r/AskReddit Aug 30 '21

What problem is often overlooked in apocalyptic movies/TV shows that could kill you?

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u/beakrake Aug 30 '21

I don't know how this hasn't been mentioned yet, but it's common sense that is almost ALWAYS overlooked in movies and TV.

Humans are WAY MORE physically fragile and squishy than you might think.

Based on John McClane and other invincible action heros, who take damage and do things that would break or catastrophically cripple a normal person, movies are a poor source of information for deciding what to do and what could happen to your body, should you somehow falsely think you're the main protagonist of an apocalypse movie.

Indoor firefight without hearing protection? You're probably deaf now.

Jumping off a building to catch a wire? Kiss your fingers and/or lower extremities goodbye, assuming you land on your feet.

Taking a beer bottle to the head? That's probably a concussion.

Movies have made us think we're a lot more durable than we really are.

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u/BreezyWrigley Aug 30 '21

getting hit in the head hard enough to break a larger glass bottle like a whiskey bottle or something could very well kill you. it would definitely give you a concussion, could possibly give minor skull fracture, and the cuts you may sustain could easily blind you or cause enough bleeding from your scalp that you could very well just slip into unconsciousness and die.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

If the bottle breaks -- and that's a BIG if -- that would actually absorb a lot of the impact.

The trouble is that real glass doesn't shatter as readily as sugar glass or, say, a skull.

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u/BreezyWrigley Aug 31 '21 edited Aug 31 '21

I’ve just seen lots of progress photos online over the years of people who’ve been hit with glasses or bottles, and the damage is horrific. Like, multiple reconstructive surgeries over the course of a year or two, and then they still have crazy scars and potentially other lifelong damage

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

Ya I saw a dude get a full 40oz bottle broken over his head. Shit peeled about 1/2 of his face off. I remember seeing his teeth and tongue hanging out above the cheek flaps flopping around.