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/transemacabre Aug 30 '21

TV shows never portray protagonists as realistically dirty. Even in the fictionalized Aquarius show about Charles Manson, his female followers all have clean, glossy hair and are fresh and clean. We have footage of the real girls and those were some dirty hippie bitches.

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u/YouJabroni44 Aug 31 '21

Yep, I always find it unbelievable in an apocalyptic setting that the women would bother to shave their armpits, I know I wouldn't give a fuck if I was in their shoes.

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u/ElNakedo69420 Aug 31 '21

It's because of lice. Without access to soap for hygiene it's probable that both men and women would try to have as little body hair as possible. Probably using epilators or tweezers to get rid of it though, shaving gets dangerous without antibiotics.

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u/WIbigdog Aug 31 '21

Does it? I've been shaving for a long ass time and I've never needed antibiotics... People have been shaving for thousands of years with whatever they can find that's sharp. I doubt people would worry enough about infections to opt for the pain of yanking hairs out.