History Headscratchers / AQuietPlace

*** I’m confused by the statement that the coat-hanger abortion is an urban legend. Yes, it’s extremely dangerous, but it appears to be a real thing. Or, at least, there’s no clear evidence that it’s just a myth. See, for example: https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/53273/is-the-abortion-hanger-a-myth.

** There's some TruthInTelevision here. See, a lot of animals with pinnae (ear flaps or what have you) have just as sensitive hearing as the monsters do in the movie but certain frequencies (especially high-pitched ones) will distress them. As the Abbots already know, sounds of a certain volume will already set them off but the frequencies would be their weakness because of ''how'' sensitive their hearing is.

!!'''The Alien's biology simply can't work.'''
Lee establishes that the Aliens don't eat their kills, but their numbers have been growing so they're reproducing. If they don't eat their kills then they'd starve to death. They're living organisms, not perpetual motion machines. They expend energy, so they have to take in nutrition to keep functioning. They can't reproduce, as any offspring would need nutrition in order to grow and thrive. They wouldn't have even survived all those millions of years clustered together on the asteroid. Honestly, between ArmiesAreUseless, a hunting method (drawn to sound) that is a huge weakness because they're easy to fool and draw in, their impossible invulnerability coupled with a weakness so easily exploited that a lone woman with a shotgun (who'd just given birth) can take them down, the movie simply falls apart on closer examination.

** There's some TruthInTelevision here. See, a lot of animals with pinnae (ear flaps or what have you) have just as sensitive hearing as the monsters do in the movie but certain frequencies (especially high-pitched ones) will distress them. As the Abbots already know, sounds of a certain volume will already set them off but the frequencies would be their weakness because of ''how'' sensitive their hearing is.

So these creatures were able to nearly wipe out humanity, being impervious to all manner of weapons and can hunt via their hyper acute hearing... and we find out their weakness is [[spoiler: high pitched frequencies.]] Their weakness is ''so stupidly obvious'' and you're telling this troper that NO ONE could figure this out? The planet's military and intelligence operations couldn't nail down its incredibly obvious and exploitable weakness? REALLY?
* [[spoiler: The family only found it on accident, and Krasinski does appear to be taking a jab at how our militaries and governments are useless.]]

*** In addition to this, [[spoiler: The creatures only seem to take real damage when their ear canals are fully exposed, which they only do when really having to listen for something.]] It's unlikely the creatures would be doing this around any military.

*** Actually, to answer the first point, it was more than just pitch it was [[spoiler: frequency]], along with volume (it had to be loud enough [[spoiler: to disorient them to expose their weakpoints]]) and, on the second point, from my observation, it wasn't so much the fact that the [[spoiler: Cochlear implant]] emitted that frequency, rather, it was damaged, hence, why it did what it did (to elaborate, I knew a girl who was ''functionally'' deaf and her hearing aid made that sort of noise when interfered with, however, it wasn't loud). On the note of the third point, well, we did see a raccoon get eaten (or crushed, either way, it became a splattered mess at the monster's claws?) and that made a high-pitched noise, thus it's more than the pitch, otherwise, we'd probably see more animals and the monsters ignoring them.

** It is probably a combination of [[spoiler: the frequency and the particular mechanics of the hearing aid]] that causes that reaction. Note in the climax that the monster was annoyed by the other radio equipment but NOT driven off by it. Considering how fast and deadly the monsters are, random chance doesn't necessarily translate into a viable countermeasure. It took the characters a long time to make that connection, mostly because [[spoiler: Regan was the only one experiencing that feedback and the first time it happened she didn't even know the monster was behind her]].
** Sounds fair but it wasn't the radio equipment that annoyed it initially, it was the [=TV=]s. The [[spoiler: frequency is what drove it off and, when amplified, disoriented it enough]].

