MovieChat Forums > The 100 (2014) Discussion > Why did the Grounders become savages?

Why did the Grounders become savages?

posted 8 years ago by Cokoki
12 replies | jump to latest

Maybe I missed something, but that doesn't really make sense to me.
A lot can happen in a 100 years, but still, a 100 years is not so long to completely forget about modern technology.
Especially since the Grounders descended from modern day people - is it realistic that we would just abandon everything we know about technology - even if we were left with nothing, wouldn't we try to rebuild it, and not just act like savages all of a sudden?
For example we have Lincoln, who acts like he had never seen electricity before - but if it had only been 97 years since the nuclear war, wouldn't his great-grandfather have been part of the modern world? Wouldn't he - and everyone else - have passed down the knowledge?

[–] miracle12 8 years ago

I can't remember of this aspect being explained in-show or by actors/producers. My theory is that someone told them after the bombs that technology is evil and basically caused everything that happened. So it would be better to make a new start without it.

But the lack of technology doesn't mean they are savages. There's politics, a command structure, trading, a thriving capital.

"Just another day on the ground, right?" - John Murphy (The 100)

[–] Cokoki 8 years ago

Well, maybe "savages" isn't the most correct word to use, but I think most will understand what I mean by it

[–] miracle12 8 years ago

Sorry, double post.

"Just another day on the ground, right?" - John Murphy (The 100)

[–] Cosima324 8 years ago

As evidenced by The Stanford Prison Experiment- There is a societal breakdown that occurs when there is a change of power and a loss of law and order. This happens often in post-apocalyptic movies as well, such as in Doomsday- society changes, social norms change, the rules change. I suspect that eventually that is what occurred to the grounder population over those 97 years. Plus, it was a fight for survival from the elements of earth, the mountain men and the subsequent Reapers that they created. Survival of the Fittest kicks in, Darwin's theories apply and voila- and dramatic change in society.

The grounders became a society of people who had no one else to answer to but their own hierarchy. And in every hierarchy and society, there are good people and there are corrupt people, hence the disparity and animosity among the clans. Not all leaders are fine, upstanding humans- not even in the modern world of 2016!!! So, without a strict set of complex rules, regulations and standards in place, it turns into an "anything to survive" sort of society.

The Ark seems to have been a different story because they already had a political system and a hierarchy in place, and somewhat of a peace treaty. Sure there was some corruption, but none of that caused a break down in their society. They were also living in a far safer "world" with better resources, oddly enough. I suppose the same societal breakdown could've also occurred on the Ark, but they had laws, rules, and a hierarchy in place that was never challenged or changed. So.... I think those are just some ideas as to why the grounders live as they did.

"This organism and derivative genetic material is restricted intellectual property."

[–] Cosima324 8 years ago

Also- I don't know if they were necessarily all around savages- as someone stated above, since they were protective of their own people. It was more of an "any means necessary to survive" when dealing with outsiders.... They still took care of their own when they lived within their defined codes and they revered their leaders. Now- the people on The Ark were the same way and they floated people for breaking the smallest rules, so.... how savage are the grounders, exactly, ya know?

"This organism and derivative genetic material is restricted intellectual property."

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] mhrist 8 years ago

well the first bunch of years after the bombs it probably wasn't all fun and games. you should see the road. it is not specified in the movie whether it is nuclear bombs that caused it but the effects would be the same from a total nuclear war.

basically the first 10-20 years it was a perpetual winter with no sun and no infrastructure.you just can't jumpstart *beep* like that.

[–] BigMac8000 8 years ago

This is a good question that leads to even better ones.

Nuclear war. We all presume that's a bunch of bombs flying back and forth - but it's so much more complicated than that.

Everyone's heard of "War Games' and *maybe* done some reading about how nations casually run statistical analysis on how exactly to eliminate their enemies. For a Nuclear War to happen in this kind of advanced society, it wouldn't just be a bunch of bombs going off.

It'd be bombs tactically aimed at the highly technical, highly empowered infrastructure's. These bombs would EMP and annihilate every major city, and every major hub of technology with it. If someone was aiming for damage, they'd make sure radiation hit the prevailing winds and blanketed any major civilian area's.

They establish in S3 that the bombs were aimed for maximum casualties. "Too many people". That means not many people lived. Combo that with a loss of infrastructure, and then with emp's and other conventional weaponry destroying major targets, there's not gonna be much left that works anywhere.

In S3 "The Commander" is established. This person guided the growth, or regrowth, of humanity. In the beginning, they may have reformed society... for a while. But eventually the first commander passed and then it was passed to another. And another. And another. And after a while barbarism just happens.

Heck, they might've had a GREAT community right up until the moment the Mountain Men bombed them back into the stone age. A lot can happen in 97 years.

Here's another factor - radiation. Its been shown that mutated people are common, and often killed at birth. This mimic's an old spartan culture. You see a lot of death, you start devaluing life. We've also seen in S3 some very different tribes growing on their own.

You exile a bunch of people for barbarism, they make their own culture, they come back and wipe you out. See the Ice Nation. Life is complicated.

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