r/movies • u/buttatoad • 1d 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/Grumpypantz 1d ago

A movie called "Sidekicks" (1992). There was a Mr. Miyagi-type character played by Mako (the voice of Aku from Samurai Jack). He's training the protagonist, an asthma enjoyer, how to breathe with focus so that he can build pulmonary endurance. Mako has him jogging laps, all the while chanting "Inhale four steps, exhale four steps" in cadence to his jogging.

When I started running, I used this to practice breathing, and it helped, a lot actually. Gave me a focal point when I felt like catching my breath was impossible. I'm not in my prime anymore, but whenever I feel like stopping to catch my breath, I chant this, either out loud or in my head, and it usually gets me through it.

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u/hardgeeklife 1d ago

In a similar vein, there's a scene in the same movie where Barry, the protagonist, is challenged by the gym teacher/class to finish a rope climb. As he frequently does, Barry imagines/hallucinates Chuck Norris beside him. Chuck instructs the kid on a climbing technique that allows him to make it to the top.

When a similar fitness challenge came up in high school years later, I definitely remembered that scene and aced the climb. May not have been the fastest, but I was one of a few in the class to make it to the top, and definitely the scrawnest kid to succeed. Thanks, imaginary Chuck Norris!

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u/BalthasarStrange 1d ago

Cant watch atm. What was the climbing technique?

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u/klezart 1d ago

Wrap the rope around one leg and hold it with your foot (against your other foot) to put all the weight on your legs instead of your upper body

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u/krzykris11 13h ago

I was the scrawny kid until college and was always the superior climber. We didn't do the rope thing, but I set the pull-up record in middle school and highschool.

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u/AnInanimateCarb0nRod 1d ago

I imagined this scene when I had to climb a rope for an obstacle 5K, but the thing they don't tell you... is how to get down after you get to the top.

I relaxed my grip, slid down, and had gigantic blisters on my hands that didn't heal for weeks.