History Main / HollywoodDrowning

* Kind of justified in the Slovak fairy film "Frau Holle". The evil stepmother and her daughter fall into a pitch pool [[note]] a remnant from the Creator/BrothersGrimm story, where Pachmarie's punishment is being doused with pitch, also conveniently Pech=bad luck in German[[/note]], and Death (she [[note]]Slavic Death is a female, also due to grammar[[/note]] was the ButtMonkey through the whole film and finally gets cut some slack) gleefully watches their predicament. A methane bubble comes up ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane at least that's the obvious scientific explanation]]) and they suddenly drown without even a proper death scream. Regardless how much AssholeVictim the two were in the film, imagine what a NightmareFuel the scene would have become for kids [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath if they had splashed and screamed around.]]

* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' and ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'' both have quite realistic drowning animations for the titular protagonist if he hasn't acquired the [[SuperNotDrowningSkills Water Breath]] skill. In the second game, he doesn't even get a chance at a GaspOfLife, instead dying instantly once his OxygenMeter hits zero.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Probably the greatest single danger for toddlers. It takes them just a moment unobserved to climb 5-foot pool ladders, fall in and drown. Even a puddle all of one inch deep can be enough. There was an education campaign on Australian TV to this effect, consisting of [[NothingIsScarier a still shot angled above/near a pool, bath or dam, an offscreen splash, and an on-screen timer showing exactly how short 20 seconds really is.]]
-->''20 seconds is all it takes for a toddler to drown. ''Never'' take your eyes off children around water.''
* [[http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/ Here's a good article talking about how real drowning differs from TV.]]
* Drowning does not end after a person is rescued from the water. A drowning person may seem to be fully conscious, with their eyes lolling around and their mouth open; an untrained person might assume that now that they're safe, they're fine and breathing and will recover on their own. However, if they aren't actually coughing, they are unconscious and near death regardless of whether their eyes are open, and they require ''immediate'' life-saving intervention from a trained professional. Unless a lifeguard is available, they will likely suffer brain damage and/or die within the next few minutes.
** The good news: something will still seem "off", even to untrained people. In the drowning state, subconscious facial expressions and lack of alertness will resemble the UncannyValley, which we are instinctively horrified by; it would take a completely innocent or oblivious person not to notice that something is wrong after a minute or so. The bad news: that might be too late. Hence the earlier emphasis on "immediate".
[[/folder]]

* When Asaba of ''LightNovel/IriyaNoSoraUFONoNatsu'' trespasses into the school pool to take a dip, he finds strange girl there. She's so surprised that she falls into the water and begins desperately beating the water to stay afloat since she can't swim. No screaming though.

* When Asaba of ''LightNovel/IriyaNoSoraUFONoNatsu'' trespasses into the school pool to take a dip, he finds strange girl there. She's so surprised that she falls into the water and begins desperately beating the water to stay afloat since she can't swim. No screaming though.

* Defied in ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY'': A child undergoing physical therapy falls into a pool when his guardians is looking away, sinks like a rock, and starts drowning in near silence. Anya only notices thanks to her {{Telepathy}}, which she passes off as seeing the air bubbles. Loid has to explain to the other adults how disturbingly quiet the whole process can be.

See also LastGraspAtLife, SuperDrowningSkills. Contrast SymbolicSereneSubmersion, where the drowning person is completely calm.

* At one point during ''Film/TheInbetweeners'' movie, one of the foursome pushes a kid into a swimming pool. It occurs to the group that the kid might not be able to swim when they see him floating face down in the water.

* In a short story by Bjorn Bjornsterne, called "The Father," a young man drowns after falling out of a boat. He struggles quietly for a few seconds, then rolls over on his back. As the body sinks to the ground and the bubbles stop rising his father realizes that his son has drowned.
* Actually averted in the event that starts the main premise of ''Literature/OnMyHonor''. Joel and Tony go to the river and decide to swim across it towards the middle, where there is a sandbar. Tony (who can't swim) dares Joel to race him. So they get in the water, and Joel can only hear the sound of splashing as he paddles forward. When he reaches the sand bar, Joel looks behind him, only he cannot see Tony anywhere. Tony had sunk below the river water without letting out a scream.

* ''Series/TheATeam'', "[[Recap/TheATeamS3E1BulletsAndBikinis Bullets and Bikinis]]". When Face performs his drowning act to get close to Epic's girlfriend, Denise, he does a lot of thrashing and yelling, "Help, I'm drowning!" This might be justified as it was faked in-universe; however, Denise, who's presumably been around water a lot, seems to fall for it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'': Running completely [[AlmostOutOfOxygen Out Of Oxygen]] underwater is deathly quiet: all sound fades, your vision [[TheDarknessBeforeDeath dims to black]], and you die seconds later. If you manage to reach air just before you expire, this is ZigZagged: your Player Character will gasp and sputter after narrowly avoiding death.

If this is PlayedForLaughs, it likely takes the form of StopDrowningAndStandUp, a {{Subtrope}}. This quickly alleviates the victim's (imagined) helplessness in the face of (nonexistent) danger. Of course this also may be subverted, as [[RealityIsUnrealistic in reality]] it is possible to drown in ankle-deep water.