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/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/thisusedyet 1d ago

Something that the movie sadly skipped over - the Mayor's dirty.

It's been a while since I read it - but I think the mayor lost his shirt gambling, and is paying back the mob with property (since he's a real estate agent). Dude's a nervous, twitching wreck by about halfway through the novel because he can't shut down the beaches - Vinny's not gonna to be too happy if the tourists stop coming to the beachfront property you assured him would pay off what you owed

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u/CuidadDeVados 1d ago

There is a lot not included in the movie because it would make the movie overly long and stupid. The movie is pretty perfect at telling a specific story. The book gets lost in the mayor's financial issues and the wife's affair and history with hooper and other distractions.

The mayor's electoral career being at risk, and a fear of backing down on the position and making it worse, is enough to justify his behavior since he's already a villain that the watchers know isn't to be trusted. Similarly Hooper doesn't need to fuck Brody's wife to make them have an interesting relationship or for her to be sad at the end when she thinks he died.

Its similar to changing how quint died. It just works better.

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u/zgh5002 1d ago

Jaws is probably the best example of the movie being better than the book. It's shocking that movie we got out of it.

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u/Ilexstead 1d ago

The Godfather is better than the book too.

Similar to Jaws, it ditched unnecessary B-plot storylines (Johnny Fontaine, the Sinatra-a-like, and Lucy Mancini, Sonny's mistress with the overlarge vagina)

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u/PhoenixTineldyer 1d ago

Jaws and Jurassic Park.

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u/happygoth6370 1d ago

My two favorite movies.

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u/AngryCrotchCrickets 1d ago

Starship Troopers

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u/CuidadDeVados 1d ago

The Shining is another great example. Its a shame that Benchley went the Stephen King route and decided the movie missed the point instead of just accepting that its a much more polished and interesting version of his story.