down, so they moved to that area when they were close to death, or because elephants were gathering around one of the last food sources during a drought or famine when they died.
15.That Philip Schuyler had only daughters.
While this is a more recent myth, it certainly became widespread as Hamilton (and its filmed version) took the world by storm.
In fact, Philip had 15 kids, though only eight survived to be adults — three of those eight being boys.
16.That it's scientifically unrealistic for bees (and bumblebees specifically) to be able to fly.
Bee Movie is full of LIES!
If you compare them with an airplane, sure, it doesn't make sense. But bees are not at all like airplanes — they flap their wings back and forth, not up and down, creating small vortices that lift the bees up.
17.That humans, sabertooth tigers, and woolly mammoths were alive at the same time as dinosaurs.
20th Century Fox
This idea is pretty prevalent in cartoons like The Flintstones and Ice Age.
While humans did live at the same time as sabertooth tigers and woolly mammoths, dinosaurs were long extinct by that time (unless you're counting their evolutionary descendants, birds).
18.And finally, that "irregardless" is not a word. It very much is — it just means "regardless."
Paramount Pictures
We owe Gretchen from Mean Girls an apology.
