MovieChat Forums > Don't Breathe (2016) Discussion > Would the old man be the hero without th...

Would the old man be the hero without the woman in the basement?

posted 8 years ago by redban02
29 replies | jump to latest

If he didn't have the woman trapped in the basement, would the old man be the protagonist in this movie?

Whenever I see anyone posit that the old man is the hero, I then see others rebut by noting the way he kidnapped and forcefully impregnated the woman in the basement. Does she serve as his only claim to villainy?

Without this detail, the old man is simply defending himself from people who broke into his home, stole his money, drugged his dog, and attempted to gas him while he laid in bed at 2:00 AM. They provoked him, in other words.

[–] Strazdamonas 7 years ago

No. We see him kill a person in cold blood who posed no threat to him at the time. That alone is arguably worse than breaking and entering.

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The spirit of abysmal despair

[–] redban02 7 years ago

Money threatened the old man with a gun.

[–] fede_4488 7 years ago

But he no longer had the gun. The boy was begging for his life.
It was point-blank murder, altough I'm sure it wouldn' be hard to claim self defense.

The moment blind man locked them in the house and started hunting them one by one, he stopped being a victim. Period.

[–] Delorean (4) 7 years ago

He doesn't know if money was genuine with his apology tho the same way Rocky said sorry and was asking to be let go when she was tied up in the basement because she wouldn't tell the police but as soon as she was free she turned aggressive. I can understand where she was coming from but that's my point people say anything to get out of repercussions, for all we know money was hoping for rocky to help him out with the old man while he was disarmed or he was waiting for him to let his guard down so he could get the jump on him.

[–] JasonRebourne 7 years ago

He was still a hero despite the woman in the basement.

I don't care about a troll who doesn't pay for his opinion telling me how to review movies.

[–] foxyrabbit 7 years ago

I can see why he locked them in.

at first, he didn't know there were more than 1 and he was already locking and boarding up his house, to prevent others from entering.

then he finds out that there are more ppl and they have stolen $1 million from him. of course he would try to lock them in so he could get the money back.

[–] yortlebluzgubbly 7 years ago

Even without the woman in the basement, no. He crossed the line of self defense the second he locked them in the house with him.

[–] Delorean (4) 7 years ago

First of all he at first genuinely believed money when he said that he was the only one who was there. Secondly they not only invaded his property but stole his money so they kinda deserved it even without the girl in the basement.

[–] pistrix 7 years ago

Yes he would be the victim if that little twist in the plot was not present. Yes we would be cheering for him if that little plot twist did not happen.

((Damn the remakes, Save the originals.))

[–] dwaghorne11 7 years ago

Just finished the movie, and I feel like a lot of people are missing one thing. First thing Money said when he saw the old man and pointed the gun was something along the lines of, "Stop, I know what you have in the basement...". Obviously he thought there was money in the basement, which was clearly wrong.

Who knows, maybe if he wouldn't have mentioned the basement the kids would have been able to leave, but since the old man thought someone else knew about what he was doing he went into fight mode.

But, to the original post, if you take out the woman in the basement you have a totally different movie. So sure, he could have been the protagonist. But it would've had to have been more along the lines of him being locked in the house by the teens as they search for his money and he fights for his life. Soon as he realizes they're still in there and goes hunting with the intent to kill though, he's no longer the good guy.

[–] spurtle467 (1518) 7 years ago

The thing is, the decision to kill the burglars may have been impacted by keeping the woman locked up downstairs. If he apprehends the burglars and calls the police then the police will come to his house and may find the kidnapped woman. I gather this is also a reason he keeps his house so secure, not just for the money he has stored away.

So without the woman in the basement he may not even have felt compelled to kill Money, instead alerting the cops. Although who knows what could have gone down at the point he took Money's gun off him, had he not killed him. Would Money have tried to escape or attack him, perhaps with the help of Rocky?

With or without the woman locked up though, shooting Money the way it played in the film, it'd still morally be the wrong thing to do, and would therefore not make him a hero, no matter whether he was being robbed. It wasn't self defence, as Money wasn't going to kill him, and the indication was there with him telling the man to get back.