Faux Life: Things That Happen On TV But Not In Reality

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

What about school newspapers? We only had newspaper one year and that was every quarter. High schools always seem to have a big staff and articles. 

Who expose high-level corruption which leads to a big, victorious policy change - at the municipal level, at least, never mind school or district level.

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

Did any school have a diner where all the high school kids hung out?

We had a particular pizza joint we traditionally went to after big football games (but, this being Los Angeles, it wasn't Friday Night Lights up in the joint -- plenty of people never attended a single game, so for any particular game it wasn't a big crowd, mostly players and their friends, not random students [because kids with no personal connection to the team didn't tend to attend the game; our HS games were nowhere near interesting enough for someone who just likes football in general to care about]), but otherwise people availed themselves of many of the numerous local dining options when hanging out.  Plus, we were more likely to grab an after-school snack at someone's house - or, gasp, our own, since we didn't all travel in a pack once school let out - than at a restaurant, as we only had so much money.  Even on weekends, no, there wasn't remotely one or even several places most students congregated. 

The only time I saw a significant portion of my classmates in one place outside school was senior year, when a classmate who lived down the street from the school hosted a graduation party open to all graduates (I went to a private HS, so this was a class far closer to 100 than 1000).  About half of us attended, and it was wild to socialize for the first time with some classmates I'd never previously seen outside of school.  

My closest experience to an After School Special was at that party, when I spent a nice chunk of time drinking, smoking, and chatting with a student I'd never given any thought to, and would probably have pictured him hanging out in his room if I had, and said something dumb like, "Wow, we could have partied together this whole year," to which he responded, "I wasn't invited to any of the parties you went to," and I said, "And I wasn't invited to any of the parties you went to."

Cliques definitely existed, but the hyper-exclusionary and viciously mean divisions that permeate TV didn't.  Individual people were jerks sometimes, but there was no little clique whose sole purpose was cultivating superiority and lording it over others at any expense.  In my entire elementary, junior, and high school experience, there are precisely two people I remember as 100% asshole so that I would laugh and laugh if I learned their lives had turned to utter shit in adulthood.

Because that's another divergence from my school years and those of TV characters -- I don't have a single shit to give, good or bad, for the kids I went to school with (and I don't remember a lot of them) other than my friends.  I am not walking around 30 years later harboring grudges.  Nothing was remotely bad enough to warrant that.  (Which doesn't mean that's true of everyone, or that no one should still be affected by things that happened then, just that I find it hard to believe the number of real people still fixated on childhood/teen grievances is less than those of TV characters, since for them whenever something from that time is raised anew it's all-consuming, whether a crush, rivalry, or battle.)

[Haleth]

14 hours ago, SusanM said:

but based on TV and Archie comic books it seemed to me that the whole town was invested in the high school football program.  I am assuming, at least in part, that a successful football team means extra money coming into the school somehow?

Absolutely and oh hell yes.  Friday Night Lights is a pretty accurate depiction of how crazy a community can be for its HS sports programs.  (Usually football but other sports can be so as well.)  It's ridiculous to put so much adulation and pressure on 16-18yo kids.  But as a way of promoting school spirit, especially Homecoming, it's a good thing, as long as it remains in perspective.  The football program can bring in tons of money for the school if it's successful.  My son played on his team and not only wore his jersey on game days, but he also was given a track suit and several tee shirts.  My daughter played on a very successful soccer team and they wore their jerseys on game day too.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Haleth

[Raja]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

Who expose high-level corruption which leads to a big, victorious policy change - at the municipal level, at least, never mind school or district level.

We had a particular pizza joint we traditionally went to after big football games (but, this being Los Angeles, it wasn't Friday Night Lights up in the joint -- plenty of people never attended a single game, so for any particular game it wasn't a big crowd, mostly players and their friends, not random students [because kids with no personal connection to the team didn't tend to attend the game; our HS games were nowhere near interesting enough for someone who just likes football in general to care about]), but otherwise people availed themselves of many of the numerous local dining options when hanging out.  Plus, we were more likely to grab an after-school snack at someone's house - or, gasp, our own, since we didn't all travel in a pack once school let out - than at a restaurant, as we only had so much money.  Even on weekends, no, there wasn't remotely one or even several places most students congregated. 

 

We used to take over the  Burger King across the street from West Angeles COGIC's original church after home football games for a couple of hours.

