What they should have done

Well, yeah, on a strictly literal level, we do all eventually have to lie down and die. I was just noting the simple fact that it's contemptible to go down without swinging, cursing and spitting, barring some sort of necessary sacrifice.

We don't actually know what areas were hit or to what degree they would have been effected by their initial exposure to radiation from the bombs. The fact that they lived for months after the bomb without vomiting up their guts or bleeding from their eye sockets suggests that their chance of survival would at least have been greatly enhanced if they hadn't remained in an area known to be contaminated, which was really just a stupid thing to do.

We do know what areas the USSR intended to target, however. If you look at this map of FEMA's blast predictions for California,

http://www.survivalring.org/nuclearsurvival/states/ca.htm

you'll see that there is a long band of territory along northern California/Oregon coast that stretches hundred miles inland and does not contain any nuclear targets. Given the prevailing W to E winds, we can assume that these areas would have likely had limited if any contamination from nuclear fallout. And the US itself is a massive landmass while the majority of missiles will be aimed at just a handful of places rather than distributed on a geographic basis. So there will be large areas of the US that would also likely have had limited contamination from fallout. As such, we can also assume that with a full tank of gas from their buddy at the gas station and maybe 10 or 20 gallons in the trunk, they could likely have made it to a much safer area in a day or three.

And, yeah, if the earth is engulfed in a nuclear winter, they're very probably dead anyway. But no one knows how that would have actually played out, and it doesn't seem like they are stuck in a continuous winter in the film. The undeniable fact is that some people would have survived even in the absolute worst case scenario. Maybe natural selection or just luck would have selected them.

Well considering there was a high possibilty of them being killed in the most horrific manner possible and the fact the would have died of radiation posioning anyway maybe the mother wonted spare herself and the children one last horror. To survive you need to be a survivour and maybe that mother wasn't one,she is only human.

I strongly suspect that if you knew exactly what you would have to contend with if you left the reletive safety of the town you would think twice about moving on.

I would suggest that, when they didn't immediately come down with radiation sickness symptoms, they hoped that perhaps they were being spared the worst of it. To go elsewhere would probably be risking greater exposure, not less. By the time they found out they were wrong, it was too late.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Remember, these folks are in a small town with limited emergency resources. It's doubtful that the cavalry is going to arrive any time soon, what with emergency personnel busy trying to mop up what they can in their own areas.

Most people are neither survivalists or Mormons, so things like bomb shelters, Geiger counters and large stores of food are unlikely to be kept. EMP would have knocked out most communications, though it's possible refugees from other areas would be on the move and pass through with information about their own experiences.

We can say "coulda-shoulda-woulda" all we want, but the fact is, a large portion of Americans have no clue what to do in any type of large scale emergency, never mind a nuclear war. Heck, I've seen people panic when the electricity goes out for ten minutes at Wal-Mart. I've seen kids melt down when the batteries run out in their cell phones. And we expect these folks to suck it up and grit out a war? Most of us aren't at all used to having to survive. We're used to having things made available to us.

Personally, I live on a farm, am used to manual labor, and might be a tiny bit more prepared for self-sufficiency. But my solar panels, water well, wood stove and garden are no match for widespread radiation. Though I can't say for sure until it happens, I'm one of those who might choose not to live through the horrible aftermath of a nuclear war.

People in the fifties and early sixties were somewhat better educated about shelters and radiation, but lots has been written about how over-optimistic the bomb shelter concept was. By the time the 1980s rolled around, lots of people assumed that a nuclear war meant world annihilation, so why bother trying to survive.

One of the characters in Threads says, "Back to survival of the fittest, I suppose." I think he supposed right.


A learning experience is something that says, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

See there, Gary. All of your thoughtful, realistic, well-considered thoughts on this movie are moot, because in reality nuclear war is about "pushing the button" and watching the whole world die slowly of invisible radioactive voodoo vibes. Oh, and zombies and aliens would come and take over. :-)