Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,510
edits
Steel Ear Drums: Difference between revisions
→Real Life
m (update links) |
|||
| (10 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Joey:''' ''[running through a script]'' Dude, [[No Indoor Voice|there's no need to shout.]]
'''[[The Smart Guy|Ross:]]''' ''[still shouting]'' There was just an [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosion]]! [[Averted Trope|My hearing would be impaired!]]
|''[[Friends]]''}}
In [[Real Life]] hearing protection exists for a reason. Exposure to 140 decibels (the loudness of gunfire) can cause pain and permanent hearing loss. That's why people at a shooting range typically are required to wear earplugs, with frequent shooters investing a lot into top-notch protection, and that's why deafness is a real occupational hazard among soldiers.
Yet in fiction, even as [[
This is an [[Acceptable Break From Reality]] as no one wants to hear about the [[Badass]] losing his hearing from trying to [[Outrun the Fireball|outrun a fireball]] or surviving a shootout. And no one wants to see him putting in earplugs or wearing gigantic earmuffs, either. Typically only coward-type characters will cover their ears while anticipating an explosion.
Line 12 ⟶ 13:
Has nothing to do with Caribbean music.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Most of the cast of ''[[Saikano]]'' have these, but one [[Ordinary High School Student]] was nearly deafened by an air raid.
Line 23 ⟶ 24:
* [[Intangible Man|Kitty Pryde]] must have these, she's stood at ground zero during everything short of a nuclear blast.
** [[Fridge Logic|You'd think]] being intangible would really remove any sense of hearing in the first place, since sound waves have to strike your eardrums before you can hear anything. (Of course, by that logic ''none'' of your external senses would work.)
** It's controllable, otherwise she'd simply fall through the floor. Assuming she remembers to do so, she could simply make her ear drums intangible right before the explosion, and solidify them right after.
== [[Film]] ==
Line 40 ⟶ 41:
* Averted in the realistic movie ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'', when one character is left mostly deaf for the rest of the movie after a 5.56mm M249 squad automatic weapon is fired from within a foot from his head.
** Also happened to SPC Nelson in real life, though he was able to recover about 15 hours later.
* Averted in ''[[The Fugitive (film)|The Fugitive]]'' (1993). When Marshal Gerard fires a gun near the head of one of his deputy marshals, the movie makes a big point about the deputy suffering temporary hearing loss.
* The baby in the carriage sequence in ''[[The Untouchables]]''.
** An aversion occurs in the movie as well oddly enough. When Malone is shot, you can hear a baby in the background crying afterwards.
Line 55 ⟶ 56:
* Averted at times in 2009 ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]''. When someone shoots too near to the titular character (and during the explosion of a gunpowder shack), the audience hears what Holmes hears (dampened noises and loud ringing in ears). The aversion doesn't work for ''every'' shot, though.
* Played incredibly straight in the ''[[Kick-Ass]]'' film adaptation, where Dave has the superpower of "not going deaf when firing two Gatling guns on either side of his head".
** He could be wearing good earplugs under that cowl, for all we know.
* Mostly played straight in ''[[Tremors]]'', particularly in the famous rec-room barrage scene. Heather does cover her ears when Burt resorts to the elephant gun, but only to demonstrate that it's even more powerful than the rest of the Gummer arsenal.
* Somewhat averted in ''[[Under Siege]]''. Gunfights never cause an issue, but when Tommy Lee Jones' character is walking on the deck of the ship when the heroes fire off a 16 inch main gun, he is shown to be deafened and in pain for a few minutes.
Line 77 ⟶ 78:
** He also forgoes ear protection when practicing with the pistol without the silencer, but only when outdoors and in private. After being through a couple of tours of duty in a warzone, plinking a few cans with a .45 probably won't make much difference.
* In [[John Varley]]'s short story ''In the Bowl'', one of the main characters laments that since they were going on a trip with well known exploding crystals in the area, they were foolish to forget to pack extra ear drums (this being the future when replacing your parts is easy).
* Averted in ''A is for Alibi'', the first book in Sue Grafton's [[Kinsey Millhone]] series. The protagonist shoots someone from inside a garbage can and is temporarily deafened. Later books reveal that the ringing didn't go away for weeks, and her ears never fully recover.
* Averted in ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (novel)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' by [[Victor Hugo]] - Quasimodo eventually goes deaf from near-constant exposure to the huge cathedral bells. Frollo teaches him sign language so he can cope. The trope is played completely straight in the Disney movie, however.
* Averted in ''[[The Hunger Games]]'' by Suzanne Collins, when the protagonist, Katniss, is deafened in one ear by an explosion and worries that it may be permanent.