[Ohiopirate02]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

Because that's another divergence from my school years and those of TV characters -- I don't have a single shit to give, good or bad, for the kids I went to school with (and I don't remember a lot of them) other than my friends.  I am not walking around 30 years later harboring grudges.  Nothing was remotely bad enough to warrant that.  (Which doesn't mean that's true of everyone, or that no one should still be affected by things that happened then, just that I find it hard to believe the number of real people still fixated on childhood/teen grievances is less than those of TV characters, since for them whenever something from that time is raised anew it's all-consuming, whether a crush, rivalry, or battle.)

Same.  High school was high school for me--four years of my education that had to happen, but were not the "best years of my life."  I moved to a part of the country where my fellow students knew each other from daycare when I was in the 8th grade.  I still held the label of new kid in my senior year of high school.  I did form friendships with people from my church, but no one from my high school.  I did not attend my 10 year reunion because I did not feel the need to fly in to see people I had not kept in touch with.  I had no pressing desire to show my old bully my great life or check in on an ex-boyfriend or see just how well time had been to my former crush.  We are a pretty apathetic bunch, and no one bothered to plan the 20th reunion.  I may have gone to that, I am living closer to my high school now.  Or not, it really would have depended on if I had another option that weekend.  

[proserpina65]

16 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Our Homecoming Dance was on Saturday night.  I think the parade was Saturday morning after the football game on Friday night.

We didn't have lights on our football field when I was in high school, or if we did, they weren't very good.  All our football games were on Saturday afternoons.  The homecoming parade was before the game and the dance that night.

 

16 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Our prom was limited to Juniors and Seniors, unless you were the date of a Junior or Senior.  Homecoming and other dances were open to all students.

Same with ours.  And the prom was held in the high school gym.  All other dances were in the cafeteria.

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

I don't have a single shit to give, good or bad, for the kids I went to school with (and I don't remember a lot of them) other than my friends.  I am not walking around 30 years later harboring grudges.  Nothing was remotely bad enough to warrant that. 

I'm mostly the same, but I have to admit being secretly smug about the mean girls who got fat before our 30th high school reunion.

[AgathaC]

11 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Did any school have a diner where all the high school kids hung out? My school never had that. What about school newspapers? We only had newspaper one year and that was every quarter. High schools always seem to have a big staff and articles. 

My high school had a newspaper but it only up out one edition while I was there. The teacher responsible for it had some sort of mental breakdown and they didn’t replace her.

And definitely no teen hangout. The area around the high school was residential (rundown, at that). I guess the closest thing to a hangout would have been the mall, but mostly people just got together at friends’ houses.

Edited May 17, 2022 by AgathaC

[Danielg342]

My high school experience...well, where do I begin? I live in Ontario (Canada) which is where I also did my schooling, and, when I went to school, our system was quite different than the American system, so much so that Hollywood high school shows were confusing for me in my youth until I figured out the differences between the systems.

There were a few key differences. One, Canada doesn't have the "freshman/sophomore/junior/senior" designations in high school. We just extended the grade numbers past eight- meaning a "freshman" was in Grade 9, a sophomore is Grade 10, etc.

Secondly, when I was in high school, we had the option to take a fifth year, and if you were university bound- like I was- you had to take the fifth year because only then were the courses you needed to go to university available to you. So it wasn't so out of place to find people in high school who were taking a fifth year, because many did it.

Ontario has since reformed that part of the system, bringing it in line with other jurisdictions, so now we have- for better or for worse- just four years of high school.

Thirdly, I didn't have a middle school. I just had elementary school (kindergarten to Grade 8) and high school (Grades 9-13). So I had no middle school prom, but I did have an elementary graduation ceremony.

Oh, which reminds me- I actually went to my high school prom twice. Since one could graduate after Grade 12, prom was available then to dateless saps like me even though I was taking another year. Which I didn't mind...except both years I was dateless. I actually still had fun, though.

Lastly, Ontario has a publicly funded Catholic school system that is operated separately from the other public schools, which, as I understand, is a unique arrangement across all of North America. Aside from my final semester of high school, I spent all of my time in the Catholic school system.

