# When the Hero is Underwater, Do You Ever Have the Urge to Hold Your Breath? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791 "2007-12-31T13:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/21 "2008-01-02T07:26:43Z")
[QUOTE=anamnesis] The characters fleeing through a flooded portion of a spaceship in **Alien Resurrection** … [/QUOTE] This was the example I was going to use! I also do this when driving through tunnels tunnels. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/22 "2008-01-02T08:01:05Z")
No, can’t say I have. ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/23 "2008-01-02T10:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] When watching a movie, I mean. [/QUOTE] I think it’s possible I might do it to an imperceptible degree, but I can’t say I’ve noticed. However, if I ever see a drowning scene that involves Steven Seagall I will inhale very deeply. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/24 "2008-01-02T12:53:24Z")
No, but I often “time” scenes when a countdown clock has been set. Usually the actual time doesn’t agree, but I know of two cases where they do – that episode of TV’s **M_A_S\*H** where the guy has a shattered aorta, and they have 25 minutes to replace it (there’s a clock in the lower corner of the screen. Which keeps going through the commercials), and the original version of **Invders from Mars** (the 1950s Menzies version), where the countdown to the explosion is timed properly, and seems intolerably long. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/25 "2008-01-02T13:22:23Z")
> [@](#): > > When the hero is underwater, do you ever have the urge to hold your breath? No, but depending on how bad the movie is, I may have the urge to laugh. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/26 "2008-01-02T14:43:34Z")
[QUOTE=Charger] Now that I’m older, I have distanced myself from the “immersion” into a scene like that. [/quote] Thinking about it, I think that “immersion” (haha) is what’s going on. If the movie is doing it’s job, part of you forgets about your own reality, and you identify with the characters of the movie. Subconsciously, you start to feel like the fantasy on the screen is your own reality. Another example is if a character gets garotted, I sometimes get the urge to scrunch up my neck, chin, and shoulders. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/27 "2008-01-02T18:02:01Z")
[QUOTE=N9IWP] Yes, I’ve done that - to see if the amount of time without breathing is resonable. (granted I’m resting on the couch and the hero is flopping around, but its a good 1st approximation) Brian [/QUOTE] I’ve done it before, and I tend to test it when my bullshit meter goes off. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/28 "2008-01-02T20:10:28Z")
Yes, I do, and I also find my body rocking/moving/straining if I see the hero jumping, or trying to lift something, or grab something. It’s very physical, watching an action movie when you’re me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/29 "2008-01-02T20:19:44Z")
Only with Disney’s _Robin Hood_. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/30 "2008-01-02T20:21:29Z")
Yep, I do; and you should see what I do during the sex scenes . . . ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791/31 "2008-01-03T16:17:49Z")
This was a problem for me when I was a little kid, in the 70s. PBS had Jacques Cousteau specials on a lot. I solved the problem by turning blue, & fainting. For real. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-hero-is-underwater-do-you-ever-have-the-urge-to-hold-your-breath/431791.md?page=1)