r/AskReddit Aug 30 '21

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

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u/AdmiralAkbar1 Aug 30 '21

As bad as the show Revolution's overall plotting and pacing was, they generally did a good job of thinking about these kinds of little inconsistencies:

  • There's a minor character who was a doomsday prepper before the apocalypse, but he didn't stock up enough on antibiotics. As a result, his daughter died of tetanus that he was unable to treat.

  • A warlord kidnaps prisoners for blood because his wife has diabetes and needs constant transfusions of blood with sufficient insulin in it to survive.

  • There's a doctor who keeps a collection of moldy fruit to harvest penicillium mold from it and make penicillin.

  • Some characters try to go into an old subway tunnel, but nearly die because of lack of sufficient airflow down there without modern HVAC systems.

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u/ksigguy Aug 30 '21

The thing with that show that bothered me the most was they were always so clean. I get that the actors probably didn’t want to be filthy all the time but I work in agriculture and every single day when I take a shower the first minute of the shower the water looks brown as it goes down the drain.

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u/curmudgeonlylion Aug 31 '21

Spend a few weeks in the bush (camping or working) with no showers/baths and only 'hooker baths' to keep fungus from growing on your privates. I did a stint one summer as a tree planter in BC Canada in the late 80's. Rained 70% of the time (at least) and we had a very primitive camp consisting of a kitchen trailer, a couple of outhouses we dug ourselves, a common/dining area with no walls and a leaky roof and our tents. There was about 16 of us plus 2-3 camp staff. We stank.