MovieChat Forums > The Survivalist (2016) Discussion > The two women needed to keep him warm - ...

The two women needed to keep him warm - why?

posted 9 years ago by Doltatron
11 replies | jump to latest

(Other than for dramatization, to show us skin, granted.)

The girl lit-up the fire large and rubbed him down like he desperately needed to be warmed, but then doused themselves with water, which would cool them from evaporation, not warm them or him. So-what about the steam that was shown (dramatization?), or unless the scene was intended to make them look ignorant, or using some old wives' tale witch thing that I'm not familiar with. Because that is the opposite of what you would do to get someone warm.

But, even more importantly, he would have gotten a fever from infection from the gun shot wound, and if anything needed to be cooled down, not heated up. What in the world was that all about? What kind of crazy Irish folk nonsense were they up to?

Two different kinds of wrong at once. Help a brother out. Please explain this.

[–] superharrybird 9 years ago

maybe they are just horny 😀

[–] Doltatron 9 years ago

Yes. Clearly the girl was motivated by that. But, the water?, the “mother” too?

I suspect some kind of abstract witch ceremony, that only select few understand the metaphors and true pagan meanings. Much more going on there than Christian minds can see. Surely.

[–] hughwm 9 years ago

Could it have been hot water they were splashing themselves with, to heat themselves up?

There may have been some Irish pagan/cultural reference of some kind (this film is full of such references IMO) but I think on the surface it was probably just to show how people can do very intimate things (ie, have sex, lie together naked) without fully trusting each other, thus imparting a sense of unease in the viewer.

As to the medical side of it, I'm not sure. Obviously they thought they needed to raise his body temperature and circulation to fight the fever. The fever itself probably wasn't a direct result of the gunshot wound but probably caused by the general debilitation of the body after the wound.

[–] Trans_humanist 9 years ago

He was not feverish enough.
To prevent bacteria spreading and killing him, they needed to raise his BT(to kill the bacteria).

----
Most people are like frogs without legs, sad and completely useless.

[–] franklindf 9 years ago

He was in a cold sweat, and being as weakened as he was, his body lacked energy to produce heat. This would mean that his blood temperature would drop and he would die. By placing themselves on him, they would transfer heat to his body to help him survive.

[–] vladoots 9 years ago

No pagan ritual whatsoever.

His body was overwhelmed (or arguably exhausted, since he apparently overcame it with larvae) by the infection past the feverish point and was clearly losing the overall battle: his circulatory system was fading - HR was dropping, BT along with it. He needed a boost, therefore the vigorous whole body friction administered to him before the body-to-body warm-up.

Why body-to-body? Because it was the most efficient heat transfer method available. Since his body could no longer generate heat, a simple blanket (even a thick one at that) would've been futile. So the women used their bodies as a thermal blanket (hot in this case). Given that any piece of clothing acts like an insulator, they went directly skin to skin.

I was amazed that the women knew what to do, for this is far from common knowledge (unfortunately), as illustrated by your question - no offense! :)

Them splashing with hot water would open their skin pores, allowing for an even more effective heat transfer.

[–] Doltatron 9 years ago

Heating up the body (via naked body heat transfer) made all kinds of sense.

Dousing someone who needs heat, with water, is still stupid and unexplained. No offense.

The pores will open for about 60 seconds then close because the water is evaporating making him much colder than he originally was.

[–] vladoots 9 years ago

I see your point and please correct me if I'm wrong.

I saw this film at a festival quite a few months ago and frankly it wasn't that memorable for me. But the bit I remember from that scene wasn't with him being doused with water, quite the opposite. Only the women splashed themselves with hot water in order to open their skin pores and heat him up.

That's my recollection of it, which may be flawed. I have no intention to watch this again in order to clarify that particular aspect. Hell, I even missed the wanking scene of which I found out only reading this forum. :)

But as a trained (and old) field medic I can say that nothing in that scene struck me as odd or misplaced. Anyway, there's no actual life at risk, so it doesn't really matter.

Cheers! :)

[–] Doltatron 9 years ago

I do not recall the details either.

I will acquiesce to the opinion of the field medic, in almost every circumstance.



[–] Fattycakes 8 years ago

Pores don't open and close.

But presumably them on top of him would be more effective with a blanket on top of them to trap the heat in.

[–] SWLinPHX (246) 8 years ago

Maybe they wanted a three-way. Maybe granny felt left out and that the only way she was gonna get any was when he was passed out.