When Hollywood Gets it Wrong… Installment 3

This series is comprised of 4 individual blogs addressing the central theme that Hollywood is grossly inaccurate in their portrayal of armed confrontations. Understanding that Hollywood Gets It Wrong… may save your life!

Human Beings

1. “Our heroes are shot and/or stabbed, yet they continue on without any apparent impairment."

I am often reminded of the Monty Python movie with a knight declaring, "It's just a flesh wound!" Time and time again, I see our heroes shot in the arm, leg, abdomen, or shoulder, and they basically ignore it, and it seems to go away. They don’t go into shock, they don’t stop walking, running, and fighting… they just ignore it. Most recently, I saw a young woman on a show who had been impaled with an arrow. The arrow struck her about mid-abdomen and penetrated out of her back. However, despite a wound that would not only be painful but would have likely damaged her spinal column and done immense internal damage, she walked around shooting people with her pistol as though the arrow did not exist. I also recently saw a film where the hero was shot in the right shoulder with a rifle bullet, and 5 minutes later he was shooting a bow and arrow with pinpoint accuracy. Apparently, a bullet wound to the shoulder does not reduce one’s ability to shoot a bow and arrow.

Problems: There are times when adrenaline and emotional focus can overcome pain and injury for a short time. There are many cases where someone who was mortally wounded managed to kill others before succumbing to their injuries. However, in real life, it is painful and sometimes debilitating to get shot! Getting shot can shatter bones, sever arteries, veins, and nerves, and send the victim into shock. Nerve damage prevents arms and legs from working, and the body's response to injury and pain in the abdomen can stop a person in their tracks. A stab wound, especially to the abdomen or chest area, can also result in critical injury and death. I have worked several murder cases that were "just stab wounds" to the chest where the knife blade severed an artery. However, in Hollywood, getting shot or stabbed does not have immediate or long-term consequences.

2. “Broken Glass”

We have all seen Hollywood movies, especially westerns, where someone strikes another person on the head with a bottle, and the bottle breaks on impact. The person is usually stunned but does not suffer any serious injury. However, in real life, most people have never tried to break a bottle over someone else’s head. It is not as easy as it looks on film.

Problems: Most liquor bottles are well made, and they do not break easily. I have seen a number of incidents when people were trying to christen new boats with bottles of champagne, and they could not get the bottle to break. I have also seen people hit on the head with liquor bottles, and it was devastating. In some cases, the bottle did not break, but the human skull caved in. In other cases, the bottle broke, cutting skin and scalp and resulting in blood everywhere. Just using a fist to break out a window pane can cause excessive damage to the hand, wrist, and arm.

Breaking and jumping through windows and glass doors apparently does not hurt people in Hollywood. But I have seen people run through glass doors and windows, and some bled to death before they could get medical help. It looks really cool on film, but in real life, diving through a window or glass door can be fatal.

3. “Tasers and Stun Guns”

In many films, I have seen individuals reduced to writhing, quivering masses incapable of moving or speaking after being shot with a Taser or zapped with a stun gun. The stun gun is typically placed around the neck area, and when activated, emits an electric crackling sound. The victim becomes completely immobilized, and the effects last for about ten minutes or more. With a Taser or similar device, the results are the same, but it can be deployed at short distances. As a result, people watching such films have very high expectations relative to the power and impact of electronic control devices.

Problems: The portrayal of these devices and their effects is Hollywood fabrication. I first tested stun guns more than 40 years ago. The newer ones have more power, but the effects are still very similar. They cause a great deal of pain and override the electric impulses between the brain and the voluntary muscle structure. They are particularly effective if a stun gun is applied to the lower back area while holding the subject so that he or she cannot get away. As long as the electric impulses are being administered, they affect the nerves. Once the electric impulses are no longer being applied, the person regains full mental and physical control almost immediately.

This principle is also similar to electronic control devices that fire out probes. These typically apply a charge to the subject for a 5-second period. Once the device stops applying the charge, the subject regains full mental and physical control immediately. Of course, the person controlling the electronic control device can administer another 5-second charge, but the overall impact is the same. As soon as the charge stops, the person regains their abilities immediately.

Note: I have personal experience being shocked with a stun gun multiple times and being shot with a Taser (the longest 5 seconds of my life), and I can attest that recovery is immediate when the electric charge is no longer being administered. I was also a Taser instructor in my past life and have seen it administered to numerous police officers and a few news reporters.

4. “Hitmen on Motorcycles!”

Over the past few years, we have seen the advent of a new phenomenon: hitmen on motorcycles. In several high-profile movies, we have seen multiple hitmen riding motorcycles to carry out their murderous schemes. They typically ride their street bikes at high speeds, dodging numerous obstacles while also carrying, aiming, and shooting automatic weapons. These are not the James Bond motorcycles with mounted rocket launchers. These are simply bad guys riding motorcycles while trying to carry out a hit on a target.

Problems: In addition to my law enforcement and academic background, I have been a motorcycle rider/enthusiast for many years. Riding a motorcycle, especially at high speeds around various obstacles, requires the use of both hands. The left hand is the clutch, and it is required for shifting gears—speeding up and slowing down. The right hand is the throttle (accelerator in non-motorcycle terms), and changing speeds requires manually engaging the throttle. As a result, both hands of the motorcyclist are engaged in driving the motorcycle. Even though some motorcycles have cruise control, it is extremely cumbersome and unlikely that a professional hitman would choose a motorcycle as a platform to shoot automatic weapons.

See Installment 4 of "When Hollywood Gets It Wrong…"