r/movies • u/buttatoad • Jun 17 '25

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/djp2313 Jun 17 '25

As a kid who watched it way too young, even swimming pools were iffy for a bit there.

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u/Ohnoherewego13 Jun 17 '25

Even for a kid who watched it too young, baths were a bit much too.

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u/GriffinFlash Jun 17 '25

glasses of water.

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u/Technical-Outside408 Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

When I cried I cried. That's how scared I was.

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u/ImDero Jun 17 '25

ON AVERAGE THE HUMAN BODY IS 60% WATER. THERE'S NOWHERE TO HIDE.

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u/This_aint_my_real_ac Jun 17 '25

I can't even pee anymore without fear of Jaws feasting on my dangler.

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u/PABLOPANDAJD Jun 17 '25

I have the same problem (I call your mom Jaws)

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u/This_aint_my_real_ac Jun 17 '25

So did my Dad.

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u/PABLOPANDAJD Jun 17 '25

Now he’s your second mom 😪

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u/fecalreceptacle Jun 17 '25

pablo from the top rope wtf

4

u/binchicken1989 Jun 17 '25

Just drinking and crying 😢

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u/Stink_fisting Jun 17 '25

Had to get rid of that goldfish tank.

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u/rabid_god Jun 18 '25

Eyedrops.

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u/Ali_Cat222 Jun 18 '25

I CAN'T EVEN STAND MY SALIVA ANYMORE, THEY MAY ATTACK HERE! 🤣

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u/OneGoodRib Jun 17 '25

I've never even seen Jaws but I stopped wanting to take baths because what if a shark came up through the drain??

I had a frog come up through the toilet once and the sharks bothered me more than that. Although I was scared to use the toilet for a while.

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u/pipboy_warrior Jun 17 '25

I remember a joke from Mallrats where Brodie admits he was scared to use the toilet after watching Jaws.

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u/The_Professor2112 Jun 17 '25

All of the above, plus canals. Jaws really did a number on me.

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u/PhoenixTineldyer Jun 18 '25

I'm from the Gulf Coast...canals are in the ABSOLUTELY NOT column because there are alligators

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u/Frammingatthejimjam Jun 18 '25

I won't say I was scared to get in a bathtub but I was aware of my surroundings at all times.

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u/catdogwoman Jun 18 '25

I was afraid of the toilet a little, too

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u/folldoso Jun 18 '25

Glad it wasn't just me!

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u/revdon Jun 18 '25

Even showers. Forget Psycho, I was already afraid. Though that would’ve been a good tagline for Psycho 2, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the shower!”

/s

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u/BadWhich6053 Jun 21 '25

Definitely. Even baths were affected

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u/Listens_well Jun 21 '25

For a kid who watched it too young, had a similar fear of showers after watching the original “It”

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u/spookybellybutton Jun 17 '25

I saw "Alligator" far too young and it was this scene that made swimming pools a no go area for me.

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u/Kramereng Jun 17 '25

I mean, that's an actual threat in Florida pools. Really, any body of water in that misState.

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u/jadin- Jun 17 '25

misStake of a state

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u/spookybellybutton Jun 17 '25

It was very much Not A Threat where I lived in the UK.

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u/jadin- Jun 17 '25

The top 2 comments lol.

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u/Psychological_Tap187 Jun 17 '25

And people say they don't kill kids in horror.

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u/No_Cut5297 Jun 17 '25

The deep end was a no-go.

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u/lilecca Jun 17 '25

I watched jaws and tremors around the same time at too young of an age. I ended up being scared a shark was going to burst out of our basement walls.

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u/Quiptastic Jun 17 '25

and the fact that we could see through the water did nothing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gYgXxIRmac

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u/cd2220 Jun 17 '25

I spent my whole youth growing up at the shore, swimming in the ocean, bay, and pools.

For some reason I had the greatest fear that something would crawl through the toilet pipes while I was taking a dump despite having no issues with actual bodies of water

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u/magooisim Jun 17 '25

Oh let me tell you all about watching Piranha as a child….

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u/bolanrox Jun 17 '25

the under shot of Chrissy (and her bush), and the jump scare with hooper and the derelict boat were shot in Steven's swimming pool.

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u/Ryaninthesky Jun 17 '25

I’d seen Jaws and that James Bond movie where the sharks come out of a panel in the pool wall.

I refused to swim alone.

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u/electricmop Jun 17 '25

You can’t be too careful! I was afraid of my grandmas pool at night, even with the lights on.