No, I didn't wear a uniform, whether in elementary school or high school. My high school was actually an outlier in that we didn't have uniforms, though the school did eventually adopt them. They did so in an especially underhanded kind of way. In my Grade 12 year, the school held a vote asking students if they wanted to have a uniform policy implemented the following year. Since they anticipated most students would oppose wearing uniforms themselves, the school decided that anyone who, at that particular moment, was in 10th grade or beyond would not have to wear the uniforms, meaning only those who were in 9th grade (and any future students starting high school) would be required to wear the uniform starting the next year. Predictably, the students voted overwhelmingly in favour of them, since most realized the change would not affect them. I did not vote in favour because I saw through the tactic, but I'm also, in general, vehemently opposed to uniforms in general.

So, in short, I had a bit of a different experience navigating the high school system than the typical Hollywood teen because I had a different system entirely.

Other things about my high school experience...I actually kind of had two of them, since in my last year of high school I switched to the secular system (what we called the "public" system). They had quite a few differences, as you would expect.

My Catholic high school- the one that rigged the uniform vote- was, not surprisingly, liked talking tough about how we dressed. They were quite obsessive about it, really. Things got so bad that the Catholic school cranked up the AC so that students couldn't complain they were "too hot", and the school came up with a rule saying that all sleeveless tops were banned. Of course, the enforcement of said rule was haphazard at best, with several teachers disregarding it and some students getting dinged for it more than others.

Since the Catholic school was smaller, there weren't a lot of tiny cliques. There just seemed to be one large one and a few students who were outcasts, but, even then, I don't really think it mattered. I do remember sometimes obsessing about "fitting in" and making sure I was friends with "the right people" but, looking back, I made more of it than it actually was. Everybody just kind of had their group of friends, did their thing and that was it.

Not a huge sports culture over there, but the Catholic school did have a pretty decent basketball program. Still, their following would pale in comparison to what happens in the U.S.

I don't believe the Catholic school had a formal cheerleading unit...but we did have a dance team that showed up to sporting events. Make that of what you will.

The Catholic school didn't have a diner that "everyone" hung out at after school...in fact, the school was about a twenty minute walk to the closest restaurant in town (a Dairy Queen) so everyone went to the cafeteria. Which, predictably, got a monopoly on students paying for their lunch so they jacked their prices accordingly.

Then the secular high school...well, they too had a dress code, but it was pretty lax and I don't recall it ever getting enforced. The secular school also had, literally, four times the students of the Catholic school, so maybe that was why.

Still, I remember hearing a lot of stories about the secular school and how "bad" it was- not just that the students dressed trashy but also that it was dangerous and cliquey and had every bad entity you could think of and, well...once I stepped foot in there, it was nothing like that.

A few students may have dressed a little risqué...but I don't believe we were any worse dressed than what you'd see at the mall.

Since the school had so many students, cliques were non-existent. In fact, it was actually easier to find your niche and some students to hang out with. Just like at the Catholic school, most people just went about their business and nothing really happened.

The secular school was across the street from a few restaurants, but there was no one place everyone went to after school. Of course, this also meant skipping school was a lot easier than it was at my other school because places to escape to were much easier to find.

One thing that was common between both schools was the lack of a sports culture. The secular school was large enough to have a football team, but we didn't have a huge arena. In fact, the team wasn't very good. Actually, most of the secular school's sports teams were not that good, surprisingly. There was a cheerleading unit but no one seemed to make a big deal about it. I don't think anyone made a big deal about being a sports player- probably because our teams weren't that good.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering: no, neither school I went to had a hockey team. I don't know why.

Lastly, about prom...I experienced it at both the Catholic high school and the secular high school. Both experiences were essentially the same- they were off-campus, so we got away with sleeveless dresses. I know at the secular school I saw a few people sneaking in alcohol that I don't recall seeing at my other school but I'm sure it happened then.

We had a prom king and queen, but I don't recall anyone making a big deal about it.

Parties...I was hardly ever invited to them but the ones I did go to (and I went to some large ones) weren't as over-the-top crazy as Hollywood makes it out to be. Most of the time it was just people chilling with beer bottles with loud music in the background. Nothing too elaborate.

That's all I can think of for now...I've written enough. I don't really look back fondly on my high school years but largely for reasons not school related that I won't explain. Nevertheless, my high school days weren't too crazy...they just "were", really.

[Browncoat]

5 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Same with ours.  And the prom was held in the high school gym.  All other dances were in the cafeteria.

