MovieChat Forums > El método (2005) Discussion > (Spoiler) Was that a rational decision?

(Spoiler) Was that a rational decision?

posted 13 years ago by amoga
6 replies | jump to latest

At the step when they had to decide which one of them will be least important, and therefore discarded, where they to find themselves buried in a bunker for an unknown amount of time... there were six players in the game:

- Enrique -- The Engineer, builds a radio
- Fernando -- The Manager, good organizer
- Ana -- The Cook, food provider
- Ricardo -- The Doctor, medicine studies
- Carlos -- The Artist, entertainer as a story teller
- Nieves -- The Mother, babies on demand :-)

Two females, four males. To me, it does not make sense to renounce to a woman. If long time survival was the issue (why else will "The Mother" be considered a necessity), then keeping as many females as possible in the game will be an important consideration. (They can only have one birth every nine months or so, no matter how many partners are available; males have no such restrictions, hence one will have sufficed.) Even if Ana was considered to be too old to conceive (that was the argument used by Carlos to disqualify her), in a real life scenario I think most people will take the chance and keep her instead of, say, The Manager. Besides, having edible food is much more important than having someone rationalizing raw resources, isn't it? (And weren't all of them some sort of managers, anyway?)

So, in my humble opinion, at that particular step either "The Manager" (Fernando) or "The Artist" (Carlos) should have been dismissed. Neither of their skills are more important than having a second option for "The Mother" AND a good cook available. And given the fact that Fernando was much older than Carlos, I think I will have voted for Fernando to leave "the bunker."

[–] loma_phantom 12 years ago

Yeah! That kind of piss me off a little... Another thing: if they need to dismiss someone, why the "mother" argument was even considered? There's not enough food for six people... How will they feed the babies?

I get the sex part... But babies?

[–] rodin_indi 12 years ago

oh yes by that argument Ana should stay and Nieves should go since there is always a chance that a sexual intercourse might happen if people of opposite sex are left in one place for such a long duration, with Nieves there is a higher probability of having babies but with Ana its less and the shelter is only for five people so Nieves shouldve been eliminated.

[–] TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews 12 years ago

I agree that it wasn't rational, but I don't think they were thinking rationally, nor do I think the film was suggesting that they were.

It came down to what they wanted, what they personally valued - sex or food - and they made their decision based on that. The scene also pits the two women against each other(not directly, but as far as them competing), and the men, as if they were randy teenagers, are now voting for "which is the hottest".

Procreation is a deep instinct, and even in that situation, it can direct our decisions. That's my view on the scene.

[–] dariondanjou 10 years ago

Right, it ultimately came down to this female power play, which was one of the most potent scenes. i really thought carlos was a bastard after that scene.

ultimately though, the woman has just offered herself for twenty years of sex, and honestly she's looking well fit.
i don't see why we would eliminate her. carlos would have to go, and keep the hot 40 year old chick who's all about it. you don't need a military guy to manage 5 people.

[–] ychild 9 years ago

That decision was made only for the plot's sake. I can understand choosing „a poet“ if they were a bunch of cavemen and never heard a story or read a book, but they were all highly intelligent. They are able to think of stories and write books themselves. After all, in such a hopeless situation (nuclear shelter), a good story has same/less value as a tasty meal. Considering the talented cook is also a sexy lady, a poet would never made the cut in a real-life scenario.

But hey, there are tons of fake artsy people out there who would argue that „the poet“ is the most important person to save.

[–] tamalskh 7 years ago

I think what mattered the most in that situation was 'confidence'. That was what being measured.Ana surely seemed lacking some when the test boiled down to a choice between sex/baby making and delicious food, a competition between Nieves and her.

It's understandable that they voted for the baby mama at that point because,maybe Ana can do wonders as a cook but 1)in a post apocalypse scenario the necessary ingredients for that would be mostly short in supply 2) men/women who live alone without wife/family as seemed Carlos and Nieves usually know how to cook food-may not be wonders but good enough to feed 5-6 people so Ana did not really have a very strong point against the future preserver of humanity.

But then,how much useful is a story teller there?He would provide some food for the mind to keep it healthy.And highly intelligent or not, they would eventually run out of things to talk about and go nuts so yeah,in the long run he would necessary too.Although I'm not with the fake intellectuals that say a poet is the most important person to save but I think I would let go of the cook too.