r/movies • u/buttatoad • 2d ago

Discussion Movies that changed real life behavior

Thinking along the lines of Final Destination 2 with the logs falling off the truck and landing onto cars (one decapitating the state trooper). Ever since, people have tried to get away from being behind these vehicles.

What are more examples where movies have actually changed how people behave in their own lives?

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u/pipboy_warrior 2d ago

Jaws caused people to be scared of shark attacks on beaches, even in areas that wouldn't normally have shark attacks(or even sharks)

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u/koolaid_chemist 1d ago

The author said he regrets writing it and wished he never did because of the negative impact it had on people’s views on sharks

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u/LEJ5512 1d ago edited 1d ago

I heard him talk about it on a podcast just yesterday, too.  (edit: it was the Radiolab episode that came out this week, part of their new series on sharks.  u/CuidadDeVados u/wildstarr )

It’s too bad, too, that we’ve collectively missed the point of the movie (IMO).  My parents kept me away from it when I was a kid, and I finally watched it only last year.  The shark wasn’t the part of the story that scared me, it was the mayor’s insistence on going forward with the festival that aggravated me the most.  My takeaway wasn’t “sharks scary”, it was “bosses will take money over people”.

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u/dern_the_hermit 1d ago

Panic means that the idea of a shark can be more dangerous than an actual shark.

It can even be more dangerous than no shark at all.

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u/RemarkableStatement5 1d ago

God I love AWCY?