Same.  The Juniors were responsible for all the decorations, music, etc. for the prom, too, but I honestly can't remember who was responsible for the Homecoming dance or any of the other dances.  They all were free to attend, too -- no tickets required. 

If there was a hangout, I don't know about it.  It was a small town.  The hangout was probably someone's finished basement/rec room.

[SusanM]

I grew up in the suburbs, no Pop Tate's Chocklit Shoppe for us!  The closest thing we had to a hangout was when the McDonalds opened up across from the shopping centre.  

[janie jones]

8 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

There were a few key differences. One, Canada doesn't have the "freshman/sophomore/junior/senior" designations in high school. We just extended the grade numbers past eight- meaning a "freshman" was in Grade 9, a sophomore is Grade 10, etc.

I can't tell if you know this from your post, but we continue to use numbers past eighth grade in the US, too.  It isn't like kindergarten, which doesn't correspond to a grade. You'll hear someone say "when I was in tenth grade" just as easily as "when I was a sophomore." And anything official (report cards, transcripts, etc.) will have the grade number.

I don't know about any restaurants that kids hung out at after school (I doubt anyone did -- people just went to their friends' houses), but I remember a teacher making a joke to me about some place out in the sticks where kids would congregate. I'm like, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. No one was inviting me to these shindigs.

[Raja]

In my corner of America we used the grade only until that last year when seniors got called out specifically. The junior senior events were just seen on TV. I noticed when talking about football that I wrote B team, which would be the functional equivalent of freshman football in other communities.

[Blergh]

FWIW, my high school had no paper. Evidently there was some effort made by students the year before I got there but Administration was so thin-skinned about even the vaguest hint of criticism, that it was shut down almost immediately. Oddly enough, I got a call in the middle of the night trying to recruit me to write for it about a week before I was officially enrolled but when I got to school, I was told in no certain terms that there WAS no paper- and whoever pranked me (and why) has remained a mystery (and this was long before Caller ID existed). 

I can't recall any shows about high schools with underground papers that recruited folks who hadn't even enrolled yet. 

[andromeda331]

11 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Oh, which reminds me- I actually went to my high school prom twice. Since one could graduate after Grade 12, prom was available then to dateless saps like me even though I was taking another year. Which I didn't mind...except both years I was dateless. I actually still had fun, though.

I went with a group of friends. None of us had dates and no one cared. We talked, we danced, and had a good time. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I am a three time prom champ. My gf was a junior when I was a sophomore #RobCradle. Then I went the next two years. After senior prom my date wanted to go see Lethal Weapon 2, and then we went to an after party. 

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I went with a group of friends. None of us had dates and no one cared. We talked, we danced, and had a good time. 

Same :). Though I did get to dance with a guy I had a crush on at my junior prom a couple times, so, y'know, that was nice :D. Heh. I also wore the same dress to both my junior and senior proms. Seemed silly to me to buy a whole new dress when the one I had still fit just fine and I liked it. 

I also remember that the day of my junior prom, it was cold and absolutely pouring rain much of the day/evening. Four of us girls went, and we only had two umbrellas on hand, so two girls each were trying to shelter under an umbrella, which was blowing upwards in the windy weather, and we were trying to keep our dresses from getting caught in any puddles along the way as well :p. And then when we left the prom later that night, there were snow flurries flying outside. 

Then the next year, for my senior prom, it was a beautiful, sunny day, and would be a lovely night, too...but it was also REALLY hot. Iowa weather in the springtime, ladies and gentlemen :p. It really is a crapshoot. 

Regarding all the talk of how one's school experiences were and all that, for mine, there were cliques at the one I attended in ninth grade, but it was more along the lines of rich kids versus those who weren't rich. I was definitely in the latter group, and I have a lot of memories of being made fun of for the way I dressed and the fact that I wasn't wearing the latest fashionable styles and whatnot, among other things. I mainly remember most of the kids I went to school with in ninth grade being obnoxious brats and bullies who treated other students and teachers like shit, and a lot of them wound up going down a bad road with addictions to drugs and alcohol and whatnot. Outside of the few friends I did have in ninth grade, I'm really not all that eager to see the vast majority of those classmates ever again. 

Then my family moved the summer between my ninth and tenth grade year, and that school I liked much better. The kids were a lot nicer overall there, and they did have their little "groups" - the drama kids hung out together, the sporty kids hung out together, etc., but no one group was more or less popular than another. I think it helped that it was a slightly smaller town/high school than the one I'd attended and lived in when I was in ninth grade, so everyone kinda knew each other and got on well and all that. 

