Tom's thirst?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Stir of Echoes
beckfor — 18 years ago(December 12, 2007 06:43 PM)
Hi all I just saw this movie for the first time last night and quite enjoyed it. (Kevin Bacon never disappoints as an actor).
Just one question if you could please shed some light. Why could Tom not slake his thirst.and how did he acquire this thirst? It started when he was first hypnotised and never really was explained, although we saw plenty of footage of him guzzling liquid as fast as he could and stocking his fridge with cartons of juice.
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TheRationalist — 18 years ago(December 21, 2007 12:41 AM)
I thought his thirst was just one of the effects of the stress and all he was underhis throat kept getting dryhe was being driven out of his mind and the extreme thirst was just one of the symptoms.
My favorite opera is Die Valkure. I've always loved horses. -
hoffes — 18 years ago(December 29, 2007 12:20 PM)
I think this happened coz he was all the nerve and exhausted by strange occurence of this ghost. He was anxious, stressed, did not know what to do, a little panicking - you react pretty strange in such situations. You might shake your hands, scratch your head or your back, I donyt know - maybe you can drink a lot then
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hannah_of_eden — 18 years ago(January 10, 2008 03:28 PM)
My personal take on it was that he felt thirsty because he was feeling everything samantha felt. For instance she was being suffocated which IMO would make you thirsty. I don't know! I've never been suffocated! just my 2 cents!
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MightBiteYa — 18 years ago(February 22, 2008 10:46 PM)
I think the implication is that his psychic trances took a great deal of energy, and his extreme thirst was how this is represented, partly for effect, and partly for convenience (takes less time to pour a glass of OJ than to go find food).
There are many examples of this concept in film and literature, where a character aquires some kind of ability, but its use requires a massive amount of energy, followed by binge eating/drinking.
That's my take on it, anyway. Simplest explanation, in my opinion. -
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alexandrajade — 17 years ago(May 13, 2008 11:55 AM)
The director's commentary on the DVD reveals this to be something of a non-sequitir. He said that people had asked him why Tom drinks so much orange juice, and he said his answer has been that when you acquire psychic powers you need to drink a lot of orange juice, and no one's really contested that answer.
My mind knows not the state of tiredness -
dankpelt — 17 years ago(June 10, 2008 06:52 PM)
Just finished the novel (good read, story different enough to be new if you've seen the movie plenty) and it describes Tom as being extraordinarily thirsty after one of his psychic episodes. Probably just a small detail that was worked into the screen adaptation but never fully explained due to the time constraints and limitations of a movie vs. a novel.
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deltaop — 12 years ago(August 08, 2013 06:12 PM)
I guess that was his psychic ability coming into play, like he was reliving some of things that happened to Samantha; his tooth falling out at the start, his headaches (probably signifying Samantha's pain when she hit her head against the floorboard) and finally the thirst. You know, when a person is suffocating, he/she hyperventilates in order to get more air in. Hyperventilation quickly dries out the back of your throat, resulting in wheezing, and thirst ensues.
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Flickfan-3 — 12 years ago(October 07, 2013 03:07 PM)
I just started watching tis more than halfway in (after not seeing it for couple of years)but wasn't he given a suggestion of thirst when he was hypnotized at the first of the movie???
just a thought
"That's the beauty of argument, Joey. If you argue correctly, you're never wrong" -
deltaop — 12 years ago(October 18, 2013 05:56 PM)
Probably that hypnosis triggered his latent ability? Remember that Tom couldn't sense anything prior to being hypnotized. For example, at the start when he is bathing his son, there is surely someone else in the bathroom with them. His son seems to notice his/her presence but Tom doesn't.
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theoriginalskinnyrinny — 12 years ago(November 08, 2013 12:54 PM)
I always took it that he was "seeing" a dried out corpse and drinking any kind of liquid would bring him back a living being (in our world). Someone also mentioned the suffocation idea, which makes sense as the panicked feeling of being killed that way would cause you to become extremely parched.
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oscar_ray2_jimenez — 9 years ago(August 24, 2016 12:32 PM)
I've decided to believe that Samantha wasn't really dead at first, just narcoleptic, and she died a horrifying, slow, lonely death holed in that wall -hence the thirst. Probably that was cut off to tone down the darkness a bit.
And yes, I've heard the directors' comment. I like my explanation better, tho.