[b0rsuk]

"""How did this captain know—from 50 feet away—what the father couldn’t recognize from just 10? Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. (...) Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event."""

I think there should be a law against showing kicking&screaming drowning people in movies. I'm not a fan of censorship otherwise, but here we have a clear case where movies occasionally lead to lost lives.

[clarkmoody]

You would need a much more comprehensive overview process to eliminate misleading information from movies, even if it were limited to life-threatening misinformation!

One instance I can think of is MRI magnets. Often, a medical drama will cut to someone pushing a button and the magnet coming on. In reality, the magnets are always on and bringing metal objects within range can have dire consequences.

The whole movie Home Alone depicts life-threatening pranks on the burglars. c.f. dropping a clothing iron 3 stories onto someone's face.

[mikeash]

Banning the portrayal of drivers looking at their passengers while talking to them would probably save more lives than banning inaccurate portrayals of drowning.

[clarkmoody]

Correct. However, drowning is high on the list[1] of common causes of injury death for children. Vehicle accidents are the 1st for ages 5-24.

[1] http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/10LCID_Unintentional_D...

[b0rsuk]

Fine, let's do both. I can't think a of valid reason the driver should be looking at passengers while talking (I mean, not in the mirror).

The law could really just affect swimming and driving. Both activities are common and can result in death if you're not careful.

[jstanley]

I don't know, I think looking at passengers while talking is something you do once and then realise that it is stupid.

I did it once, because it seemed natural to look at the person I was talking to, but I immediately felt endangered and have never done it since.

Whereas with the inaccurate portrayal of drowning response, by the time you've realised that what you're doing is wrong somebody is dead.

[b0rsuk]

At least in the case of Home Alone, actors show signs of pain and even injury. From there it's a matter of magnitude. In case of drowning, it's the difference between nothing happening and someone dying. Not someone drowning slightly.

[Dove]

It's not just drowning. There's actually a whole category[1] on TV Tropes for things portrayed in dangerously misleading ways. The misleading portrayals of heart attacks and first aid in general are some of the things that worry me the most.

[1] (Warning! TV Tropes is the most addictive website I know of. Proceed only if you know how to handle it and/or have nowhere to be for several hours.) http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TelevisionIsTryin...

[nether]

OT: What's with the triple quotes? English isn't Python. They have different syntaxes.

[samspot]

My pet peeve is when people are bleeding to death onscreen as their friends just watch. What a great opportunity to give just a bit of lifesaving information by showing them apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

[sneak]

Fingers resting on triggers when not shooting, then, too.

"I shot Marvin in the face!"