If there were any local hangouts where all the kids spent their time, I don't know which ones were most popular, 'cause I was a homebody much of the time. When I did go out it was with my small group of friends, and we'd just go to each other's houses much of the time to hang out :p. 

The one thing both schools did have in common is that they absolutely took their sports  VERY seriously. Not in an obnoxious way, really, just that they were very passionate about them. I've never been much of a sports person, myself, so I never followed that stuff. But even with my lack of interest, I was still aware of just how big a deal that stuff was. 

But yeah, since that second school was the one I graduated from, and given I have much more fond memories surrounding it, if I ever got the opportunity to go to a class reunion, I would consider it. It would be kind of neat to see some of those people again, see how they're all doing nowadays, and revisit the town itself and all that. 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Annber03

[DrSpaceman73]

I think out school had a paper but pretty sure it was mainly fluff pieces about school news and people.  No real news or anything like what you see on TV shows where its like a local newspaper and kids thinking it's actually important. 

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I think out school had a paper but pretty sure it was mainly fluff pieces about school news and people.  No real news or anything like what you see on TV shows where its like a local newspaper and kids thinking it's actually important. 

What? No gripping exposés on school athletes doing drugs (like that wouldn't make you an outcast until at least graduation), or horse meat in the lunch food, or teacher's selling test copies?  I'm shocked.

Actually at my college we all got mad at our school's paper editor. He always did this top 10 list. Guess he was trying to be David Letterman.  Anyway, one of the pizza places in town had a college special.  Large for the price of a small.  Good deal, right?  All happy about it.  Well, they raised the prices $1, because inflation is a thing, and he had something snarky about the increase in his top 10 list, and believe it or not, someone at the pizza place apparently read the paper and took the deal away altogether.  Pitchforks and torches were searched for in vain.

[DoctorAtomic]

We had half day for senior prom (army had half day, mother) so the girls could do get their hair did. I don't know what I did. 

[Lugal]

6 hours ago, Katy M said:

or teacher's selling test copies?

Not quite selling, but the only test scandal i remember was in English class the teacher would give us all badly worded tests about the reading homework, and we always failed.  She took to berating us about it, telling us how her later classes (we were the first of the day) did so much better than us.  And once, in our frustration, we replied that was because we gave them the answers.

[Zella]

6 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

We had half day for senior prom (army had half day, mother) so the girls could do get their hair did. I don't know what I did. 

As soon as I read "half day," I filled in the Arrested Development quote, and then seeing that it was already in the post made my day. :D 

[Danielg342]

I'm not looking for sympathy and maybe I'm an outlier, but I do feel I could write a drama based on my high school experience. When I see Hollywood characters lament about the troubles they had growing up, I do relate to them because I had quite the issues during that period.

I never went down the rabbit hole of drugs and alcohol and I never did have a singular traumatic event, but I do remember often feeling lost and alone. I moved from the city partway through my fifth grade to a small town. In the city I had quite a few friends and lots of interests but in the town I just could never fit in. I also didn't have the greatest relationship with my parents so that didn't help much either.

So when I complained about going alone to prom, I was literally alone. It's not like people were mean to me a lot- it's just a matter of the fact I just struggled to connect.

I also had parents who pushed me too hard and had a vision for me that I didn't share. Which was often a source of contention and struggle. Once I got to university- and could live by myself for a change- things got better for me because I was out of a pretty bad environment.

All this means that, when I see teen characters who fight with their parents I'm often taking the teen's side even if I'm not supposed to. I may never have experienced the extremes that Hollywood teens seem to go through, but I sure do feel like I lived the same experience where I was at loggerheads all the time with my parents. As for those who struggle to fit in and feel they have no one to turn to? That was me too.

I guess this means that, while Hollywood plays up a lot of things for drama, I still feel it gets the essence of teen drama right. Maybe a lot of Hollywood writers had a troubled youth like I did. All I know is that- for better or for worse- I find it quite relatable.

[SparedTurkey]

23 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I guess this means that, while Hollywood plays up a lot of things for drama, I still feel it gets the essence of teen drama right.

