Bad Natural History

[urbpan]

Okay, so when you watch a movie with animals acting like people (you know, talking and such), you must suspend some of your disbelief. I'm okay with that--it has been this way since Aesop.

But these days the filmmakers are mixing in lots of actual Natural History with animals acting like people. For example the fish in "Finding Nemo" look (and to some degree behave) real, but they don't eat one another. In "Antz," there are both male and female worker ants. (This movie, which I am only halfway through, is the reason I'm posting. There's an awful lot that I could say, positive and negative about it, but I need to finish it, and I probably have to watch "A Bug's Life" for comparison, and the go see "The Ant Bully," too.) Even the bug scene in "King Kong," while exciting, is laughable from a Natural History standpoint (beyond even the bugs' great size--I'm talking behavior).

I want to know this, from you all:

At what point does faulty Natural History interfere with your enjoyment of a movie?

Comments

[csbermack.livejournal.com]

It only bothers me if it's a major plot point and/or the movie is trying to be all Serious about it. That's the case for all kinds of Just Completely Wrong things, not just natural history.

For instance. I'm reading the novelization of Snakes on a Plane. (It's both better and worse than you might expect. It's also longer.) In the book, the basic questions are bothering me. Things like "Snakes don't *do* that" and "Why don't they just crank up the AC" and "Where did they find so many hungry snakes in Hawaii anyway". While watching the movie? These questions will not be a problem for me. :)

It did bother me in Superman when all the computers came back online error-free with no apparent boot cycle *and* with saved state. But I try to avoid thinking about these things at least the first time I see a movie, because they can distract from an otherwise fun time.

[smallerdemon.livejournal.com]

It did bother me in Superman when all the computers came back online error-free with no apparent boot cycle *and* with saved state.

What, you never heard of "hibernate" mode? ;)

I'm reminded of Jurassic Park at the end: "I know this. This is unix." *snicker*

[csbermack.livejournal.com]

And then it was a graphical interface!

The reaction in the MIT audience was wonderful.

[catchyseachild.livejournal.com]

Hawaii has spent a great deal of time getting *rid* of snakes actually - they aren't native to the islands.

Completely off point, I'm sure, but still. Thought I'd chime in.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Part of the appeal of SOAP for me is how ridiculous the whole thing is. Snakes make for terrible monsters: they don't want to attack people, in fact they don't move much and they hide whenever possible, and they're really easy to break.

[bunrab.livejournal.com]

Can't bring myself to even faintly consider "Snakes on a Plane" since one of my friends who's a herpetologist did consulting work for the airlines on that very subject for a few years, which takes all the romance out of it. The usual snake problem is in the wheelwells, and the usual victims are ground maintenance people.