Just For Fun / Cell Phones Could Have Solved This Plot

It's a pretty common occurrence for audience members of a certain age. They're watching a movie or TV show and the characters are stranded somewhere with no hope of rescue, or rushing to deliver important information in time. The audience member wonders, "Are they stupid? Why don't they just whip out their cell phone and solve this problem right now?" Then they check the back of the DVD case or check IMDb, Wikipedia, or the like on their smartphone(s) and find the answer: this movie was made in 1992. The characters don't have cell phones. Well, not all of them.

Just for Fun here's a laughably incomplete, not-at-all-definitive list of stories set after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Still, before the widespread availability of cell phones, these stories would have been over really really quickly if cell phones had been available. For when cell phones are ostensibly available but never seem to work when they're needed the most, see Cell Phones Are Useless. For cell phones that work when they shouldn't, see Super Cell Reception. Obviously, this is a Sub-Trope of Technology Marches On.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Spirited Away:
  • What Really Happens: A family trying to get to their new home accidentally gets lost near a mysterious tunnel. They explore the tunnel to find what seems to be an abandoned amusement park, they eat the food served there and turn into pigs because those were intended for the spirits. The girl now has to save them before it's too late.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone (Or Heck, GPS For That Matter): The GPS leads them to their new home. The rest of the movie never happens.

Asian Animation

• The Noonbory and the Super 7 episode "Kidnapped Kiddy-Cake":
  • What Really Happens: Jetybory, overly confident in her abilities, wanders into a cave without the rest of the Super Sensors and gets lost. When the other Super Sensors have to go in and get her, they use a Mamby-rope (Mamby shapeshifted into a rope) and their Super-Senses to find her. However, the villains, who were also lost in the cave, use the Mamby rope to escape.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: The Super Sensors could have used a music app (ex. Spotify or YouTube) to play a song. Jetybory would have picked up on it with her super hearing and followed the sound out of the cave. When the villains hear the song, by the time they follow it out of the cave, they'll be running right into the Super Sensors.

Comic Books

• Batman:
  • What Really Happens: The Waynes leave Monarch Theater after Bruce gets scared by the movie they're watching and decide to walk through Park Row where they're murdered by Joe Chill, making Bruce an orphan and starting him down the path to become the titular character.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: They could have called Alfred in Wayne Manor to come with the car to take them home, and without their murder, their son never becomes Batman.

Fan Works

• The Panda Chronicles chapter "The Shoe":
  • What Really Happens: The squad has to go to the library at lunch and look online with a boxy computer at a Sears catalog to find the origin of a missing boot.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: "Here, I posted on Facebook and Instagram for anyone who's missing a boot. Alright, let's go to class."
• Skylanders: Return to the Ruins
  • What Really Happens: Glumshanks' long-lost niece, Crestfeather, hasn't had contact with her family in fifteen years, and is on the hunt for their whereabouts/remains, which lasts for the majority of the story.
  • If She Had A Cell Phone: One quick search on Google (or the Skylands equivalent thereof) would have led her straight to her uncle. With that done, she doesn't need the Skylanders' help, and thus she never joins the main cast and her arc never happens.
• The Wrath of Avelina
  • What Really Happens: Avelina gets away with casting her curse on the Madrigal family until the very end.
  • If They Had a Cell Phone: Someone (likely Camilo in Chapter 3) would have recorded Avelina using her power and sent the video around town, making sure it gets to Alma. Avelina is caught and punished much earlier, thus making sure that the curse is never put on Stefanie, Luisa, Felix, Agustin, Pepa, Mariano, and possibly Bruno.

