Moulin Rouge! (2001 film)/Fridge

Fridge Horror

• In Moulin Rouge, Nicole Kidman's character is suffering from tuberculosis, a disease transmitted by contact with infected saliva. Bearing that in mind, the passionate kiss that adorns the theatrical poster doesn't seem so romantic.
  • The Moulin Rouge's lore says that these posters were actually painted, not photographed. Toulouse-Lautrec famously did a series of them because he was broke.
    • In the movie, not only does she kiss her love interest, possibly infecting him-but she's a hooker, so how many of the Rouge's patrons did she kiss or have other kinds of contact with before being 'bought' by the duke? How many men did she infect, most of whom (considering the time period) were probably married and went home to their wives and children, to whom they could have spread the disease as well? She's basically a more promiscuous Typhoid Mary!

• Fridge Logic / You Fail Biology Forever: The female lead is dying of tuberculosis. The couple lock lips a bazillion times. Not a single person seems the remotest bit worried about infection.
  • Tuberculosis is a fickle thing: people Satine was exposed to over a long period of time, like Zidler and the other girls, are more likely to have received it than Christian, in spite of intimacy. He may have had latent TB, alternatively.
  • Satine is diagnosed with TB. At the time, it was notorious for being contagious and incurable other than with rest, such as in a Sanatorium. No respecting business owner, nightclub or not, would encourage her to continue working with his other employees, let alone a duke and himself.