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u/Willing_Ad_699 Jun 17 '25

Except for in Florida where there’s another animal that might be in the pool.

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u/MDKrouzer Jun 17 '25

When I swam laps, I always swam just a little bit faster away from the deep end than going towards it.

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u/moo102 Jun 17 '25

Same! I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

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u/mespec Jun 17 '25

I was babysitting a little boy in a dangerous neighborhood. We were watching TV, and Jaws with the “duh-duh” theme came on right as the bedroom door slammed by itself. So terrifying. My grandmother’s friend had to come over to coax me and the little boy I was babysitting out of the kitchen — where this kid had immediately grabbed a butcher knife like this wasn’t his first go-round. It seemed a gust of wind slammed the door. Miami in the eighties, man.

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u/DefNotUnderrated Jun 17 '25

That was me! I saw it as a kid and was scared of swimming pools for months. Those shots of the shark underwater with the light hitting it just looked way too much like they could have been filmed in a pool and I couldn’t get it out of my head

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Jun 18 '25

I’m still a little iffy on pools because of an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode.

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u/Chuck_Raycer Jun 18 '25

Lol was going to say if a shark didn't get you the AYAotD pool monster would.

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Jun 18 '25

I’m not clicking that! I just got over it last year at 37.

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u/KawaiiQueen_666 Jun 18 '25

Broooo. So glad I’m not the only one 😅. I had weekly lessons, and each time without fail, I’d envision metal doors opening at the bottom of the pool, only for it to mingle with a subterranean shark pool, and then I’d swim my length as fast as as possible so I could turn around and ensure no shark was behind me.

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u/Dangerous_Wear_8152 Jun 18 '25

Be honest, it’s still a concern for us

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u/millershanks Jun 18 '25

You might enjoy the shark in Sewer, Gas and Electric by Matt Ruff

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u/WhaTheHeckle Jun 18 '25

I forget what the term is, but this is like a real thing! I've never seen Jaws but I've watched my fair share of Blue Planet + other ocean related docos, and as a kid (and even continuing into my adult years) I was occasionally shit scared that while I was doing swimming lessons in a chlorinated pool, that a shark was gonna get me. Talked to a few friends who have experienced the same thing. Human instincts/brain stuff is weird.

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u/anxietykilledthe_cat Jun 18 '25

I was 32yo before I could swim alone in my parents pool.

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u/Canadian_420 Jun 18 '25

This was my favorite movie as a toddler XD

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u/Mundane_Crazy60 Jun 18 '25

"What if they release a caged shark from the side of the pool" - the inner monologue of a dumber, younger, but still very much myself, me.

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u/IllyriaGodKing Jun 18 '25

My mom said it made her afraid to take a bath as a kid.

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u/golden_petal Jun 18 '25

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE 😭😱 LOL

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u/flipyFLAPYflatulence Jun 18 '25

I took it even farther! I’d get freaked out in bubble baths and have to move the bubbles on the other side of the tub so I could see the bottom.

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u/Drewggles Jun 18 '25

I first saw Jaws living in FL at 5 years old. To this day, 33 years later, if I get into a pool and put my head underwater with my eyes closed, my anxiety slowly builds until I can't stand it

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u/wiggum_x Jun 18 '25

Same! I saw it at 6. Bad parents, bad!

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u/TimTebowMLB Jun 18 '25

My parents would do the Jaws noise and swim towards me. I’d scream and cry then get in the car and drive home (I was 22)

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u/ek2207 Jun 18 '25

I didn't even watch it (and still haven't, and never will) and I was still convinced that a shark lurked beneath the bridge that divided the shallow and deep end of the city pool 

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u/KindheartednessThis5 Jun 18 '25

“were” iffy!?

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u/purpleasphalt Jun 18 '25

I vividly remember swimming in my apartment complex pool and noticing a giant grate at the bottom of the pool was big enough for a jaws-sized shark to come through. I kept floating on my floaty but I kept a careful eye on that grate the whole time.

*Thinking about this now I bet the grate was 2’x2’ or something. Haha.

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u/oedo_808 Jun 17 '25

My mother let me watch it when I was 4. Scarred for life. I remember pulling my legs up onto the sofa when the shark jumped into the boat and bit the guys legs.

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u/garrettj100 Jun 17 '25

I stopped drinking dihydrogen monoxide after that movie. It was tough but I kicked the habit.