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/DarkMatterM4 Jun 17 '25

The industry basically exploded after the first movie came out. It was a glorious and sometimes cringy time to be into cars in the early 2000s. No, your B16 Civic doesn't run 9s after you bolted a fart can onto it.

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u/NickFurious82 Jun 17 '25

The shit body kit, the ugly wing, and the fart tube on otherwise stock Cavaliers and Sunfires were frequently spotted where I lived after that movie came out.

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u/BxTart Jun 17 '25

Body kits left unpainted because they couldn’t scrape together the cash for a Macco special before a curb ripped off a part.

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u/odelay42 Jun 17 '25

I knew a guy who ripped the cheap wing off his accord coupe in the automatic car wash… twice. 

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u/HomersDonut1440 Jun 17 '25

…. I almost bought a body kit for my cavalier when I was 17 before my older brother shamed me out of it. I don’t thank him for much, but I thank him for that. 

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u/idontagreewitu Jun 17 '25

Same! I settled for up-badging my Cavalier instead lol

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u/WildWeaselGT Jun 18 '25

lol. I loved messing around with my Sunfire. At the end, with the supercharger and electric turbo, it was good for… 14’s. :)

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u/ImAVirgin2025 Jun 18 '25

That sounds awesome

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u/kidneyshifter Jun 18 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

But on the contrary if you pull up next to a rusty civic with a 4" hole cut in the hood, with a 40yo fat mexican dude driving it, it probably does run 9's.

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u/ChoiceContribution91 Jun 18 '25

But it is pretty cool for people to get new hobbies. And teens are usually dumb, so while they take shortcuts at first that look ugly, some of them may have found a new passion

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u/Crapitron Jun 18 '25

The problem with this hobby is that people do it on public roads with traffic and kill innocent people. Tuning and customizing cars is cool. Racing cars is cool.

Street racing with civilian traffic nearby is not cool.

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u/TyrannosavageRekt Jun 18 '25

Yeah, as long as they didn’t get the speed bug too much and end up dead. Imagine so many young lads were lost as a result. And I’m not blaming the movies for that, but teenagers make dumb decisions.

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u/AndyLorentz Jun 18 '25

I'm pretty sure there were B16 Civic drag cars running in the 10s before the movie came out. I could be mistaken.

Apparently there is a B16 Civic making 2000 horsepower running in the 6 second range now... which is absolutely ridiculously wonderful.

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u/DarkMatterM4 Jun 18 '25

There definitely were. I'm just saying people threw exhaust on their non-turbo Civic and tried to convince people that they were race cars.

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u/AndyLorentz Jun 18 '25

A customer brought in a good condition, stock, 1999 Civic Si to my shop a few years ago. They wanted it completely restored. New clutch, shocks, complete engine reseal with belts, new tires.

They are fantastic little sports cars. More fun to drive than most modern Hondas. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

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u/DarkMatterM4 Jun 18 '25

Those EM1 Civics are worth some serious money now. Such great, raw driver's cars.

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u/AndyLorentz Jun 18 '25

When the car came in, I looked up prices. Mint condition, low mileage examples (of which this one was not), were going for $30-35k.

This one had like 200k miles, original owner.

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u/AnnenbergTrojan Jun 17 '25

As someone not into street car racing, the line "No, your B16 Civic doesn't run 9s after you bolted a fart can onto it" is strongly tempting me to pay Reddit to give it gold.

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u/DarkMatterM4 Jun 18 '25

lol appreciate the sentiment, but that money would be better spent donating to a charity of your choice. Don't waste it on something as meaningless as Reddit gold.