* It brings ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' into memory, with a random John, who also happens to be the [[PlotArmor main protagonist]], [[spoiler: is the only one (amongst all the American military) to spot the aliens' weakness in a convenient moment]]. Apart from that, it's pretty unbelievable that in 2018/2019 literally no one would think about such a solution. Distribution of it shouldn't really be problematic, either — it'd be so crucial that it'd be worth sacrifice, although still: Morse code? aircraft with a big banner? Doable!

It seems rather odd how the monster, [[spoiler: pained and disoriented by the high-frequency noises of Regan's hearing aid,]] would open up its head plates and leave itself vulnerable to [[spoiler: a shotgun right to the head, killing it.]] Wouldn't it make more sense for it to close its head plates as tightly as it possibly could, in an attempt to block out the noise (similar to how you'd cover your ears with your hands when there's loud sounds)?
* The logical solution when in pain would be to get away from whatever causes it, but that doesn't take into account the fact the pain can be simply disabling. It's a phenomena so widespread there is really no point describing it further. So the head plates aren't opening, because the monster is trying to hear the sound causing the pain, but because it's in so much pain it ''can't close them''. In fact, the pain is so strong, [[spoiler: it looked at first as if the sound alone was capable of killing it and it's still painful enough to completely disable it]]. Also, the monsters clearly don't get deaf when their head plates are closed. Otherwise they would be unable to catch any sounds unless actively searching for them, which obviously isn't the case.

* Actually, Lee took the batteries out of it [[spoiler: Beau got them back as they left the store]], so he didn't exactly take the rocket away, as it was more like, "I'll let you have this, without the batteries" or something like that, though he did hand it Regan. To be more specific, Lee took the batteries out, telling him, "No, it's too loud." and Regan gave the toy back ''without'' said batteries. In terms of Beau, well, [[spoiler: he probably didn't really understand how the toy could be loud enough to attract the monsters]], thus why he gets the batteries.

* To their credit, the kids for the most part knew to be quiet [[spoiler: aside from the shuttle incident]], hence why they don't walk in that arrangement. However, there have been cases where parents walked behind and kids got too far ahead, so, mmm, yeah. Likewise, we wouldn't have that emphasis of conflict if they ''didn't'' walk in that arrangement.

This might be a minor nitpick, but [[spoiler: if the waterfall was able to mask sound to the point of where one could yell by it without attracting the creatures, then why not camp out and wait so the mother could give birth there? Yes, it's not the best place to give birth, but it seems like it'd give much more protection and they wouldn't have to struggle to be as quiet, or worry about the infant crying.]] Granted, [[spoiler: the plan they did have worked fine]] so I can't really complain.
* Maybe they didn't do that because she was too far along and then there's the issue of the [[spoiler: baby being born]], along with moving a large amount of equipment (notice how they've been traveling light in any scenes we see them out?)

* [[spoiler:I was wondering why they didn't try to set up white noise around the house with some tvs, radios and some speakers. I'd be raiding the first electronic store I could find if I knew you could drown out sounds with a waterfall, and maybe a music shop for amplifiers, synthesizers etc. Like seriously, have a Mini-Moog going 24-7 and then have it make high-pitch noise when you discover that trick with the hearing aid. ]]
** If the scene in the town is an indication, there probably wouldn't any of those things left (it already looked plenty looted), along with the white noise would probably piss them off (i.e, the [[spoiler: climax in the basement]] with the [=TVs=]), that, and a misstep in setting up the equipment would probably produce a sound loud enough to attract them, along with their farm being a wide-enough property. Granted, continuous noise probably would have kept them away (i.e, we don't find any near a running body of water).