Films - Animation

• Barbie & The Diamond Castle:
  • What Really Happens: Liana and Alexa basically live off of bread and jam because that's all they have available to them.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: "I ordered some vegetable seeds for us to grow on Amazon. They should last us for seasons!"
• Barbie as Rapunzel:
  • What Really Happens: Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel from King Wilhelm, and they do not reunite until Rapunzel is grown up.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: Two words: AMBER Alert.
• Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses:
  • What Really Happens: King Randolph is completely unaware that Duchess Rowena is far too strict on her daughters behind closed doors.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone (And/Or Security Cameras): One of the princesses would have at least recorded audio of what Rowena was really like or checked the security footage, given it to the king, and he would have reprimanded her depending on what they chose to record (ranging from a slap on the wrist for constantly mixing up the princesses' names to potential banishment for scolding the five-year-old triplets, including an insensitive remark about their deceased mother, for wanting to celebrate their birthday).
• Encanto:
  • What Really Happens: Mirabel sees the Casita cracking apart and rushes to tell her family. But when they come back, the cracks are gone, and her family doesn't believe that the magic is dying.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: Mirabel could have taken a picture of the cracks in the Casita and showed her family. Then, all the Madrigals would have known that something was wrong with the magic and would have pushed themselves even harder to keep it from disappearing. The film then mostly continues as normal.
• Lalaloopsy: The Search for Pillow
  • What Really Happens: Pillow takes forever to a runaway ball due to her habit of napping everywhere, and the remaining Lalas form a search party to find her after she doesn't come back.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: TEXT MESSAGE FROM: BEA SPELLS-A-LOT: "Hey Pillow, what's taking so long? Bring the ball back already!"
• Turning Red:
  • What Really Happens: Ming doesn't find out about Mei making merchandise of her red panda form until she's already raised 700-some dollars with it.
  • If Ming Had a (Modern-Day) Cell Phone: Middle schoolers aren't known for making the best decisions, and Ming would have seen the panda all over social media (assuming she lets Mei use social media).
• Wish (2023):
  • What Really Happens: King Magnifico shows Asha where he keeps the wishes, but when she harmlessly asks him if he would grant her grandfather's wish, he refuses, claiming it's "too dangerous", then snaps at her when she suggests giving them back. Unfortunately, her family doesn't believe her when she tells them about that later on.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone (And/Or Security Cameras): One of her friends would have at least recorded audio or checked the security footage, given it to the queen, and she would have scolded him (especially after he stiffed her and her family at the ceremony) and threatened him with potential banishment if he didn't change his methods.

