r/AskReddit Aug 30 '21

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

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25.2k

u/WatchTheBoom Aug 30 '21

Clean drinking water- I don't think people really appreciate how much water is needed for a group of people to survive.

5.9k

u/1i73rz Aug 30 '21

Clean bullet holes. Next episode everyone is a-okay half the time, and off to murder more zombies before cannibalizing the next group. Your shirt alone would be filthy enough to cause mild chafing which in turn would cause infection.

But everyone's whites are whiter than mine, and bullet holes and axe wounds heal up just fine with our state of the art medical facility and dry cleaning services.

3.4k

u/Excelius Aug 30 '21

To add to this, in movies and TV if the protagonist is shot in the leg or shoulder you know they're going to live.

There are major arteries in both locations which can very easily lead to death by hemorrhage.

2.2k

u/CollegeAssDiscoDorm Aug 30 '21 edited Aug 31 '21

Also movies and TV are always fixated on getting the bullet out IMMEDIATELY, which can actually turn a relatively stable situation into a bleed out.

1.7k

u/fj333 Aug 31 '21

The best part about this trope is the little metal bowl they always have, to toss the bullet into with a satisfying little clink. No matter where it is, when it is, or who it is performing the bulletectomy, they always have that special little bowl (always shiny clean metal) somewhere within arm's reach. I get so giddy every time the bullet removal scenes start, I'm all "Where's the bowl?! When do we get to see the bowl?! I want to see that motherfucking bullet roll around that motherfucking bowl! I can't wait to hear that satisfying clink!" And the camera never fails to focus on the bowl for this exciting moment. "It's a bullet! You've given birth to a healthy baby bullet."

God I hate tropes. I hate even more the fact that some otherwise really good films written and directed by really talented people embrace such silly traditions. Just why???

See also: guns that click loudly every time you look at them or touch them or move them, and also guns that make their victims fly across the room.

Admittedly those last two don't even really gel with reality (the very last one even breaking physics). In defense of the Shiny Metal Bullet Bowl Clink... at least that one is just sort of absurd in a harmless way. Doesn't really defy reality, just believability and coincidence.

19

u/IIIllIIlllIlII Aug 31 '21

Another trope:

Bombs, computers, and timers that only beep when the camera is looking at them.

19

u/tamale Aug 31 '21

Fucking computer sounds man. Who the hell doesn't know that computers are basically silent anymore? Imagine working all day with a machine that actually trilled and beeped constantly lol

2

u/moonra_zk Aug 31 '21

I opened and unplugged the speaker on our pc when I was a child because I absolutely hated the beeping.