Get Your Blindfolds Ready
Netflix’s most recent original thriller starring Sandra Bullock, “Bird Box”, has been at the forefront of daily conversations and pop culture news over the passed few weeks. Based on Josh Malerman’s post-apocalyptic novel of the same name, the film follows a group of survivors in a world where mysterious “creatures†are causing mass suicides. See them, and you’re a goner. Sounds intense, right? Well if the success of the film is measured by the internet craze surrounding it, then “Bird Box” is unmatched. Netflix was even forced to take to Twitter to address a dangerous challenge that has emerged as a result of the film wherein people attempt to go about their daily tasks while blindfolded…
Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.
— Netflix US (@netflix) January 2, 2019
All this to say, it has clearly crossed people’s minds that the core concept present in “Bird Box” is intriguing and merits some further investigation, so how would this play out in real life? We’ve got the answer.
1: A Much Slower Pace
- In Malerman’s novel, mass panic sets in fast. A handful of murder-suicides in Russia, Alaska, and Canada have people all the way down in Michigan are hiding indoors.
- In the real world, murders, suicides, and even murder-suicides, happen ALL the time, so only widespread and local reports would set off hysteria.
- The link between suicides and sight won’t be so obvious. The film survivors see the horrified stares of victims first-hand, with convenient exposition about demonic entities and our “worst fearsâ€; but in real life, many of the initial survivors might witness only the bloody aftermath . . . until of course it was too late.
2: No Communication Networks=We’re Done For
- In the screen version, the presence of the “creatures†seems to disrupt communication networks, and almost everyone is dead.
- In reality, we’d see electrical grids fail within days and our realistic chances of survival would decline rapidly.
3: Security, Resources and a Little Anarchy
- With isolation brought on by a lack of communication networks, the next step would be to blindfold up, and gather supplies internally.
- Looting and violence would increase as resources became scarce
- Even if a centralized government and military survived in some form, and martial law were declared, most areas would be reduced to anarchy.
4: Longterm Survival and Human Echolocation?
- There’d be more survivors than you’d think, with more than 21 million people in the US reporting visual impairments, and about a million legally blind. Blinding ourselves, and our children, using household chemicals, or makeshift surgical techniques, might be our best bet for long-term survival.
- Repurposed proximity sensors could prove invaluable or even human echolocation, which believe it or not is a real thing.
5: Restrictions and Further Threats (Because the Creatures Weren’t Enough…)
- Long-distance travel would be virtually impossible.
- All that time indoors would put us at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, worsening our odds when it came to cancer, heart disease, and even depression.
- Throw in a limited diet, and most survivors would probably look a lot more like Viggo Mortensen in “The Road†than Trevante Rhodes in “Bird Box 
6: A New Civilization
- The global population would be decimated.
- There would still be hope for the human race
- Exercise, reading, or board games indoors
- Eventually, survivors would find each other, and form communities, and new means of communication
- We could rebuild, creating a new civilization designed with sightlessness in mind – and learn to live with our demons.
How would you plan to survive a post-apocalyptic “Bird Box” reality? Check out the full video tomorrow on WatchMojo.com where we dive even deeper into what would happen if “Bird Box” were real!
If you liked this style of comparison, make sure to take a look at our video below where we answer the question: What If Michael Myers Were Real?
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