Films - Live-Action

• Airheads:
  • What Really Happens: The Lone Rangers, an aspiring rock group, sneaks into their local rock radio station (using toy guns) to play their demo tape on the air, but it gets destroyed, and what starts out as mere trespassing turns into a hostage situation. The frontman, Chazz, calls his girlfriend, Kayla, hoping she'll bring the backup copy of his band's demo. However, she's not home, and to make matters worse, she'd tossed it out of her car in a bit of anger, so he asks LAPD Sgt. O'Malley to track her down, agreeing that the group will stand down after they play their demo. O'Malley sends Officer Wilson to track her down, which he does eventually after a struggle with some punks at a music club, explaining the situation to her, and she finds the tape (slightly scuffed) before driving to the station.
  • If Kayla Had A Cell Phone: She'd immediately head back to where she'd tossed the tape and go to the station afterward.
• The Blair Witch Project:
  • What Really Happens: A group of film students becomes lost in the woods not far from civilization, bickers endlessly about who lost the map, and then falls victim to... something. Probably a witch, given the title.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: "Google Maps says if we keep walking this way we'll reach the highway in about twenty minutes." ^note  If the protagonists could get good reception in the woods and/or whatever was in the woods didn't use magic to interfere with the reception
• Die Hard:
  • What Really Happens: Terrorists seize Nakatomi Plaza on Christmas Eve, and it's up to one man to stop them. Given that this is 1988, they cut the phone lines to ensure the cops don't reach them.
  • If John McClane Had A Cell Phone: "Hello? 911? Some terrorists have seized Nakatomi Plaza! Send a SWAT team immediately!"
• Gremlins:
  • What Really Happens: When the Mogwais beg for food, Billy checks his alarm clock to see if it's not after midnight when the Mogwais aren't supposed to be fed. It tells him that it's before midnight, so he offers them some chicken to eat. The next morning, the Mogawis are starting to mutate and Billy finds out that the cord to his alarm clock had been cut by the Mogwais.
  • If Billy Had a Cell Phone: Billy checks the time on his cell phone after or instead of checking his alarm clock and sees that it's too late to feed the Mogwais. The next morning, the only problem that Billy has to deal with is the single Gremlin at the school.
• Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
  • What Really Happens: The two stoner protagonists, entranced by a White Castle commercial, set off across New Jersey in search of one. Misadventures ensue.
  • If They Had Cell Phones: They use Google Maps to discover the nearest White Castle and go there.
  • Alternatively, they order White Castle from DoorDash, meaning they never even leave their house.
• Home Alone:
  • What Really Happens: A storm knocks out the McCallisters' power and phone lines the night before their big trip to France, causing their alarm clocks to reset and everyone to oversleep and forget to bring their young son Kevin. The power is restored in short order, but the phone lines remain down for the duration of the film (and the Police Are Useless and give up after a very cursory attempt to check on him, and all their friends and neighbors either having the same phone troubles or are also out of town) so his parents have no way of getting in contact with him short of getting back home as quickly as possible given the holiday travel rush and inclement weather. Meanwhile, burglars plot to burgle their house, and Kevin resolves to defend it by any means necessary. Hilarity Ensues.
  • If Kevin Had a Cell Phone: "Stay put, we're going to call whoever's closest to you on their cell phone so that they can come take care of you until we can get there. And for the love of all that's holy, if any potentially murderous burglars try to break in, call 911 instead of creating an obstacle course of booby traps!"
  • Or, The entire family sets an alarm on their cell phones, with no more of an inconvenience than starting their vacation with a less than fully charged battery (and they would've been able to charge their phone at the airport or on the plane anyway).
• Rounders: This film's basic plot probably wouldn't have been much different, but it would have been a lot less visually interesting since most of the conversations that take place in places like hole-in-the-wall bars and public bathhouses could more easily have been conducted by telephone. Not only does nobody have cell phones (not unusual for a film made and apparently set in the mid-nineties), but nobody seems to have phones, period (yes unusual). Every time any character wants to talk to any other character, they have to figure out where that character is likely to be and physically go there. In New York City, where getting across town is not a quick or convenient prospect. The characters must spend an ungodly amount of time off-camera in taxi cabs or subways.
• The Ref: Due to the absence of cell phones, there's no way to call the relatives of the couple Gus is holding captive and tell them "Christmas dinner's off". Of course, if they didn't arrive, we wouldn't get any interesting plot or Character Development.
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show:
  • What Really Happens: A young couple's car breaks down on a lonely road on a dark rainy night. They take refuge in a nearby castle, which doesn't have a phone. Wacky hijinks ensue.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: Brad or Janet calls AAA on their cell phone to come to rescue them. The rest of the movie never happens.
  • Alternatively, Brad calls or messages Scott to let him know they're coming with some big news, and Scott tells them he won't be available (due to staking out Frank's castle in search of Eddie) - so they never even start their fateful trip.
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar:
  • What Really Happens: Three Drag Queens drive from New York City to Los Angeles to compete in a national Beauty Pageant. Early in the trip Vida takes a detour in the Philadelphia area to say hi to her parents but gets blown off by her mother. In a fit of rage, she ditches their roadmap, and Chi-Chi wonders how they'll get to LA without it. Later in the movie, their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and Chi-Chi hitches a ride to the nearest town.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: All three of the queens would have had a smartphone with Google Maps to guide them to LA, and while cell phone reception can be spotty in rural areas, at least one of them would have had enough reception to call AAA.
• William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet:
  • What Really Happens: Juliet fakes her death with a letter being delivered to inform Romeo about it. Romeo doesn't see the letter and commits suicide as he believes Juliet is actually dead.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: A simple phone call or DM conversation between Juliet and Romeo could have prevented all that.

Literature

• And Then There Were None:
  • What Really Happens: Ten people are isolated on an island. Ten corpses ensue.
  • If Anyone Had a Cell Phone: Probably only the first death or two would have happened before a call for rescue could get through. Granted, that assumes reception on an isolated island in dubious weather.
• Cujo:
  • What Really Happens: A woman and her young son are trapped in a car in the middle of summer by a rabid dog. They are trapped for two days and nearly die of dehydration and heat exposure before the woman, in an act of extreme desperation, ventures out and fights the beast. And then her son dies anyway.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: "Hello? Castle County Animal Control? Yes, yes that's right. And bring some water bottles too, if you'd be so kind."
• The Goosebumps book One Day at HorrorLand:
  • What Really Happens: The Morris family went to Zoo Gardens but they ended up getting lost. They came across a sign that led them to Horrorland, a horror-themed amusement park. The Morrises went there and it gave them the fright of their lives.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: Mr. Morris would use Google Maps to get his family to Zoo Gardens. That way the Morrises will not go to Horrorland at all.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
  • What Really Happens: During the trio's extended camping trip (far away from the magical wards of Hogwarts which interfere with technology and are the usual reason why such things as telephones aren't an option) in Deathly Hallows, Ron gets frustrated under the influence of an Artifact of Doom and abandons his friends after an argument. Both sides almost immediately regret the fight and wish to patch things up, but Harry and Hermione have to keep moving so Ron can't find them again for weeks.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: "Sorry, mate, I've been a right prat, I have. Take me back?" (Although granted, Muggle technology had been unavailable to the characters for so long that it's likely they might have forgotten it was an option even if cell phones had been more widespread in 1997-1998 when the story was set.)
• Rainbow Magic:
  • What Really Happens: The fairies come to the human world, but hide from humans. They are never detected.
  • If They Had a Cell Phone: Someone would have seen a fairy from far away and snapped a picture, leading to more and more humans learning that fairies exist.