Line 84 ⟶ 85:
* Both averted and justified in [[Mercy Thompson]]. Mercy is deafened by the blast and has to wait for her hearing to return, but the werewolves' super healing factor means that they hardly notice any inconvenience.
* Averted (sort of) in ''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]''. Aslan warns Lucy and Susan to plug their ears before he lets out a huge roar. Slightly damaging the realism is the statement that while Lucy has her fingers in her ears, she can't hear ''anything.'' (Plugging her ears should have damped the noise but not blocked it out entirely.)
* Averted in ''[[Monster Hunter International]]''. The main character is repeatedly forced into fire-fights without his earpieces in. He notes towards the end that his hearing is the worst of his group as a result.
== [[Live
* Averted in ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', where one character is deafened by the explosion of an SUV near him and remains partially deaf for some episodes later (notably, he is present at a shoot-out - when the guns start firing, he goes down screaming in pain).
** Also lampshaded in a later episode, where the Agents are driving around decked out with MP5 submachine guns in anticipation of a major shootout. Hotch tells Rossi "Try not to shoot that inside the car", to which Rossi remarks "You mean, try not to deafen you?" "Exactly." A few minutes and one ATV-riding, heavy machinegun-equipped unsub later, Morgan and Prentiss show up in an SUV and Morgan shoots the unsub right through his own SUV's window. Prentiss lambasts him for blowing away her eardrums.
* Averted in ''[[Early Edition]]''. The plot of one of the episodes is that Gary can't hear things because he was too close of an explosion.
* Averted in an episode of ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'', where one of his sidekicks loses his hearing after being near an explosion
* Played with in ''[[Friends]]'' when Ross and Phoebe are rehearsing scenes with Joey for a [[James Bond]] type movie. A big bang goes off, and the following exchange occurs:
{{quote|'''Ross:''' THAT'D BE A NEAT TRICK WHEN YOU'RE * checks lines* WHEN YOU'RE DEAD!!
'''Joey:''' Dude, there's no need to shout.
'''Ross:''' There's just been an explosion, my hearing would be impaired! }}
* Averted in the final episode of ''[[
** Averted again in an episode where Klinger goes temporarily deaf. When his hearing comes back, Potter says "Too bad your hearing came back. Otherwise, you'd be discharged." Klinger (who will do anything to get out of the Army) says "Huh? What did you say?"
* The ''[[Lost]]'' episode "LA X" invokes [[Shell-Shock Silence]] by muting soundtrack is muted and a faint whining sound played over it to represent some characters having trouble hearing...but for a couple of minutes, in the aftermath of a ''nuclear explosion''? Not quite enough to get it bumped off this page.
* Averted in ''[[CSI: Miami]]'', where an explosion in a Meth Lab gives Natalia hearing loss, some of which may be permanent. More, her unwillingness to admit to it has an impact on events later in the season.
** And yet, played all too straight by Horatio Kane, who finds himself walking calmly away from a massive explosion at least twice per season.
* Simultaneously averted ''and'' played straight in an episode of the
* Averted in ''The Box'' in ''[[Fringe]]''. Peter needed to disarm a device that kills by sound, so he was was deliberately deafened by firing a gun next to both ears.
* Averted in the premiere of ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'', when Rick kills a zombie within the close confines of a tank. The blast is so loud, he's stunned by the shock and pain.
* Averted in ''[[The Office]]'', as Andy's eardrum is burst [[I Just Shot Marvin in the Face|by Dwight discharging a gun near him.]]
* Averted
* ''Hilariously'' downplayed in the old campy ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' series, after the Dynamic Duo escape from Catwoman's giant speaker deathtrap:
{{quote|'''Robin:''' Holy hearing loss, Batman, I think I'll be a little hard of hearing for a while.
'''Batman:''' What?
'''Robin:''' I said I think I'll be a little hard of hearing for a while.
'''Batman:''' WHAT?
'''Robin:''' I said I think I'll be a little hard of hearing for a while!
'''Batman:''' Sorry, Robin, I think I may be a little hard of hearing for a while.}}
== [[Video Games]] ==
Line 111 ⟶ 120:
** ''[[Uncharted Drakes Fortune]]'', also limits it to explosions.
** Ditto ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'', ''[[Battlefield: Bad Company|Battlefield: Bad Company 2]]''...
** Most "realistic" military shooters use some form of [[Shell-Shock Silence]] effect. That said,
** Justified in [[Mass Effect]]: All of your weapons are essentially rail/coil guns firing rounds the size of a grain of sand. Even with the bits of metal reaching relativistic speeds, there's probably not a loud '''BANG''' to accompany each round being fired. Explosions still dampen sound when you're hit.
