Why Plot Holes Don’t Matter As Much As You Think

The other day I watched this video on YouTube titled, “Shut Up About Plot Holes” regarding the increasingly critical nature of moviegoers in the past decades. Like this commenter mentioned, I too recognize that all too often, we as moviegoers attempt to critique every little detail in movies. We nitpick to the point where it’s become almost a science in its own right.  We overanalyze movies to death. To be fair, sometimes it is out of fan service, but the majority of opinion today is expressed in the negative. The notion is perpetuated constantly that films are often bursting at the seam with these supposed plot holes. When did it become so hard to simply enjoy a movie for what it is?

The reality is that just because a movie appears to have a “plot hole”, doesn’t mean it actually is one. We throw around the term “plot hole” a lot, but it isn’t always appropriate. But the very fact that movies are wrongly critiqued for these supposed inconsistencies is indicative of an audience less interested in simply enjoying a movie for what it is and more interested in finding flaws in someone else’s creative work. We are a nation of opinions, no matter how absurd and they may be or how unrealistic our expectations may be. We like to straighten out one another.

Need some evidence? Simply turn on Fox News, CNN or any of the other major media outlets. All they do day in and day out is critique other people’s words and actions from the political to the entertainment arenas. There’s very little done in the way of actual reporting. It’s commentary after commentary. Obviously, this is not always the case. It is the tendency, though and this has become more obvious in recent years. I can’t even watch these networks anymore because of their obvious bias and complete disregard for basic journalism. It’s become something more akin to entertainment rather than news.

Take the popular channel, CinemaSins on YouTube, for example. This is a channel I found initially amusing years ago when the videos were much shorter. Whats-his-name (the narrator) was also far less obnoxious back then, on a side note. This fellow critiques popular movies for their plot holes and general weaknesses, and does so in a sarcastic and humorous tone. Except that he tears down entire movies for reasons that make absolutely no sense. His conclusions are often flat-out wrong, missing some very obvious answers the movie itself provides.

For a time, I found these videos entertaining and often agreed with him. But as his videos became much lengthier critiques and far more numerous, often trashing a particularly good film for non-existent issues, I found myself increasingly disinterested in watching. This pattern of tearing down perfectly good movies for the most absurd reasons comes across to me as lazy and entitled. It doesn’t make for good analysis – it makes the commentator sound disingenuous and unappreciative of simple entertainment.

Really – when someone actually takes the time to break down the supposed plot holes of a kids movie like Inside Out, I have to shake my head in disgust. The very fact that a grown man would waste his breath over a kids movie in this regard shows that they’ve 100% missed the point, which is to say – it’s a freaking kids’ movie. It’s not meant to possess perfect logic. It’s a kids movie! (Did I already say, it’s a kids movie?) It is meant to entertain – not to meet our subjective expectations of an airtight plot.

On the flip side, channels like History Buffs demonstrate a more reasonable justification for analyzing movies. Namely, they pose – did the movie accurately portray its content in comparison to the real historical account? It is quite entertaining to listen to Nick Hodges critique films in this fashion because everyone knows that Hollywood is often guilty of ignoring even downright basic historical facts for the sake of making the film more dramatic or pervasive. The key difference between CinemaSins and History Buffs is the latter has an actual purpose in critiquing a film, as historical films can have a tremendous influence on moviegoers and should rightfully be held to higher standards of consistency. CinemaSins simply criticizes because this one guy likes the world to think he’s a better writer than all of Hollywood, or that we actually enjoy his sarcasm as much as he thinks we do.

I’m not saying movies shouldn’t follow logic. I’m not saying they shouldn’t make sense. I am saying, however, that we have seemingly lost a simple ability to enjoy most films for what they are – entertainment. Movies can stir us, inspire us, and impact us in powerful ways, certainly. Ultimately, most movies serve a simple purpose of making a profit by entertaining its audiences. We are all too often so consumed with making movies fit our very subjective and often unrealistic expectations. We forget these movies, as great as they can be, are still made by fallible people.

One of my favorite movies of 2017 was Thor: Ragnarok. It’s one of the best MCU films to date, totally reinventing the character of Thor and adding much-needed color to the series. I have very few issues with it, and even though I recognize a few flaws, it’s just too much fun to let these minor quips steal the spotlight. Probably the biggest issue is how Thor is somehow still tased by Valkerie by that little device, effectively stopping him in his tracks…yet, Thor can generate lightning from his fingertips? Doesn’t make much sense, I know. A minor issue, like I said. But even if you don’t like Marvel movies, it’s still incredibly fun to watch. There’s a ton of great action scenes, great new characters, and the comedic shift in tone helps the series feel fresh for a change. If I wanted to analyze it to death, I could – but I won’t. It’s a great movie that deserves its due. Simple as that.

When we stop superimposing our own rules of how a movie should be, it allows us to enjoy it for what it is. I know it’s impossible not to critique a movie – we all do it. But there comes a point when we should simply let entertainment do its job. Let movies make you laugh, cry, and grin in delight as they serve their primary goal. Otherwise, why are we even watching these things anymore?

In the words of a wise man once said, “Are you not entertained?!”

That is the goal, isn’t it?