10 Activities That Look Fun In Movies But Aren’t In Real Life, According To Reddit

The next iteration of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is ready for a November 11th release, and fans are gearing up to see it in theaters. It remains to be seen how T’Challa’s death will impact Wakanda, yet it is almost certain that the new Black Panther will handle the job brilliantly.

Yet, while the Black Panther is a superhero, the mantle is also one that reflects royal responsibility. While movies may make ruling seem like an easy and fun experience, the reality is much less interesting than it looks. Many things look fun in movies, even if they aren’t in the real world.

Dating

Movies can make dating look like the easiest thing in the world, when, in real life, it’s a nightmare. Finding someone to date, seeing if both parties are compatible, and even making plans can be difficult. “In the movies, there’s a ‘meet cute’ followed by a montage of fun, romantic dates,” says Reddit user TwoTheVictor. “Real Life: awkwardness, uncertainty, insecurity, and dread.”

Unlike the best date movies like 50 First Dates, most of the time, the experience is just awkward and sometimes painful. A first date can certainly go as brilliantly as movies portray them, but they are typically much less fun. Instead, as both parties try to get to know each other, the entire experience is just painfully strained.

Washing The Dishes

Movies can make washing the dishes look like a brilliant and entertaining prospect. With people singing and dancing along to upbeat music, viewers can easily assume that the characters may actually enjoy the process of dishwashing. If not, movies like The Babadook at least make it look less tedious than it is.

Yet it should be noted that washing dishes is still a chore, and there’s a good reason for that. “Dishes are not fun,” says Reddit user quakerapplepineapple. Between having to scrub off grime, sort dishes, and get covered in water or soapsuds, it’s much less fun than movies make it out to be.

Training

Training for any physical activity takes effort, hard work, and a good deal of concentration and sweat. Many times, especially for athletes, it can even be painful. Yet movies like Mulan avoid showing all that work by glossing over them with a fun montage sequence or a song.

In the best training montages, “Years/months/days of hard work get condensed into one scene,” says Redditor Afrojones66. It can make that work look superficial at best, which can be somewhat discrediting for people who spend years straining to become the fierce fighters or athletes that they are.

Riding A Motorcycle

In many movies, motorcycle riders soar across a highway without a helmet or any personal protective equipment. While that might work on the big screen, it doesn’t work in real life. Many experts on motorcycles often find themselves shaking their heads at depictions in Marvel movies, where Captain America zips through scenes on a motorcycle without even bothering to grab a helmet.

“In movies, it always looks cool and tense,” says Reddit user neroselene. “In reality? Good luck driving at a higher speed without some form of eye protection, the wind resistance is killer. To say nothing of the bugs…” While it might not be fun to watch Captain America get hit in the face by bugs, that would be the reality for anyone trying the stunts he does.

Flying Helicopters

In the best action movie climaxes, the hero has to make a daring escape by helicopter or else needs to take down a chopper before it can be any true threat. Sometimes, they are flying the chopper themselves, and other times they find themselves in the back, relaxing after a tense escape. Movies like Mission: Impossible are notorious for it.

But that isn’t the reality. “The movies always make helicopters seem so cool and glamorous and they are for 20 minutes,” says Redditor IJocko. “After that picture somebody shaking you… hour after hour… Plus it’s very loud so you have to wear hearing protection.” Any action hero hanging from a helicopter would easily face horrific pain, just from the sound of the chopper, and they certainly wouldn’t be able to relax. While a proper depiction makes it a lot less fun, that doesn’t make the movies right.

College

There are some college movies designed to stop first-day nerves, but others just depict a glamorous and false depiction of the college experience. “Watching St Elmos Fire in high school was a mistake,” says Reddit user lavanchebodigheimer, before complaining that it would only cause disappointment in the long run.

​​​​​Most college movies focus only on fraternities, parties, and college football, while the reality is much less exciting more often than not. Many students tend to spend their time studying, working, or struggling to make friends. Some viewers may experience the perfect moments that those movies promise, but many aren’t given that same joy.

The Jungle

Many movies set in a forest or jungle like Tarzan or The Jungle Book showcase heroes swinging from vines, surviving with ease, or even befriending wildlife. Even kids can manage life in the jungle with ease! Yet the reality of life in the jungle is far less glamorous and a lot less fun.

“It is HOT beyond belief, so thick you can barely move, everything is green and everything is MOVING. The bugs are EVERYWHERE and the smells are beyond belief,” says Reddit user king_rootin_tootin. While it would certainly be beyond boring to watch heroes struggling to manage bugs, smells, and an inability to move between the trees, it would also ensure that people would have a much more accurate view of jungle life.

​​​​​​Food Fights

Movies that feature students in a cafeteria will inevitably feature a scene where a student screams about a food fight and starts chucking food in any random direction. Often, it looks like the students have a ball. After all, everyone starts joining in and, before long, mashed potatoes are smeared across the wall and pizza is flying. Some movies, like Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs are entirely dedicated to showing massive food fights and crises.

​​​​​​A real food fight is much less fun. “What a mess,” says Reddit user LugiUviyvi. Between students struggling to get away from the actual fight, the poor cafeteria workers forced to clean up the aftermath, and the major suspension coming for every student involved, it quickly becomes less fun and more of a hazard.

Prom

The culmination of many of the best teen movies often comes in the form of the prom dance. Every senior in the school gathers together, elects a prom king and queen, and the seniors go out in style. Some films like Alex Strangelove even dedicate their entire film to the process of preparing for prom. Yet, while the depictions always look incredibly fun, the reality is less entertaining.

“Yeah, once you get there and admire the decorations and everybody’s clothes, it’s just a dance,” says this Reddit user. The prom may still serve as a last hurrah for a graduating class, but that tends to come from the after-party. After all, a school function is hardly going to be the wild affair that many movies depict.

Fighting

It isn’t always easy to take a punch and deal one back, but fighting in movies seems like a pretty easy affair. After all, people who have never fought a day in their lives often come out on top in bar fights and other major confrontations in movies. Yet the actual reality of fighting isn’t as fun as Fight Club makes it out to be.

“Movie heroes always take punches and are unscathed in the next scene. Except for minor bruising,” says meiliraijow on Reddit. But in reality, “they’d be incapacitated for a few days and maybe suffer a concussion.” It sounds much less fun, but it’s also much more accurate. People who get into fights because it looks easy in movies are in for a rough time.

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