* Averted in the finale of ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]: [[Dark Corners of the Earth]]'', where deafening yourself with the blast of the [[BFG]] is used to solve the last puzzle and defeat the [[Load-Bearing Boss]]. Played straight for the rest of the game, though, although madness-effects sometimes distort the audio throughout the game, as well.
* Old [[Sierra]] [[Adventure Game]] ''[[Police Quest]] 2'' requires you to go to the target range and adjust the sights on your gun to improve your accuracy. While there, you're required to wear ear protectors, or you get [[Have a Nice Death]] when you blow out your ear drums. At one point in the game (at the Cove), it's possible to fire your gun once (twice results in another [[Have a Nice Death]] from insanity), at which point the narrator/character will comment, "WOW, that was loud."
* In ''[[Policenauts]]'', characters recommend Jonathan use hearing protectors on the range. While you get a different conversation afterwards where he complains that his ears are ringing, it causes no lasting effects, and in the actual game he can fire his gun freely without worrying about ear damage.
* ''[[Vindictus]]'' has explosive barrels in some areas, which if you are too close when they explode, you lose your hearing for a few seconds.
* Mostly played straight in ''[[Super Smash Bros Brawl]]'', where explosions and other loud noises are commonplace and nobody reacts to anything but the hitboxes. In ''one'' aversion, however, [[Metal Gear Solid|Snake]] will duck and cover his ears if one of his grenades explodes sufficiently close to him.
* Averted in [[Monster Hunter]], some of the monsters's roar are so loud that your hunter can't help but cover his hear (which leaves him defenseless for a few seconds), however, there is a skill to counter this. Some monster are also very weak again "sonic bombs"
* Not really averted in a mission in [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]. CJ and Catalina chase after redneck bank-robbers on a quad. CJ's driving, Catalina's shooting while sitting behind him. CJ keeps on berating her shooting right next to his ears, even saying at one point that he thinks he's gone deaf. However, he suffers no hearing loss whatsoever, and all other instances of people being gunners in/on the same vehicle as him go without any mention from him. (The difference between Catalina and all other instances is that [[Axe Crazy|Catalina is a lot more trigger-happy than the others are]].)
* Averted with flashbangs in the ''[[Rainbow Six]]'' series, which cause [[Shell-Shock Silence]] and temporary blindness to the player character (although this doesn't affect AI-controlled characters), but played straight with guns and frag grenades.
Line 135 ⟶ 144:
* Subverted in ''[[The Boondocks]]'', where, to highlight what an imbecile he is, Ed Wuncler III always forgets to put in his earplugs before an attempted heist, frequently damaging his ears when he fires his shotgun.
* The animated movie of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' plays this totally straight - while in the novel Quasimodo goes deaf after long exposure to the bells of Notre Dame, in the movie, nothing stops him from bursting into [[Crowning Music of Awesome|wonderful melodious song]] on a regular basis.
* Averted in ''[[Archer]]'', as people (usually Archer) getting [[Hollywood Healing|temporary]] hearing loss from gunshots or explosion when they forget their earplugs is a [[Running Gag]], to the point that Archer thinks he may be developing tinnitus. In one episode, Lana drives the point home when Archer's flirting with an attractive actress on the firing range without ear protection; in another, both she and Archer are deafened when he mistakes a frag grenade for a smoke grenade, and can only talk to one another after they pay a visit to Lana's ear, nose and throat doctor.
{{quote|'''Archer''': Seriously, I have to sleep with a fan on. }}
Line 141 ⟶ 150:
* Gunners in the British Army are issued ear defenders to protect from the sound of the chonking big gun going off when you're stood right next to it - but they make it hard to hear orders, so they generally only cover one ear permanently during fire missions.
** Actor Tim Barlow, while serving in the British Army, was left profoundly deaf from firing a high-powered rifle.
** Modern earplugs that can allow different amounts of sound into the ear via switches are issued for 21st century US ground troops (and presumably others). However, many soldiers prefer to leave them out and risk eardrum damage if it means a better chance of hearing something that happens to be both quiet and vital to his or her survival, not to mention it's one less piece of kit to hassle with in a warzone. Colonel Kathy Gates, audiology consultant to the US Army surgeon general, stated in an [http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/army_ear_protection_090509w/ Army Times article ]{{Dead link}} that soldiers who wear the issued earplugs properly are protected from most hearing damage.
* In orchestras players who sit in front of the trumpet section are issued earplugs because if you sit in front of any decent trumpeter, when the music gets loud and/or intense, ''you face the very real threat of having your eardrums ruptured.''
* [[William Shatner]]
* [[Danny Elfman]] suffers similarly from hearing loss due to his days in [[Oingo Boingo]].
* Many rock and roll musicians, especially from the days before it was
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
▲[[Category:Steel Ear Drums]]
| |||