15 Time Periods, Cultures and People You’re Picturing All Wrong Because of TV and Movies
A T-Rex doesn't know what Stegosaurus tastes like anymore than we do.
![15 Time Periods, Cultures and People You’re Picturing All Wrong Because of TV and Movies](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/5/904965_320x180.jpg)
We’re visual creatures. The things we see in movies and TV shows have a huge influence on how we wrap our heads around ideas of things that aren’t right in front of us — and so, it’s pretty much impossible to imagine a T.rex in a way that isn’t shaped at least slightly by Jurassic Park.
In fact, lots of the ideas and imagery we totally take for granted about various groups and periods come more from the work of Hollywood prop departments and production designers than real life. But the more we believe them, the more they persist. When it comes to a lot of these things, in the words of “Weird Al” Yankovic, everything you know is wrong.
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There Was Something Odd Going on with the Women in Feudal Japan
![CRACKED Something that never makes it into hella cool Japanese ronin-type films is the trend for Edo-period women to dye their teeth black. It was the height of fashion at the time but would be slightly distracting on-screen.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/8/1/904981.jpg)
The Regency Period Was Less Hot Than It Looks
![CRACKED While Bridgerton and fancy BBC costume dramas make the top-hatted periods of history smolder, everyone would have had full-on ass-breath. Dental hygiene for most people consisted of picking out big chunks of food then wiping the gums with a cloth.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/8/0/904980.jpg)
The Dinosaur MVPs Never Crossed Paths
![CRACKED Picture the world in the dinosaurs' time and you see a greatest-hits selection of awesome reptiles. However, the A-list dinos didn't exist at the same time - 80 million years passed between the last Stegosaurus and the first Tyrannosaurus rex.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/8/904978.jpg)
The Wild West Wasn’t the White West
![CRACKED Movies present the Old West as very Caucasian. However, the first cowboys were Hispanic, and by the late 19th century, a third of cowboys were Mexican. Almost all iconic cowboy elements - s spurs, lassos, bandanas, cowboy hats - have Hispanic cultural roots.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/9/904979.jpg)
People Still Gave a Shit About Their Own Safety in Ancient Battles
![CRACKED While two screaming lines of battle-crazed warriors charging into each other in a suicidal scramble looks incredible on-screen, people aren't idiots. Battles have always been a lot more tactical and defensive than the frenzied mayhem of films like Gladiator.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/7/904977.jpg)
Cavemen Mostly Didn’t Have Caves
![CRACKED While caveman has become a catch-all term for prehistoric people, only a tiny proportion of people have ever lived in caves. There just aren't that many caves. And a lot of the caves that there are, have bears and shit in them.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/6/904976.jpg)
British People Are Less Fancy Than You Might Think
![CRACKED If your image of the U.K. comes exclusively from Harry Potter and Jane Austen adaptations, the revelation that fuck is the most commonly-used curse word there might be something of a (fucking) surprise.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/5/904975.jpg)
Pirates Were Less Cartoony, More Sexual Assault-y
![CRACKED In children's books, cartoons and Disney movies, pirates are a jolly bunch. In reality, however? Nowhere near as cheery, much more likely to, y'know, commit a bunch of horrifically indiscriminate murders and sexual assaults.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/3/904973.jpg)
Vikings Were Complicated Yet Horrible
![CRACKED We get Vikings wrong in every direction - they were neither cuddly Hagar the Horrible types nor savage barbarians. They had an incredibly complex culture and surprisingly progressive views on gender but, uh, were also pretty into slavery and abduction.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/4/904974.jpg)
Australia Has Dull Places, Too
![CRACKED All you ever see of Australia in movies are beautiful beaches, endless deserts and, occasionally, weird inbred outback killers. There are also boring, pleasant cities where it's normal to wear a sweater sometimes and not be a surfer or warlord.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/2/904972.jpg)
Highwaymen Were Less Dashing Than They Are on Romance Novel Covers
![CRACKED New-wave music videos and Harlequin novels present the idea that highwaymen - pre-car carjackers 300 years ago - were dashing, sexy, honorable outlaws. They weren't. Dick Turpin, the most famous one, once shoved an old woman into a fire. That's not sexy!](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/9/904969.jpg)
Scientists Only Wear Lab Coats If Someone Fancy Is Visiting
![CRACKED OOB Most scientists wear normal clothes - as comfortable as possible for long hours. While lab coats are handy for protection from spillage, a lot of the time they're only deployed to make everyone look more scientist-y if a big-shot pops in.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/8/904968.jpg)
Future Spaceship Gatherings Won’t Look Like That
![CRACKED Whenever a movie shows several spaceships together, they're always moving the same way up. Why? Space doesn't have an up - that's kind of the point of it, it's all up. And there's loads of it, it's not like parallel parking.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/0/904970.jpg)
Inbred People Don’t Sport Superhuman Strength
![CRACKED On-screen, every inward-looking Appalachian clan seems to have an insanely strong eight-footer among their number. The reality of inbreeding is a lot more extremely ill child with short painful life than a great big Triple H-looking motherfucker.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/7/904967.jpg)
Medieval Knights Didn’t Wear Their Armor Everywhere
![CRACKED Everything vaguely medieval makes it look like knights were always coated in metal. In reality, armor was mainly worn when needed - heading into battle, jousting, etc. .-as that's a lot of weight to carry just standing around shooting the shit.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/1/904971.jpg)