I think Hollywood magnifies the normal teen experience of not fitting in by the metaphors, the one episode special event or the three-episode arc of lesbianism (looking at you The OC) but it doesn't really get the real life teen drama right IMO.

For example, the foster kid who turns around when they are told they aren't disposable and grows up into a lawyer who rights the system (Neighbbours, Home & Away, The Fosters, The OC, Dawson's Creek etc). I work in youth justice law and even when you believe in the kids and know exactly why they are doing what they do, the mess that child protection "authorities" leaves them in renders them without a chance and more likely to be institutionalised in jail or mental health before you can blink and they never get the opportunity for "the love of a good family" to "fix them". I really hate to say it but The Trial of Gabriel Fernandez is more realistic for kids in trouble than any teen drama Hollywood produces and I wish it were different.

I thought differently, thanks TV.

[DrSpaceman73]

On 5/18/2022 at 6:07 PM, Zella said:

As soon as I read "half day," I filled in the Arrested Development quote, and then seeing that it was already in the post made my day. :D 

Army gave us a half day.  

[Danielg342]

Being a sports guy, I know of plenty of players who have had troubled pasts and they turned out well (the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler is one that comes to mind). Perhaps the odds that a troubled youth actually turns things around are not that great, and believe me, I have no love for the foster system (no I wasn't a part of it but I know people who were), but it's not impossible for someone with a troubled past to turn things around.

I don't disagree that Hollywood exaggerates and simplifies teen issues, sometimes making it seem like the problems have easy solutions when they don't. What I think they do get right is that the archetypal Hollywood teen- the one that constantly fights with their parents and struggles with figuring out "who they are"- is not inaccurate. That pretty much is the general teenage experience, for both parents and their children, and some manage it better than others.

Some families find a way to understand the dynamics and thus find a way to navigate the inevitable conflicts in order to make things work smoothly. Others, like mine, don't. That's just the way it is, I guess.

What I believe Hollywood misses out on is presenting the teen vs parent divide in a balanced and nuanced way. Fights between teens and parents are usually presented with one side being "right" and the other being "wrong", or the two sides will be at loggerheads for the entire episode but a talk at the end of the episode will smooth things over and "everything is OK again". You don't typically get the teen who might think that maybe their parents have a point, or the parent that wonders if they are too hard on their kids. You don't really get fights that last several episodes or even a sense of uneasy tension, unless it's part of an arc.

In essence, I feel there's an oversimplification with regards to the struggles of parents and teens that I wish Hollywood didn't have. Kind of like how Hollywood romances tend to get oversimplified, Hollywood just seems to refuse to tell the long-term story of teens and parents trying to figure things out. I wish they would make more of an attempt, because that's more true to life.

[possibilities]

I mean... everything is simplified on TV and in movies. Generally, the more you know about a topic, the more inaccurate the portrayal will seem.

[Danielg342]

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

I mean... everything is simplified on TV and in movies. Generally, the more you know about a topic, the more inaccurate the portrayal will seem.

There are times when that simplification works (like in a lot of police procedurals). Then there are times where it doesn't.

Teen-parent relationships- and relationships in general- would be one case where they don't. Hollywood seems to have this aversion to the idea that two characters who are supposed to be sympathetic to not just the audience but each other could have differences of opinion, and strong ones at that. Plus, generally, one side has to be "right" and the other has to be "wrong".

Real life just doesn't work like that.

I don't just want this from a "realism" perspective- I think shows miss out on a lot of good storylines when they forget this aspect. Conflict is the well of drama, but it doesn't have to be simply about taking sides in an issue- conflict can also be about the struggle to find a compromise between those differences. Good relationships are ones where everyone involved tries to find a way to resolve their issues and seek a common ground, and anyone who has been through that knows it's quite the struggle. It would be good fodder for a storyline, but Hollywood hardly ever pursues it. I wish they would.

[MaryPatShelby]

On 5/10/2022 at 5:18 AM, Danielg342 said:

To be fair, even though it's really a far more rare occurrence than what happens on TV, people who become police officers, firefighters, soldiers or any job that requires putting themselves in actual physical danger have to understand that, every day, the risk of getting involved in a serious situation is very real. Same thing with those who are a part of the officer's family, as unsettling as it may be. It's not something that the officer can just "brush off", because it could happen on any call.

