I don't like the guns for similar reasons, and agree that it was a plot point that punching a hole in the side wasn't disastrous. (For instance it allowed us to see the type of snowflake which couldn't exist if it were too cold.) I also thought the movie went out of its way with the arm-freezing scene to make note of the altitude (suggesting it was even colder outside the train at that point than perhaps usual), plus I tend to figure they erred on the side of overestimation when it came to exposure, kind of like how to declare someone dead you listen for a heartbeat a good amount of time beyond when you'd expect to hear one.
To justify the guns (even though I like it better when there aren't guns), I see them as symbolic of two things (at least at the beginning; I don't love their reappearence): they're an echo of the way the privileged class treats the lower class generally (as people they want to keep controlled and fearful, but at a comfortable, untouchable, impersonal distance), and they're a sign of the ways the people on the train (who weren't born on the train) continue to hold on to biases and opinions based on a world that no longer exists. We use guns because officials use guns and guns are scary. We get to be in first class because we are the first class people.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-09 08:13 pm (UTC)To justify the guns (even though I like it better when there aren't guns), I see them as symbolic of two things (at least at the beginning; I don't love their reappearence): they're an echo of the way the privileged class treats the lower class generally (as people they want to keep controlled and fearful, but at a comfortable, untouchable, impersonal distance), and they're a sign of the ways the people on the train (who weren't born on the train) continue to hold on to biases and opinions based on a world that no longer exists. We use guns because officials use guns and guns are scary. We get to be in first class because we are the first class people.