Headscratchers / Mars Attacks!

• How can Taffy Dale be appointed as the President of the United States if she is 20 years old? I understand that her parents, the President and the First Lady, have been killed by the Martians, but the necessary age to become President is at least 35. Shouldn't someone else from the Congress become the de facto President?
  • As far we know, the whole Congress of the United States is dead as a doornail. All of them were killed by the Martians. And Taffy is the closest relative to the late President. It’s also never stated she’s the President - she even says she’s giving the medals at the end “on behalf of her parents.”
    • Also forgetting that the Vice President would be next in line to succeed the late James Dale and then someone from Congress followed by the Speaker of the House would be next in line after that, but if all 3 are dead (along with the First Lady who would have taken up command had she not fawn over the Kennedy Chandelier which crushed her to death), then Taffy would have to be declared President of the United States by default, it's also implied that United States' Constitution and bylaws would likely have to be revamped following the invasion.
  • Rule of Cool. Do you really think that with the current state of the world (having been nearly ravaged by the Martians and with most if not all world leaders killed) that issue really matters?
  • My personal interpretation is that the world needed someone to reward Richie and his grandmother for their role in ending the invasion, and Taffy was chosen as the most famous person connected to a relevant high-ranking official still left alive. There may be generals or other military figures still around to officially take charge, but the people want at least a sense of continuity, so Taffy was chosen for the symbolic value.
• In a similar note, how Richie and his grandma Florence are decorated with the Medal of Honor at the end for saving the world if they are only awarded to military personnel? Yeah, they played the song which got rid with the Martians, but they aren't part of the US military.
  • Perhaps given that they allowed to lead the military by playing the song, they became the de facto generals. To not say that most of military generals are already dead by this point thanks to the Martians' attacks.
  • Come on, they have saved the world in a way the world leaders didn't consider and allowed humanity to defeat the Martians! They deserve some kind of recognition...
  • Presumably, all the Presidential Medals of Freedom got destroyed during the invasion.
  • It’s very, very unusual, but not unheard of, for civilians to receive the Medal of Honor. Considering the leadership structure in the U.S. has seemingly collapsed and these two prevented the destruction of Earth, well...
• Why would anyone think the Martians are good after they set cattle on fire in the opening?
  • Maybe they thought that the Martians thought that cows were enemies? Although the Novelization makes clear that the Martians intended to destroy Earth and didn't come in peace, they could have mused that maybe the Martians were once attacked by a cow-like species in the past and that's why they attacked the cattle...
  • Because the humans were thinking "Hey at least it wasn't people, it was just cows!"
  • There’s zero indication anyone beyond the witnesses knew about it. The President learns about the Martians from grainy satellite photos. Given that was an isolated incident it’s very easy to dismiss.
• It's made clear that the Martians can understand English (the Martian Girl nods when asked if she wants a ride, and the reactions of the leader and the two Martians that were with him make it clear they could understand the president's speech). With that in mind, what was up with their reaction to hearing the humans translate Casey's "Welcome to Earth" message into...Martian-ese? If they could understand English fine despite not speaking it themselves, why did they not react to what Casey said until the computer translated it? Were they just surprised that the Earthlings could translate their speech?
  • That seems plausible. At no point did the Martians view humans as equals, so the idea of one speaking to them in their own language might be comparable to hearing a monkey talk.
  • The movie strongly suggests two things: One, that the human-built translator machine is a piece of junk. Later we see it spouting “Don’t run. We are your friends.” as the Martians are rampaging through the streets killing everything they see. So we have no idea what the translated message sounded like to them. Probably gibberish. Two, the Martians never had any peaceful intent and are in fact MASSIVE trolls. Their plan was always to just kill everybody. They didn’t react to Casey speaking English because it was all part of the sick joke they were playing.
• How in the world did Taffy Dale survive the attack on the White House? When she was separated from her parents, she was shown several times just standing and looking scared. She was completely defenseless, fully exposed, and would have been an easy target for any Martian that may have spotted her. Yet the following day, she is shown to have not only survived, but is totally unscathed, her hair is immaculate, and she even managed a change of clothes. One could argue that she hid in one of the underground bunkers that the White House has, but given that the Martians were easily able to locate the War Room, they could have also found her shelter.
  • Considering the subsequent chaos, and since we know Byron's sons got out, Taffy may have simply fled the White House with another group on the grounds that she couldn't get to any of the bunkers in the building. Since there's no sign the Martians were looking for her in particular, she could have then remained in hiding until the tide turned in humanity's favour, at which point she could step back into public view and act as at least a symbolic authority figure for presenting Ritchie and his grandmother with their medals.
• Why does the U.S. Government give up after firing a single nuclear missile at the Martian ship? Yeah, it was turned into helium which the Martians used to make themselves sound funny, but they only had to contend with one missile coming from a single direction. So after one missile didn't work, why not try sending twenty? Law of probability dictates that at least ONE would make it through, and they'd have a better chance if they used more than twenty.
• If the Martians breathe nitrogen why do they need suits to survive on Earth? Our atmosphere is mostly nitrogen. And how do they survive on Mars? The Martian atmosphere has almost no nitrogen.
• How come Donald Kessler and Nathalie Lake's heads can breathe if it's been established the Martians breathe nitrogen? Why are they alive at all?
  • Keeping in mind that Kessler obviously didn't have any lungs at that point (or at least no lungs directly connected to the head) and they both had those collar things on, they were probably being kept 'alive' by some kind of energy charge from the collars rather than breathing themselves.
  • Conversely, why CAN'T the Martians breathe on Earth, considering Earth's atmosphere is in fact 78% nitrogen?
    • Two reasons: (1) Because Earth’s atmosphere is also about 20% oxygen, which, to a species that breathes nitrogen, would have similar effects on the lungs as a 20% fluorine atmosphere would on ours. (2) For the same reasons why we can’t breathe in a 78% oxygen atmosphere for very long: it causes acute toxic effects.
    • Perhaps they are also wary of the possible effect of terrestrial microorganisms on their physiology.
    • It's also wroth noting that they can also breathe carbon dioxide, which the actual Martian has about atmosphere is 95 percent. Mars Attacks: The Revenge, points this out.