Which is something that, on a level, I can least appreciate about shows of this type- they don't gloss over the very real risks officers face every day. The frequency of those risks are grossly exaggerated, but I'd rather have my TV shows put those risks front and centre instead of ignore them as if they're not there. I know real police officers have a lot of issues with police dramas but I bet they can at least appreciate that police dramas don't gloss over how dangerous the job can actually be. You don't want potential rookies coming in thinking it's an easy and glamourous gig- there's a whole other, scarier side that they need to realize is there.

I understand what you're saying, but I still think the kidnapping, hostagetaking, killing families of, etc of behind-the-scenes cops, like CSI teams, or behavior profilers (Criminal Minds) is beyond what would happen in real life.  Who would even know who they are?

[Danielg342]

47 minutes ago, MaryPatShelby said:

I understand what you're saying, but I still think the kidnapping, hostagetaking, killing families of, etc of behind-the-scenes cops, like CSI teams, or behavior profilers (Criminal Minds) is beyond what would happen in real life.  Who would even know who they are?

I don't necessarily disagree. I see those stories as more about writers trying to "raise the stakes" and one way- which doesn't necessarily mean it's the best way- is to play with the audience's attachment to the characters and thus put those characters in some actual danger. Plus it gives the actors and the characters "something to do". Again, it's not necessarily the best story to tell and arguably more writers fail at it than succeed, but I can see why Hollywood goes down that well.

[DoctorAtomic]

People painting a room in their house/apartment invariably get into some 'paint fight', thereby wasting about half a can of paint on themselves. 

[Bastet]

11 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

People painting a room in their house/apartment invariably get into some 'paint fight', thereby wasting about half a can of paint on themselves.

Food fights are also far more common on TV than real life.  Because, beyond the food waste, real people don't have a PA who's going to come along afterward and clean it up.

[Mabinogia]

20 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Food fights are also far more common on TV than real life.  Because, beyond the food waste, real people don't have a PA who's going to come along afterward and clean it up.

I have never once in my life been in a spontaneous food fight, paint fight, washing the car soapy water fight. I grew up borderline poor and learned early on not to waste food, paint, soapy water even, so whenever I see these kind of fights on tele all I can think of his what a senseless waste.

I know the actors are trying to make it look like fun, but it never does to me. Especially the ones were one person takes the cake batter and boops it on the other person's nose as some sort of thrown gauntlet. If I were the boopee I'd just put my spatula down and walk away. They can just finish baking (and cleaning up) without me. 

[DoctorAtomic]

There is no booping in my kitchen. However, sploots are allowed. 

[JustHereForFood]

3 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I have never once in my life been in a spontaneous food fight, paint fight, washing the car soapy water fight. I grew up borderline poor and learned early on not to waste food, paint, soapy water even, so whenever I see these kind of fights on tele all I can think of his what a senseless waste.

Trevor Noah had a similar take on food fights on TV:

 

[DrSpaceman73]

8 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

Trevor Noah had a similar take on food fights on TV:

 

Did you ever spontaneously start singing aint no mountain high enough with family or friends, not prompted by the song on the radio. 

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, JustHereForFood said:

Trevor Noah had a similar take on food fights on TV:

I've always liked Trevor Noah. Now I like his mum too. 

 

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Did you ever spontaneously start singing aint no mountain high enough with family or friends, not prompted by the song on the radio. 

That song, no, well, I don't think so, certainly not with family. But I do spontaneously start singing various other songs when someone says something that is a line from one. And I often break into Highway to Hell on the way to work. And if I IM my work friend about wanting to clock out and go home it inevitably evolves into "we gotta get out of this place... if it's the last thing we ever do". 

There is always a song in my heart, there's no better place to start...think of all the joy... see, there I go again, on my own! going down the only road I've every known... 

[Trini]

6 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I have never once in my life been in a spontaneous food fight, paint fight, washing the car soapy water fight. I grew up borderline poor and learned early on not to waste food, paint, soapy water even, so whenever I see these kind of fights on tele all I can think of his what a senseless waste.

In addition to "we poor; can't waste food like that", the schools I went to were small enough that you'd never get away with a (TV) food fight. You would get found out almost immediately, and you would definitely be the one cleaning up the mess; nobody needs that heat!

At worst, there might have been a few times were a small group of kids were throwing stuff at each other, but never an all out brawl involving everyone and all the food in the cafeteria.

