Why do people compare real tragedy to "movie scenes?"
 

Everytime you read something horrible its, "like it was in a movie" or some other great quote from some passer-by

Why dont people accept that this is REALITY and they have it backward, this isnt like a movie, this is REALITY you dumb ass. I dont get it, anyway, the little things i notice...

no idiot, its like reality, not a movie.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...alia-bushfires

Because people see extraordinary things, extreme carnage and violence depicted in excruciating up close detail in movies every day, but they might see something like that happen in real life once in or twice in a lifetime.

They reference the familiar.

thats a fine explanation, however, i think it shows not only lack of education, but lack of experience.

these are supposed to be the people fighting the problem, and should have something better to say than "its like a movie *hick up** just like in Terminator man"

there are so many other words that could be said.... again, just me...

it's an interview, he's making a reference to people who perhaps might not have ever seen a field of mutilated bodies with their own eyes...

Yes, I think movies should be compared to reality, not the other way around. But some people spend more time watching movies than living real life. That means they get affected more by movies than reality. This leads to the question, what's real and what's not real? As well as, do people control movies, or do movies control people?

someone who understands my point, they have it backward. and for those of who do not watch television, and are not glued to "action movies" I shake my head when I see the leading investigators on these problems, refer to it "like a movie scene."

Part of it has to do with collective memory and the fact that we don't share many of them except through film and tv. It is why people can talk about 911 together because we have collective memory of it even though we were all spread out when it was happening. When people can't think of a way to describe something they search for something they will have in common with the person they are describing it to so they can grasp it. Chances are they know what 'like in a movie' means.

= dumbing things down. Which proves my point. Lack of education on the part of those "saying it," and lack of education of those who "accept" this as news quote. What are we kids being handed a childrens book vesion of events?

I feel an intelligent person would have actually something better to say than that.

Yeah it does sound a bit dumb, but i guess when something does happen in real life "reality", chances are someone has watched a movie where the same thing kinda happened and this is an easier way that they can explain it to others.

"you know the scene in [insert movie name] where they couldn't escape, it was just like that"

Even although it might not be pretty accurate at all...

I don't know that I feel somebody wouldn't be intelligent simply because they spoke like that. I would say that maybe they aren't great at expressing themselves. If I were to say 'like in a movie' I would be talking about something specific which had been so similar to an actual scene in an actual film that I would feel the comparison was warranted. Some people just aren't fantastic at expressing themselves but it doesn't mean they aren't intelligent overall.

thank you, you understand too, and yes, not only is it DUMB, its most likely INACCURATE!

I have to shake my head when the "i don't watch tv" types seem to think they are somehow better than those who do. Its a stupid thing to say sure, just as stupid as every moron they put on the news who says "i never thought it would happen here". People say stupid things when cameras are shoved in their faces.

i didnt say anything about better than anybody thats silly

this is just one of those little things that irritate you threads :thumbsup

Back in college, my Media Studies professor kept harping on the theme of "postmodern sensibilities rooted in a spectator psychology". What you described below is within the orbit of this concept. Due to the saturation of media in our daily lives, real experiences are often unavoidably filtered through a prism of "manufactured reference points." Some Marxist scholars call this a form of "cultural schizophrenia" wrought (roll eyes) by capitalist consumerist culture.

I guess most people only really expect to see something incredible and horrific like that on tv, so that may be why when they see it for real it seems UNreal, and they end up saying "It's like something out of a movie" etc.

I mean, the only place I've seen a guy point a gun at another guy and blow a hole through his head is on tv, in movies and whatnot. If that happened for real before my eyes I'd be hard-pressed not to equate it with a movie scene, because it would seem unreal, unnatural...which it is.

I'm not saying it's dumb or smart, just exploring the mechanics of it.

They have to compare real life with something and movies are the closest thing they can refer to

Good post. :thumbsup

Because real life it's also fiction...