** Likewise, the aliens only expose their weakpoints ([[spoiler: their ear canals]], mostly) during certain points, so luring them out to kill them wouldn't work unless their weakpoints were exposed enough

By the way it's depicted in the movie, the creatures get attracted to '''any''' sound above a certain threshold — even a single axe drop makes their will to destroy a source of greater noise disappear (in this case: [[spoiler: an inside (!) of a pickup]]), at least temporarily. It must have not been rocket science even as early as the military was still involved, but we somehow got to the point of a largely-deserted globe and the Abbotts surviving in their farm estate. After brief reflection, the nature of the monsters raises a fundamental question: did anybody ever need to die? Taking the aforementioned [[spoiler: children-stuck-inside-the-truck]] scene as an example: according to the in-universe logic, [[spoiler: a single axe ''throw'' instead of the axe ''drop'' would be more than enough to save the father and his offspring]]. Hell, we saw the family's preparation for potential intruders with [[spoiler: fireworks — which worked, by the way]]. Would it be so hard, therefore, to set up numerous ''traps'' of such a kind? They could potentially be launched from the electronic center in the basement, to which, [[spoiler: during the main events, Evelyn had access to]]. General advice to everyone would be to always have a handful of rocks in one's pocket — just in case! — to throw them away, making some noise elsewhere. [[TooDumbToLive Too easy, right?]]
* The rocks idea wouldn't work because the aliens would hear them rattling around in their pockets. On the note of the fireworks, that was supposed to work for one time [[spoiler: when the baby was born]]. Likewise, setting up multiple traps of that kind would divert resources from more important things, that, and it would have been pointless since [[spoiler: the aliens can only seem to only take damage when their ear canals are fully exposed]], in which case that would have just exacerbated things, as it wouldn't kill them.
** You could, however, easily split the rocks, have them separated by a soft material, or just have one big rock. Or two, for two pockets. I know what the fireworks ended up being used for, nonetheless: why not use them as a disturbance? The point is not to kill them, as that was deemed impossible [[spoiler: until the film's last scene]], but to get them away from you. Accidentally broke a glass lamp? No problem, just launch fireworks 2 kilometres away not to put your entire household in peril.

** Well, we do know that they can swim as, [[spoiler: towards the end, during the scene with Evelyn and the baby in their safehouse]], one did go underwater and there's the fact that they can survive a long time without needing to breath, so them getting there wouldn't be too much a of problem (though some probably did get picked off by much bigger creatures)but it's possible that the asteroid had actually broken apart and one part landed elsewhere.

** People have had and raised children in circumstances almost as dire as the film. Moses and UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} are two prime examples, but if you aren't religious, you also have Jews in Nazi Germany, and Russians during the Mongol invasion. The Abbotts blame themselves for Beau; he helped them learn what not to do when raising a new baby. They obviously already put a lot of thought into it, considering how long they were working on that basement with all the soundproofing and the oxygen tank. LivingIsMoreThanSurviving. As for sex, I learned as a teenager how to [[ADateWithRosiePalms --ahem--]] as quietly as possible, so it's entirely possible they got enough soft mattresses and blankets to muffle any noise. Or better yet, they could've just used the waterfall.

* The aliens have hearing so powerful that they can pick up people having a quiet conversation miles away, yet somehow they don't find stuff like gunshots or explosions, that can be so loud they 'rip apart the eardrums' in humans, painfully loud? And yes, they are supposed to have essentially biological ear protection, but if they're able to block out stuff above the threshold of pain in humans, which even .22 LR pistols can break easily, they should be practically deaf when their heads are closed, sensitive hearing or not, since they would essentially have to turn their ear canals into a vacuum.

* It couldn't be a generator since that's way too loud, but I didn't see any solar panels.

* Condensing the problems with all of the above: ensuring the survival of the human legacy seems a weak excuse to produce a child in the type of world run by murderous sound-driven monsters; children under a certain age are simply too young to understand the gravity and will invariably get themselves and others killed; the Abbots had no excuse to try and bring yet another child into the picture after having seen the proof with Beau. Infants, especially, are flat-out ''impossible'' to keep quiet at all times. The world has been deprived of medical professionals nearby who can ease the naturally loud and dangerous processes of birth, nevermind abortion. Producing new children in this movie is the ultimate IdiotBall move, on top of how difficult it is to even conceptualize it happening--there's no "accidental" pregnancies in a world in which even sex could be suicidally dangerous--they both had to have been ''incredibly'' quiet during the act, on ''top'' of not wearing or taking protection.