MovieChat Forums > Serendipity (2001) Discussion > Failure to do basic math

Failure to do basic math


In the scene after Sara and Eve landed in New York, Sara says she's been thinking "about this mystery guy I met a million and a half hours ago".

1.5 million hours = 171.2 years.

She should stop thinking about him by then, cause in all likelihood that guy is dead and buried. Why can't Hollywood writers and actors do basic math? Judie Foster in "Contact", Kate Beckinsale in "Serendipity"...

Seriously, don't just check the spelling, check the math!

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That is a pedantic comment that is rather irrelevant, and you're completely missing the point.

She said "a million and a half hours ago" like she could have said "20 million", or "800 thousand". The real number doesn't matter, and besides she was hardly going to mentally calculate the exact number (eg 5y x 365d x 24h = 43800 + 24h of leap year) on the fly, was she? It was meant to signifiy "a very long time ago". No need to get all anally retentive on the arithmetics! :)

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Isn't a million and a half hours = 1.000.000 + half an hour?
Else it would be one and a half million hours. Still, your point stands :p

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But maybe the movie is set in the future when people live longer.

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word.

"Do you even remember what you came here to find?"

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It's a good point. I know how important accurate mathematics are in relationships, especially those in whimsical films.

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Well, studies do show that the more math required in a major field, the less likely any given woman is to enroll in that program. That probably explains the "million-hour" error.

Oh...and yeah, I went there. Let the h8rz rant!

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