So I was watching some of the 'endurance run' style footage of Heavy Rain on Youtube since I don't have a PS3 and I am completely flabergasted by the guts that the characters have in this playthrough. Now I know that this is a game, and frankly in-game I'd want to do the riskly things just to see how it pans out. However, in real life taking a risk is a completely different matter. So how would you react to some of the situations that the main characters are presented with in-game
 
Just to start off with some thoughts on Ethan... 
 

I played through the game, while doing the trials that I thought I would be capable of doing in real life if I was in the same mental state as Ethan. In other words I
 
SPOILERS (this should have been in the topic title btw)
 
Would do all of the trials with the exception of killing the drug dealer guy.

i did
 

Trials HD.
 
I mean who wouldn't want to ride a bike through fire, exploding barrels, be tossed around like a rag doll, and still survive?

I would attempt the Bear trial.
I wouldn't be able to cut my finger tip off 
I would try the butterfly trial, but it would probably end up like it did in the game for me. I would get shocked close to death and then shamble out the coward door.

I wouldn't and didn't shoot the guy.
 
Everything else, sure.

I would do the driving sequence and I would kill the drug dealer scumbag THAT REPEATEDLY TRIED TO KILL ME. 
 
MAYBE the finger. The others, no way.

Yeah shooting the drug dealer wasn't a huge problem, he tries to shoot you, then tug at your heartstrings by waving photos of his kids around like a dirty junkie.  
 
The butterfly trial glass part is stupid. He has a leather jacket, he could take it off, and use it to push the glass forward. The electric shit's nuts, I did it in game, but in real life it would be impossible, basically. If I liked the kid enough I'd do the poison, but only if my life sucked as much as Mars', but unfortunately the kid was a bit of a distant dick at times, so I dunno about him in particular. 
  
The driving shit, hell no because realistically, that's probably the most impossible one to do.  
 
Also I must have done something funny with the finger chop stuff. Everyone was using painkillers and whiskey and biting on a stick or something. I didn't know you could do that, I just grabbed the axe and chopped it right off.

none of them and no one would

Bear - No, that's actually by far the worst trial.  Unless I know it's a time of day the area would be totally abandoned. 
Butterfly - Probably, it's not actually so bad to do in real life. 
Lizard - I...don't think I could do it. 
Shark - No. 
Rat - Heck no. 
 
So probably only butterfly, so I wouldn't get enough letters at all to save my son.