Watching TV and movies are some of the best ways to unwind and escape real life. But sometimes, real life finds you while you’re watching. It’s the moments when a show or film gets it COMPLETELY wrong, and suddenly you’re pulled out of the story.
1.
“As a teacher, it drives me crazy when they show a perfectly behaved, quiet class, with only a handful of students in it…On top of that, the room happens to be perfectly decorated. In these movies, none of the students interrupt, they never crack jokes, and are never distracted. It’s super unrealistic and TBH, feeds into the belief that teaching is ‘easy’ or that anyone can do it. Real teaching is stressful on a good day, so it always takes me out of the movie when that happens.”
—acbabe155
2.
“I dislike when people drive by moving the steering wheel from side to side. The car would be zig zagging on the road!”
—kavabuggy
3.
“What I especially hate is when actors play musical instruments they have no clue how to play. Like, they are supposed to play a Bach partita on the cello, but the fingering is all wrong, there’s no vibrato in the left hand, and the bow doesn’t even touch the strings. I mean, I totally get subbing out the sound, because unless someone is a professional, it’s going to sound terrible. But hell, take a few lessons and learn the piece so at least it looks like you know what you are doing! Some of the better productions use hand stand-ins that actually do the playing, and while it’s obvious they’re not the actor’s hands, it takes me out of the movie far less than hearing professionally played music but looking at an incompetent crap show.”
—pamelaehn
4.
“In a lot of films, characters don’t bother locking the doors when they get home. This especially does my head in when it’s a horror film — they’re basically inviting the killer to come inside.”
—ravenbard
5.
“My biggest pet peeve is the myth Hollywood keeps perpetuating that CPR is done because someone has stopped breathing. Granted, while someone in cardiac arrest might stop breathing, the point of CPR is not to get someone breathing again. It’s to keep their heart pumping until medical help arrives. If your patient has a pulse, they don’t need CPR. But nobody even checks a pulse, they all just go ‘they’re not breathing, start CPR!’ It takes me out every time. Looking at you, season one finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer .”
—lobster_lemon_lime
7.
“Nearly every single time a horse is involved in movies or TV, the rider just leaves the horse standing with its reins when they dismount. Keep a hold on the reins unless you want to walk home.”
—ivoryblue
8.
“Whenever someone opens a gift, it’s wrapped Hollywood-style, meaning the lid is completely covered and separate from the box. No one wraps gifts like that! It’s probably so some poor props person doesn’t have to keep wrapping and re-wrapping with every take, but it drives me crazy! The only movie I can recall where the gifts are wrapped normally is The Christmas Story.”
—awfulgiant296
9.
“When characters are reading an ancient text or runes and it translates to perfect english that rhymes?? The trope frequently pops up in children’s movies, but surely a kid can pay attention even without a little rhyme. I’m looking at you, Mr. Peabody & Sherman!”
—mollyindeed
10.
“When people leave the lights on in every room when leaving the house or when they keep the water running while doing anything but use it — so wasteful. I always wondered if people in the US actually live like this?”
—joyfulowl584
11.
“Tattoos. They’re always pitch black. I’m sorry, but did you get that done yesterday?”
—savoryorca961
12.
“Purses and suitcases that obviously have nothing in them because the purse is super flat and the suitcases are lifted like they weigh as much as a feather.”
—kavabuggy
13.
“Being underwater does not sound like a living room aquarium.”
—radeggplant77
14.
“When there’s plenty of light underground or in a cave.”
—originalstar841
16.
“When they never get stuck in traffic and miraculously find a parking spot right in front of the building downtown of a big city. Back when 24 was on, I wanted to see an episode that was just Jack Bauer sitting in a traffic jam and circling around for a parking spot while shouting: ‘Dammit, there’s no time!'”
—chillkid73
17.
“People over the age of 30 drinking multiple shots of alcohol but still being functional. I just watched a show where a character in his 40s drinks four measures of scotch, goes home and drinks some more, and somehow goes to his job in the middle of the night. Somehow he’s completely coherent throughout instead of passed out halfway through his second drink, only to wake up with the mother of all hangovers because he had more than one drink after 8 p.m.”
—janes4c411b247
18.
“Looking through binoculars, you should see a circle not an 8 on its side. That drives me nuts.”
—homeywizard467
19.
“I hate when they pour a glass of milk and don’t put the milk back in the refrigerator.”
—freshcoach341
20.
“It always drives me nuts when people make plans over the phone, but don’t specify what time they’re meeting. That stuff drives me crazy. Also, nobody just hangs up. People say goodbye in real life.”
—juliah40b3090f4
“Or how about this: They say, ‘I’ve got something incredibly important to tell you, but I can’t say it over the phone — I’ll tell you in person.’ But then they get killed or kidnapped on the way to meet that person. Lazy writing.”
—hwh
21.
“You can always spot when someone holding knitting needles was actually taught how to knit (even at the most basic, beginner level), and when they were just told, ‘Um, move the needles like you are knitting, ok?’ Kudos to Renee Zellweger in Chicago for actually taking a couple of real knit stitches when she’s at the witness stand trying to pretend to be domestic and motherly! But the best of all is knitters depicted in illustrations, especially cartoons. It’s bizarre how many people seem to think that knitters hold the needles vertically while they’re working with them!”
—etconner
22.
“Watches switching from left wrist to right wrist instead of staying put. Same thing with wedding rings.”
—lunaamethyst8124
23.
“I don’t like the slow motion walking. It looks ridiculous. Like it’s supposed to be dramatic but it’s just stupid.”
—crispyjaguar243
24.
“For me, it’s when characters write a letter or note and they keep ripping the pages out after only writing one sentence. Therefore, they wasted dozens of pieces of paper, and I cannot help but think of all the trees that are dying as a result of that scene.”
—kaliland
Honestly, I couldn’t agree more with some of these. What about you? Drop your biggest TV and movie pet peeves in the comments!
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