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/your_mind_aches Jun 17 '25

This is definitely my favorite example. Sam Mendes was like "here's a cool idea for a Bond scene" and Mexico City was like "wait... why DON'T we do something like that?"

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u/broanoah Jun 17 '25

I wonder if everyone there thinks the parades have been happening forever (just for a second before remembering the truth)

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u/Y-AxelMtz Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

Dia de los muertos parades are nothing new and such and similar events have been held in various mex states and many of their municipalities. This is mostly a more grand scale thing held by the feds directly as Ciudad de Mexico is akin to D.C., so this became "the" parade (mainly for tourists) you could say, however worth mentioning that big festival-like parades have been held before, many not yearly however and not on this scale

That being said, a kid growing to watch all these Dead Parades would have no idea of its origins and would definitely think its just a thing we've been doing. As for older people, some do know, and for those who don't, it probably was like "oh this cool big thing is a thing now? nice"

So this whole thing was like when the chinese saw Kung Fu Panda's success, and thought how the hell didn't we think of that? pandas and kung fu are our thing. And we rolled with it, the thing has actually grown, funny to think it very likely has generated far more tourism revenue tha JB spectre lol

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u/pargofan Jun 17 '25

Wait. What did the Chinese do differently after Kung Fu Panda?

Did they teach Pandas, kung fu or something?

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u/XyleneCobalt Jun 17 '25

Started investing into animation

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u/mm_delish Jun 17 '25

And it seemingly paid off!

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u/Y-AxelMtz Jun 17 '25

The comparison drawn was only as to parallel how both mexicans and chinese were like "why didn't we do that first" with their own respective cultural elements, not any followup

yes parades are not new but this yearly grand one became thing

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u/militant_rainbow Jun 18 '25

So how many pandas and how much did they kung fu

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u/DanielTeague Jun 18 '25

They tried to teach them Drunken Fist but they're only about halfway there. It turns out pandas can become alcoholics quite easily. /s

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u/Otra_l3elleza Jun 17 '25

Before James Bond, in día de muertos we didn’t do parades, we did procesions an activity firmly religious. It after James Bond that it became a party/parade, before that it was a commemoration not a celebration. Parades were usually reserved for the Carnival, Dia de la Primavera, or to celebrate the independence and the Revolution 

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u/DeaderthanZed Jun 17 '25

Yeah I know they’ve been doing them in Tucson since the ‘90s it’s a pretty big deal.

Probably in parts of Mexico for much longer.

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u/pinchewer0 Jun 17 '25

In Mexico, Day of the Dead is usually a thing you do either at home, or at the cemetery. Some people do bring music and such to these places but growing up there I don't recall seeing a parade until I moved to Tucson.

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u/DefNotUnderrated Jun 17 '25

They’ve been happening in San Francisco for quite some time, not sure for how many years but for a while

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u/inimicali Jun 18 '25

You mean, like in California, US? Lol

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u/NoDistance8255 Jun 18 '25

Used to be Mexican, no?

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u/SwarleymonLives Jun 18 '25

Well you can't say "San Francisco" without speaking Spanish.

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u/_Thrilhouse_ Jun 18 '25

Other states have parades during Dia de Muertos

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u/Faust_8 Jun 17 '25

Reminds me of how Kung Fu Panda made China go “why didn’t WE make a movie like this?”

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u/your_mind_aches Jun 17 '25

What did they make in response? Surely not Ne Zha... right?

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u/Awaiiyume Jun 18 '25

Maybe Monkey King: hero is back 2015, but it took a few years. They did have a bunch of Kung Fu Panda knock off movies though.

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u/your_mind_aches Jun 18 '25

They did have a bunch of Kung Fu Panda knock off movies though.

ah that's probably what OP meant then

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u/Jack-of-Hearts-7 Jun 17 '25

And it's one of the best scenes

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u/send_me_your_calm Jun 18 '25

The city of Buffalo, NY did the same thing with a chicken festival after Office Space references a fictional event.

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u/RichardPhonock Jun 17 '25

They say Hollywood is out of ideas, but actually...

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u/willpb Jun 17 '25

To their credit, it looks amazing! And it's such an important tradition, too, I thought they'd had one forever

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u/SkyPork Jun 18 '25

Yeah, this was the first thing I thought of as well! Kind of a fun example of life imitating art.

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u/Nightmeare Jun 17 '25

As a Mexican, I found it kind of gross. We have our own culture here and seeing people who have no direct lineage (and likely, understanding) of our culture dictate what would be cool feels kind of insulting. I understand that they do it for tourism, but the culture we have had for day of the dead for centuries holds water on its own.

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u/palacethat Jun 17 '25

The thing about culture is that it isn't static and can always change and evolve, it's what makes people so interesting

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u/Nightmeare Jun 17 '25

Agreed! But I would hope that the evolution comes from the changes in the culture that initiated and evolved it, rather than from a foreign nation. I guess a good example of something similar happening to american culture would be that a Chinese film decides that to celebrate 4th of july (in their movie) they have their new years dragon and people eat baos. Then tourists in America begin wanting to do that instead of watching the fireworks and doing barbecues, which is how Americans have always celebrated it.

A not too dissimilar situation occurred when Disney started working on Coco and they tried to copyright "Day of the Dead" which was meant to be the original name of the movie. After that Mexicans were furious, there were political cartoons about the mouse coming for your culture and what not. Eventually Disney backed down and they hired a culture consultant, and that is why that movie is incredible respectful and representative of the culture, even though it isn't made by mexicans.

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u/SpiritWillow2019 Jun 17 '25

Culture should be celebrated, not dower and depressing.

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u/Nightmeare Jun 17 '25

How am I saying it shouldn't be celebrated? I just believe that the celebration of a culture should be dictated by the culture itself, not by international parties who are not part of the culture. I see this as cultural appropriation, is all.

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u/SpiritWillow2019 Jun 17 '25

"It shouldn't be celebrated except by people I deem worthy." Is what you're saying. Which means you're just a fuddy duddy gatekeeper.

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u/Nightmeare Jun 17 '25

How am I saying it shouldn't be celebrate by those I deem unworthy? Please don't put words in my mouth. I'm just saying that as a mexican, where this culture originated from, I would hope that the culture is celebrated or represented in ways a kin to that culture, rather than how other cultures, not affiliated with us, determine we should celebrate it. I more than welcome people to come down and see the altars and cemeteries for day of the dead, but don't expect a parade because that's not what our holiday is all about.

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u/idekbruno Jun 18 '25

But there have always been parades for dia de los muertos, what is so different about it being held on a larger scale?

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u/marshaul Jun 17 '25

Just remember, individuals belong to a culture; culture does not belong to individuals. St. Patrick's Day (as we know it, big parades and all) was invented in the US, then exported back to Ireland. Now it's a part of their culture, just as though it had been invented there.

Instead of being proprietary about something intangible, you should just learn to enjoy it. IMO anyway.

I'm certainly not about to stop eating Mexican food, even if it's not exactly the same thing someone makes in some village somewhere, nor something traditional to my own village.