[DoctorAtomic]

My theory is it came from National Lampoon. There was a guy who used to write articles about his wild college days that eventually was the basis for Animal House. I could see a bunch of drunk fraternity brothers had one once. That a smaller N on the event. 

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Trevor Noah had a similar take on food fights on TV:

 

My Depression-raised parents who could recall bread lines   and, in my father's case, could recall Midwestern Dust Bowl dust raining down on Manhattan streets, never even bought a Mr. Potato Head   for us kids due to being appalled at wasting a single perfectly good potato for a toy. Thus,  I had it drilled into my head from an early age never to treat food as weapons much less toys!

Although, when I got to high school there were some who DID have food fights but they usually were raised by parents who were too young to have grown up in the Depression.

[Katy M]

10 hours ago, Blergh said:

Although, when I got to high school there were some who DID have food fights but they usually were raised by parents who were too young to have grown up in the Depression.

I don't really think it should matter if anyone was alive during the Depression or not. Wasting food is never a good thing.  And I've never understood the concept of a food fight.  If you accidentally drop or burn food so that it can't be eaten, well, these things happen, but to purposely just destroy it to throw at people.  Hard pass.

[Shannon L.]

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

My Depression-raised parents who could recall bread lines   and, in my father's case, could recall Midwestern Dust Bowl dust raining down on Manhattan streets, never even bought a Mr. Potato Head   for us kids due to being appalled at wasting a single perfectly good potato for a toy. Thus,  I had it drilled into my head from an early age never to treat food as weapons much less toys!

Although, when I got to high school there were some who DID have food fights but they usually were raised by parents who were too young to have grown up in the Depression.

My grandmother, who was raised during the depression, never cooked with asparagus. So, the one time I was making her a meal with it, I cut of the usual amount and she looked at the ends and said "You throw all that away?  What a waste of food."  That woman could make a hell of a meal out of leftovers.

Edited May 23, 2022 by Shannon L.

[Anduin]

In TV and movies, people always seem to use their phones one-handed. Maybe it's just lack of practice, but I find it easier to hold in one hand and poke at it with the other. Anyone else?

[Danielg342]

I miss the old Blackberries with the actual keyboard. I hate touchscreens, because it almost always never types what I want it to type.

That said, I've done one-handed typing before but I find, more often than not, to type what I need to type, I need to use both hands like on a computer- or Blackberry- keyboard. I can't type with one hand.

[Anduin]

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I miss the old Blackberries with the actual keyboard. I hate touchscreens, because it almost always never types what I want it to type.

That said, I've done one-handed typing before but I find, more often than not, to type what I need to type, I need to use both hands like on a computer- or Blackberry- keyboard. I can't type with one hand.

I can type with my thumb, but the index finger is far more accurate. Maybe it's just practice.

[DoctorAtomic]

Do none of you swipe? If you choose the right app the AI learns your tendencies and colorful vocabulary. 

[Raja]

I love how characters answer calls from unknown callers and never get the extended car warranty pitch.

[proserpina65]

6 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Do none of you swipe? If you choose the right app the AI learns your tendencies and colorful vocabulary. 

Hell, I can just barely manage to swipe in order to answer the phone.  I still try to hit the green phone "button" on the screen to answer.

[DoctorAtomic]

I thought that could be changed? Maybe you have to root the phone or put it in dev mode. 

It takes practice but it's more efficient by far. And more ergonomic imo. Funny enough, I swipe with the hand that I actually *don't* write with, and I can't swipe with my writing hand. 

[Cinnabon]

14 hours ago, Anduin said:

In TV and movies, people always seem to use their phones one-handed. Maybe it's just lack of practice, but I find it easier to hold in one hand and poke at it with the other. Anyone else?

I need 2 hands. But then again I tend to write in complete sentences and care about proper spelling and grammar, lol.

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Do none of you swipe? If you choose the right app the AI learns your tendencies and colorful vocabulary. 

Swipe what?

[Bastet]

I don't have a smartphone, so I hardly ever text.  If I do peck something out on my flip phone, I hold it in my left hand and push keys with my right index finger.

I don't think I've never paid attention to how characters text; I'm usually too busy being annoyed at shows/films that show text messages on screen.  Even with my glasses on, only one of my TVs is large enough for me to read them.

[Cinnabon]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

I'm usually too busy being annoyed at shows/films that show text messages on screen.

There is nothing worse than this, I agree.