The show Archer is basically based on hearing damage.
this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2026
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“MAWP”
That was such a wonderfully disturbed show.
Seriously... are we not doing phrasing?
Do you want people quoting Archer? Because that's how you get people quoting Archer.
Protagonist spitting machine gun fire, and giving tactical instructions to his troops between bursts...
Camera cuts to one of the troop's POV: protagonists mouth is moving, and he's making important looking hand gestures, but all you hear is:
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
muffled popping
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Protagonist shoots another machine gun burst - louder but still muffled popping
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
...fast forward 15 years, troop is laying in bed awake with his sleeping wife. Camera cuts to wife: silence. To troop: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. back to wife: silence. back to troop: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Wife: silence. Troop: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Pans out to exterior of house.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
muffled pop
credits roll in silence
As a veteran this is pretty much on brand. A joke at the VA is that half the reason they're so recalcitrant with declaring tinnitus and hearing loss as a disability is because everyone has some sort of measurable hearing damage from service.
For myself, I've had tinnitus for so long I don't remember life without it always being there.
yeah thanks 3m. foam fucking plug bullshit. I knew it was gonna be a problem, too, when I realized half the nco ranks were obviously hearing impaired already just from range and field training.
I can't remember if it was at psab or what but I was in a smaller detail (20) wedged between two Army company's (I think that's the right name, like ~150 or people?) in the same chalk. The group rotating back in were way fucking louder then the other and I pointed that out to someone with me who also noticed the same thing. At the time our guess was the quieter group were national guard going in for the first time while the others were active duty/permanent party and dealing with the funk differently.
Now I am starting to wonder if the one group's hearing was just collectively fucked?
Now I am starting to wonder if the one group’s hearing was just collectively fucked?
can certainly happen to units coming home from IED's and shit. I can't wait until they figure out how to cure tinnitus. I just wish the VA was realistic about hearing loss being a much wider problem than they're acknowledging going back to the 70s and 80s even.
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yep. the only movie I recall that paid it any attention was Saving Private Ryan.
Baby Driver uses it as a plot point, and in the cinema the simulated tinnitus was borderline painful at the start.
I have very mild tinnitus (too much time working nightclubs), anyone with it badly has my sympathy :-(
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I love this idea.
I've always really wanted a James Bond movie where he just fucks up his lower back or ankle or something in the opening scene, and the rest of the movie is James Bond doing PT.
I remember that one.
Ah yes, the sexy and exciting adventures of ... needing 18 months to be able to walk unassisted!
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My favorite is when someone sets off a grenade indoors and then everyone remains fully conscious and continues having normal conversations immediately after.
Indeed! I know a fair bit about explosives and no one I know likes watching action movies with me. Either I will point out the blue bands on weapons, how everyone will be dead in the next hour or so because of all the perforations in their intestines and other organs after the impulse wave passes over them, or how some of these people should be wheezing through the rest of the movie due to the chemical burns to their esophagus and lungs (I am a blast at parties).
I recently watched the series Falling Skies and there's a scene where they set off an explosion indoors. The characters black out and wake up with hearing loss, blurred vision and their ears bleeding. They still recover unnaturally fast, but, like, that's OK were doing a TV show. I was happy to see some realistic consequences play out on screen.
There's a different scene where one of the characters has to actually deal with being concussed due to being near an explosion. Overall the series does pretty well with the basic concept that the characters get wounded in combat and are not action heroes. If they survive, they're still wounded in the next episode and it affects their actions in the story.
Just made me think of it. In the movie Atomic Blonde, I appreciated how Charlize Theron's bruises and cuts accumulated as the movie progressed versus the normal brutal beatdown followed by the immediately following glamour guy/gal scene. Otherwise the movie is over the top but not enough to be detracting.
I would love to have a party with people who have such interesting knowledge. What else are they doing wrong? Or what common mistake would you like to see on screen?
In any film or series where the characters are carrying guns regularly I immediately notice muzzle discipline. If the actors actively keep their weapons pointed away from everyone except enemies, you know they had someone competent on staff who gave them some basic weapon handling training before filming. If the characters are supposed to be professional military or law enforcement and they have bad muzzle discipline it immediately takes me out of the scene. If the character is supposed to be competent but waves their gun around like a moron it's very immersion-breaking.
In very well produced media, the characters who are supposed to be amateurs show bad muzzle discipline and sometimes it's even a plot point, and I appreciate that kind of attention to detail.
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One piece of advice I never see, perhaps because its not practical for civilians. Immediately after an explosion where you are close to the epicenter, do everything possible to avoid gasping or yelling. Next, quickly but carefully check if you have been hurt or not.
By the end of my time in service the most I might do is have an eye twitch but for normal people, being in proximity to an explosion is an unprecedented experience that's like opening a hot stove oven, flipping a flood light on in your face, having a party balloon pop behind you, and being hit hard by an ocean wave from an awkward angle, all at the same time. Totally normal reaction is to want to get the fuck away but first you want to make sure everything is still attached, nothing new is now attached to you, and there are no major holes anywhere.
I guess the problem with that advice is that unfortunately its only useful to those expecting to be near an explosion.
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It has to be called "WHAT?!" and the sequel is "WHAT, MOTHERFUCKER?!" starring Sam Jackson.
And the side story has the subtitle "ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!"
SAY WHAT AGAIN!
NO SERIOUSLY, SAY IT AGAIN, I COULDN'T HEAR SHIT!
Guns Akimbo touches on this near the start.
"Guns are actually really loud"
Was talking to my partner about that movie and how much of a pleasant surprise it was. The tilt to sarcastic realism was perfect.
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I'm just picturing Archer MWOP MWOP! Because that's what everything sounds like. That and the getting knocked out. "That's like, really bad for you" lol
If it's anything like my IRL, their spouses will be continuing telling them "Shh, you're talking too loudly."
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Hawkeye
I loved that it’s actually a plot point in the tv show. All the explosions he was around made him progressively more deaf. In the comics he is also deaf.
there's a recurring gag in Archer about this lol
Reading through these comments, I'm starting to think the military might be bad for your health...
Nah, do your 20 and be able to retire in your early 40's. I mean sure your back is fucked, probably need a couple knee surgeries, weird things like the Pillsbury doughboy commercials may trigger you into a murderous rage, and there's a possibility your anus is going to fall out at some point because of the anthrax vaccine... but all so worth it so that you get to retire in your 40's!
Pillsbury doughboy commercials may trigger you into a murderous rage
What?
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The Last of Us covers this well.
Joel mentioned that he has very bad hearing in his right ear due to shooting. Then he gets snuck up on when sleeping the wrong way (bad ear up).
The Sopranos did this in one early episode. Dude shoots another dude in a car and is immediately like "FUCK!" and holding his ears. Rest of the series is dudes casually blazing away and "I'm all itchy!"
Elvis Presley owned a 1971 Detomaso Pantera, famous for vapor lock. After arguing with a girlfriend, he tried to peel out but the car wouldn't start, so he pulled out his .38 and shot the dashboard. No way he didn't damage his hearing in a small sports car. The car is on display at the Peterson museum in LA with the bullet hole.
MAWP... MAWP...
By the end of the movie, the only remaining audio is a high pitched ringing.
The whole movie could be bankrolled by suppressor manufacturers.
That would be another fun one. With every shot the suppressors become more and more useless until bursting into flames.
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