Things We All Have Been Taught By Hollywood, That Are Wrong
Anti-Radiation pills
Hollywood would have you believe that you can survive in a radiation hazardous environment by simply taking enough iodine pills. Twice this year, 2023, I have seen a desperate hero recover from radiation induced weakness by getting to his pills, and having another go at the villain.
How this myth came about is easy to track down. In areas where there is a nuclear reactor, households are issued iodine pills in case of a reactor melt-down. The Russians verified this after Chernobyl, that the single most life saving treatment was iodine.
And all this is true. If a reactor near you releases radioactive materials, one of the things you should do is take an iodine pill, or a couple of multivitamins with iodine. But not too many though, as Vitamin 'A' does have a toxic level, about 25,000 IUs. About equal to about 5 pills. After that, do not ingest anything. AT ALL.
Mask up, wear long sleeve clothing and put distance between you and the reactor. Depending on the wind, double the distance reduces your exposure by a factor of 4 or more.
Hollywood writers are touting iodine pills as this magic protection because they only know one thing, and haven't bothered to do any research into it. One of the elements created in reactor meltdowns is irradiated iodine. When in your system, the iodine finds it's way to your thyroid, of which we all are to lesser or greater extent, deficient, and then chemically binds to it. Taking the iodine pills first, will fill all those holes, so when the irradiated iodine gets there, it finds no place to bind, and is eliminated. Any irradiated iodine that binds to the thyroid will be emitting highly energetic alpha particles and kill your thyroid.
Radioactive iodine has a half life of 8 days. So each one that binds, is irradiating your thyroid for 8 days. Then, half of them for another 8 days. Growing steadily weaker all the time. After 32 days, the iodine is emitting only 1/16th the radiation it did on day 1. But if there are no slots to bind, the iodine will be eliminated on the same day. What radiation it does emit will be spread out over the whole body, and not concentrated in any one place.
Accounting the half life of iodine, after a year, the amount of iodine still radiated is one over 70 trillion the original amount. Effectively zero. Other radioactive particles are still present, each with their own reduced values depending on their half life values. Some are less than 8 days, but a lot are more.
So having the hero taking these magic iodine pills 40 years after Chernobyl isn't going to do dink.
Walking with a cane
The actor Hugh Laurie of "House", has done no favors for people learning to use a cane for the first time. Some people get a cane, and imitate his scrunched over walk, and possibly doing more damage to their legs and posture before being corrected. See here...
He walks with his cane and damaged leg are on the same side. This is not the proper use for walking with a cane. The cane rules state that with a hip problem the cane should always be used on the opposite side to change the D2 lever arm (Click here for a lesson on this)
So why does he walk that way? If you google why Hugh Laurie is doing it wrong, you will find all kinds of "justification" by the producers of the show that his condition is different and it is really correct.
But really it is because they don't want to admit he was just doing it wrong.
Once you see it, you cannot unsee it, and I have seen movies in black and white, with actors using the cane both incorrectly and correctly. They are just acting. Emphasizing the condition for the sake of the character in the story. I would bet plays in the centuries past would see the same behaviors
Proper CPR techniques
Everyone has seen CPR being done. Hero takes turns bouncing on the chest between force breaths upon a heart attack victim.
But until Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest in front of millions of Buffalo Bills fans, no one has seen it done correctly on television.
First thing to do is to clear the area. This includes removal of all clothing around the chest area. Including cutting the bra off if necessary.
So the reason Hollywood never does it right has to do with modesty. But don't think you know how CPR is done because you have "seen it" a thousand times on TV. Take a course.
Air Duct Sizes.
Air ducts come in all sizes. The bigger the area needing air, the bigger the ducts.
Or more importantly, the more the hero needs to get around in secret, the bigger the air ducts.
I have worked on air ducts feeding entire hospital wings. Getting in them is not possible.
Now the main trunk lines for a major building could take a human. The problem is that line then sprouts smaller ducts that go to the actual rooms. So the hero isn't going to have that dramatic access just in a nick of time.
And when have you ever seen ribbons on an actual air duct showing air is flowing?
Helmets Must be Useless.
A movie hero will throw away his helmet as soon as he gets into combat. Protection value be damned, an actors face time is the primary concern in any sword fight.
Ranged Weapons are Useless.
Ranged weapons have been effective for over 300 years now. Why else would armies issue them to the rank and file troops. But Hollywood would have you believe they are good for about two shots, and both will miss, and then it's hand-to-hand combat. How man episodes of Star Trek, end in a brawl, after a million tons of high tech equipment fail to protect their captain and crew?
On Strangulation.
Hollywood would have you believe that to strangle someone would take under a minute. Often under 15 seconds. While you can put someone to sleep by cutting off blood flow to the brain, it takes about 4-5 minutes of constant pressure to cause death.
On Silencers
Hollywood silencers are often portrayed as the size of a champagne cork, with the weapon making a barely audible "phump" sound. Real silencers are significantly larger. And louder. Here is one chart.
- Library whisper – 30 db
- Emergency vehicle siren – 115 db
- Silenced .22 rifle – 116 db
- Thunder – 120 db
- Silenced 9mm pistol – 125 db
- Dish breaking – 129 db
- Jackhammer – 130 db
- Silenced .223 rifle – 134 db
- Silenced 12 gauge shotgun – 137 db
- Jet taking off – 150 db
- Non-silenced 12 gauge shotgun – 160 db
- Non-silenced .223 rifle – 165 db
20 db difference is 10 times louder. So a silenced 9mm pistol is almost as louder than thunder in the background.
