MovieChat Forums > Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Discussion > Thanos's plan makes no sense

Thanos's plan makes no sense

posted 7 months ago by avortac4 (3506)
5 replies | jump to latest

So this weird Thanos-logic dictates that mercilessly murdering.. well, genociding so many people and living entities that it doesn't practically even matter that some were left alive.. somehow means life will be better for the survivors (why does he have the right to even decide that?)..

I mean, this logic is so stupid. Someone like Thanos would never be that stupid - at least not the Thanos I know from the comics.

If you can do 'anything', why snap half the life into non-existence (which wouldn't work anyway, because you can't destroy energy, which is what souls are, so only BODIES are destroyed, so those souls would incarnate anyway, and create a lot of 'birthing pressure' from that sides, which is what happened with 'baby boomers', because so many people died in wars, so the pressure mounted a lot, so people started reproducing more than ever)...?

I mean, wouldn't some better solutions include:

- Make the Universe larger
- Make sure there are way more resources

- Give everyone access to information about dangers of overpopulation (maybe 'force' people to just KNOW this thoroughly, not just theoretically - shouldn't be worse than murdering 50% of people, right?)..

- Change people's biology so that they do not NEED food, but can just nourish directly from the cosmic energies that are abundant, and then also create some kind of 'cosmic energy points' where everyone can go to to do this, OR just give everyone a mental skill to perform this task telekinetically any time they need energy, etc. etc..

- Mentally teach people to fast, so they don't need as much food, and then teach them to meditate, use yoga and Tai Chi and Qigong so they can manipulate energies and eat less food and yet be more vibrant, and so on..

- There must be more, but I am tired..

In any case, that mad plan is so idiotic, because realistically, it would require like 2000 years of planning, scheduling, drawing lines, making judgments, and so on. Will you erase a criminal on some planet, but a cop on another, or will all criminals be the first to go? What if someone has been really good, how do you even measure that? How about someone that has potential for evil, but hasn't done anything bad yet?

I mean, wouldn't Thanos himself be erased, if there's ANY kind of judgment, because what is worse than destroying 50% of all life in the Universe (or whatever it was)?

Someone has to measure every single planet and form of existence where there can be life, and then decide if some semi-sentient plant is going to be erased or not, or whether they will be allowed to be killed for food - what about animals and all that? Do all those 'resource units' also get destroyed, even if they function as resources for others? Is it arbitrary (which would make it even stupider)?

Also, this plan assumes the Universe is limited, when in reality, it's limitless, so how do you erase half of 'infinity'? It's like dividing by zero, it can't be done!

(Before anyone raises an objection, just LOOK AT THE NAME OF THIS MOVIE!)

The comic was SO much better, but even that seemed like just a poor man's version of 'Secret Wars', which was probably the best comic story I have ever read, despite its typical 'injected romance' stuff in some parts. THAT would've made a great movie, if done right.. (heavy emphasis on 'if done right')

So, if you want a good, 'epic', 'large scale story with cosmic entities involved', just read the old comic 'Secret Wars' - you'll see all your favorite superheroes in action, and even get to watch Galactus do some pretty cool stuff. Of course the best thing about that is still Victor Von Doom, which is underused and misrepresented in every single movie he's ever been in that I know ow.

They even have a 'black woman' version of 'Captain Marvel', and I have to say I actually really like this version - she's cool, humble, powerful, superfast (for obvious reasons) and is at some points imperative to the solution to problems presented by the nigh-omnipotent 'Molecule Man'.

I can't even praise enough how they present Ultron in 'Secret Wars' - absolute perfection!

My problem with modern movies stems from a few things - my own imagination can conjure up better stories than these awfully predictable movies (and adding a useless twist at the end that breaks all logic isn't the solution), the comics I have read throughout decades have presented me with SO many more, SO much more imaginative and interesting scenarios (try to bingeread 'Fantastic Four' comics from about early seventies to mid-nineties or something to see an enormous variety of ridiculously 'cosmic' and expansive ideas and things moviemakers would NEVER dare try).

Then there are of course books, fan fiction and such - it's hard to take a really formulaic, predictable movie as something wonderous or epic, when you have all this to contrast it to. Heck, even 'Secret Wars II' is better than modern movies, stupid as it is.

[–] LanceDance (1088) 7 months ago

Thanos is known as The Mad Titan, of course his plan is insane, even other characters acknowledged that. He’s the villain, who thinks he’s in the right, that’s why he took it upon himself to do this.

With that said, making more resources won’t work, as elites will just have more to hoard. The least Thanos could’ve done was kill those who were immoral and selfish, and those who don’t contribute to society in any meaningful way. Let the good and the intelligent figure out how to rebuild.

[–] Moonglum9 (10731) 7 months ago

It should have been half of sentient life killed.

[–] fc31 (4646) 7 months ago

Let's say the earth is facing this problem, population growth in some countries is out of control, just look at India.

What do you think will happen? War, famine, deterioration of environment, which won't be isolated in those countries. Eventually the strong will rise above the weak, lots will die anyway. Or none of those happens, and everyone dies.

Death is certain, the planet can only sustain so many people, colonising other planets is not going to be realistic for a very long time.

Thanos is actually a socialist, he opts for random death, regardless of wealth and status. That is going to piss off more than just the people he is going to kill.

What would be your solution? Telling people to fast and the danger of over population, just have a look of India and it does not seem to be happening.

The earth is not going to be bigger, resources are limited, and we are consuming them at an amazing rate, eventually something has to give.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 7 months ago

I always thought it was a stupid plan too. If half the life in the universe suddenly disappeared, it would quickly reappear to fill the void. Balance of nature and all that jazz. At best it's a temporary blip. Seriously, humans could double their population in 20 years. Other animals reproduce even faster.

[–] cyguration (3881) 7 months ago

The idea, though, is that it gives the remaining survivors time to figure things out differently on sentient planets -- for instance, instead of his home planet of Titan succumbing to the effect he described, maybe the planet may have survived with half the inhabitants left to rethink their strategy. It's not a permanent solution, it's a thinking man's solution -- it only bides time for someone to think of another solution, as one would always be required.

Even for humans on Earth right now -- overpopulation wouldn't be a problem if the Elites didn't screw everything up, as Lance said above. American farmers produce enough food each year to feed the entire planet, and could do so reasonably enough had it not been for globalisation, subsidies and sanctions on food growth. That's not the planet limiting the resources, it's the government.

Imagine if the trillions wasted through the back-and-forth conduit of the military industrial complex over the years was instead used to fortify the space race and put back into exploration and colonisation of places like Mars... or beyond? You could instantly start making a LOT of money terraforming and building out civilisations on mars while making money on all of the produce and goods that would be needed to sustain life on other planets.

Expansion is a self-correcting problem when hubris and inconsideration (employed to immoral degrees) are set aside. In many ways, Thanos FORCED people to address the reality of a world that would have to rebuild based on sustaining what's left rather than relying on everything operating mostly to the comfort levels of anyone who isn't in poverty. People who are poor and homeless (who weren't snapped away) can easily now occupy many of the vacant homes -- and will also have to fill many of the vacant jobs.

Resources would be plentiful to a significant degree; and for a time, there would be balanced restored, just until hubris and inconsideration rear their heads as usual.