Live-Action Television

• The Seinfeld episode "The Chinese Restaurant":
  • What Really Happens: As the protagonists endure a long wait to be seated at a Chinese restaurant, George wants to call his Girl of the Week to invite her to eat with them. She is expecting his call, and he is afraid she'll think he stood her up and won't want to see him again if he doesn't get through. He is repeatedly frustrated by people hogging the only available payphone. Meanwhile, the girl calls the restaurant trying to reach him, but the maitre'd calls out the wrong name and George misses her call. Hilarity Ensues.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: "That's right, I'll text you the address. Care to join us for Plan 9 from Outer Space afterward?"

Video Games

• Punch-Out!! on the Wii:
  • What Really Happens: In Title Defense, Aran Ryan creates a weapon out of one of his old boxing gloves (presumably weighted with horseshoes) and a rope. He brings this weapon into the ring, which Little Mac must avoid to win.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone (well If They Used Their Cell Phones): At least one audience member would have recorded the fight with their phone and posted it online. Once the video had started circulating, there would have much talk about the weapon, and Ryan would have been suspended from boxing for using a weapon, possibly banned if further investigation uncovers all the other infractions on his record. He may also be facing criminal charges for assault with a weapon.
• The first Resident Evil:
  • What Really Happens: A small city's elite STARS law enforcement agency sends their "Alpha Team" to investigate the disappearance of the "Bravo Team". As soon as their chopper lands, they're attacked by zombified dogs, their pilot panics and abandons them, and they're forced to take refuge in a creepy mansion full of zombified humans and worse. Ultimately it turns out their team leader betrayed them by luring them there to help a sinister corporation gather data on their newly developed bio-weapons.
  • If They'd Had a Cell Phone: "Hi? Yeah, this is Chris. We were attacked by some sort of rabid animals; whatever it is seems to affect humans too, send backup! Oh, and tell Brad he's fired!"

Western Animation

• The Animaniacs episode "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock":
  • What Really Happens: After Slappy goes insane from watching too many talk shows, Skippy has to take Slappy to a retirement home for cartoon characters. When child services learn Skippy has been living by himself, he gets dragged off to a foster home. When Skippy doesn't show up to visit Slappy like he promised, Slappy goes back to normal and demands to know where he is. The retirement home calls the house phone to let Skippy know his aunt is back to normal, but nobody answers, which leads to Slappy breaking out of the retirement home later that night to reunite with Skippy.
  • If They Had Cell Phones: Slappy asks the retirement home to call Skippy's cell number and she learns that he was taken away by child services. Slappy then calls child services to let them know there's been a mistake and tells them to let Skippy come back to the retirement home so the two of them can go home.
• The Backyardigans episode "The Snow Fort":
  • What Really Happens: Ski Patrollers Uniqua and Tasha think that Mounties Pablo and Tyrone are in danger. Pablo and Tyrone think that Uniqua and Tasha are raiders. They go around in circles until bumping into each other and freaking out.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone (And WiFi/Data): Uniqua and Tasha could have Googled the snow fort in question and know that the people inside were Mounties who just want to protect the world's biggest snowball.
• The Raccoons episode "Search and Rescue!":
  • What Really Happens: Bert and Cedric travel to Jack Pine Island to find the impact site of a fallen meteorite, but after they find it, they find themselves lost after the raft they came on drifts off. To make matters worse, they didn't tell anybody else where they were going so they could be the first ones to find it, which leaves everybody else desperately trying to locate them.
  • If They Had A Cell Phone: After Bert and Cedric find the meteorite and see the raft is missing, they call for a rescue on Jack Pine Island, saving everybody else some of the trouble of locating them.

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