History YMMV / Blindness

* IdiotPlot: The film has a brilliant premise but doesn't make much sense. It is an Idiot Plot because the politicians in the novel and the sequel ''Seeing'' ARE idiots. Fortunately, no real politician would act like them.
** Oh, and the filmmakers are of the belief that not only do people stop caring about hygiene when they go blind but they will be reduced to crawling around and acting like animals.
** It should be noted that, in ALL of those aspects, Meirelles was merely being faithful to José Saramago's novel, and Saramago's point is exactly that society is a very fragile structure and can easily collapse into chaos. Moore's character is exactly an anti-heroine, and a big plot point is exactly how hard it is for her to accept her role and her responsibility. Also, nowhere is it implied that the blindness is caused by a virus. Basically, the "stupidity" described in this item are, at least according to Saramago, only human nature. Not that this excuses the movie for not fixing this.

* CompleteMonster: [[FromNobodyToNightmare The King of Ward 3]] is shown to be the [[NotSoHarmlessVillain most savage]] of the barbaric society formed from the people afflicted by the blinding White Sickness. Assuming control over the asylum in which the afflicted are quarantined, the King molds Ward 3 into a gang, thenrations all the food to himself and his gang, taking the valuables of the other Wards with promises of food in return (which he dispenses sparsely). Threatening with death all who challenge him, the King forces the starving Wards to give his gang the women of the asylum if they want food. The [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil brutal mass-rape]] that ensues leads to the death of one of the women raped, but the King doesn’t care, and allows the rapes to continue.

* UnfortunateImplications: Guess how the disability community took this film/book. G'wan, guess.

* CompleteMonster: The King of Ward 3 grows from being an obnoxious pest, to a violent bully, to an unforgivable evil psychopath once he gains power.

* CompleteMonster: The King of Ward 3 grows from being an obnoxious pest, to a violent bully, to an unforgivable evil psychopath once he gains power. His wingman, the Accountant, is almost as bad.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The soldiers guarding the facility, who are irrational, violent, and terrified of the quarantined people. The King of Ward 3 and everything he does. The starving blind scavengers in the shopping center.

** The infection in the Thief's leg that completely takes over his leg.

* IdiotPlot: There is an epidemic across the city that renders people blind. The people who are blind are almost immediately thrown into concentration camps despite no one knowing anything about the virus or taking the time to study the cause. While hysteria and quarantines would be expected, the movie decides to crank HumansAreBastards and HumansAreMorons UpToEleven by having the blind tossed in prison and forgotten with no attempt to learn what the virus is or how to cure it. JulianneMoore is the only woman in the camp who can see but she does not let on to the others (inmates or guards) that she is immune to the virus. She could have been an asset in finding a cure but[[WhatTheHellHero doesn't help at all.]] As for the inmates, they stop caring about hygiene for whatever reason, going so far as to [[{{Squick}} take dumps in the middle of the hallways]] of the prisons. [[ItGotWorse The stupidity doesn't stop there.]] A '''blind''' guy sneaks a gun into the prison. Apparently, when he was arrested and placed there by government agents who had the ability to see just fine, no one decided to search him, nor did the man decide to start shooting or otherwise use it to get free. The guy with the gun holds the entire prison hostage and even [[spoiler: rapes the women... including Julianne Moore]]. You might remember that Moore's character can see perfectly fine while the GUN MAN is totally blind. You might also remember that he has no idea that she can see. Before you ask, no she isn't too scared to act. She openly defies him and even threatens him while he has the gun. She also has no problems sneaking around him and could have snagged the gun at any time, so her choice not to fight back can only be chalked up to lazy writing and [[RapeAsDrama drama.]] She does eventually [[spoiler: stab him to death]], which renders her past inaction even more of a wall banger.

* UnfortunateImplications: The filmmakers and writer are of the belief that not only do people stop caring about hygiene when they go blind but they will be reduced to crawling around and acting like animals.

** One of the women dies after they are gang-raped, since she was brutally beaten for being "a limp fish". When they return, not a single word is exchanged between any of the women, as they silently console each other.