Why I Don't Care if a Movie has Plot Holes

-


Most movies that come out nowadays are riddled with plot holes. A younger (and more annoying version of myself) would promptly make an effort to point them all out. I think I was going through a phase where I wanted to prove my intelligence by showing people that I was smarter than a particular movie. The easiest way of doing that was to rain on the parade of any and everyone who enjoyed a popular film.

This insistence on pointing out plot holes isn't just unique to me, mind you. Many cinema fans have devoted a lot of time towards exposing plot holes.

But as I get older, wiser,and hopefully less annoying, I've learned that plot holes (or the lack thereof) aren't what make a movie great or horrible. First lets take a look at a few examples:


In honor of the next Star Wars sequel is coming out soon, I figure I should pick on one of my favorite movies: Return of the Jedi.


The climax of the first half of ROTJ is when Luke, facing his doom, reveals to us that he had planned this daring escape all along.


He had hid his lightsaber in R2-D2 and at the right moment, R2 launches the lightsaber in the air so that Luke retrieve his Jedi Weapon and save the day.




But hold on there.....

How was this all planned out? Was his plan to have each and every one of his friends captured and sentenced to death? What if Jabba's henchmen had found the lightsaber when turning R2 into a drink server? What if Jabba had decided to shoot Luke and all his friends in the face and forgo the entire Sarlacc pit fiasco?

Did Luke count on Jabba refusing to give up Captain Han Solo? (and on that note, how did Han Solo go from being a captian in Empire Strikes Back to the rank of general? Literally all he did between Empire and Jedi was be frozen). What if Jabba agreed to Luke's terms and decides to give back Han and take the money Luke had been offering? Then what would have happened to the droids, Chewbacca, Leia, and Lando? Would he have to come back and rescue  them too?


There are so many moving parts to this plan that Luke couldn't have possibly planned for. And if any one of those things went wrong, then it all falls apart. It honestly would have make a lot more sense if Luke had gone to the Rebellion and enlisted their help to either pay off Jabba or to take Han Solo back by force. And when I say by force, I mean force choking Jabba to death and running off with carbonite Han Solo.

Basically the first 45 minutes of one of my favorite movies is a giant plot hole. But when first saw the movie, I didn't really pay attention to absurdity of the plot. Maybe it was because I was a kid and I was rooting for Luke Skywalker to layeth the smacketh down.

Secondary to the Story, Plot Holes Are




Technically Bat Shark Repellent is standard gear so not a plot hole
Obviously there can be major plot holes (e.g. the Deus Ex Machina) that completely jar you out of your suspension of disbelief. Major plot holes aside, its not about having an original story, a complicated plot, or even a "clean" script, free of plot holes.

If you don't care about any of the characters, then the movie will simply fall flat on its face. Can you identify with the protagonists? Do you like them? Do they have depth? Do they grow? Are you rooting for them to succeed and/or beat the bad guy?




Its not a mistake that most main characters start off as simple, everyday people who are often times down on their luck. Someone like a Luke Skywalker, who like many young people, sees his peers advancing and moving on in life. He feels like he wants to go out there and make something of himself. But instead he's stuck on a moisture farm while the world (galaxy?) moves on without him.

And as the story progresses, he gets thrown into the middle of the plot. And since Luke is a simple farm boy, everything has to be explained to him. As people like Obi Wan or Han Solo are explaining things to him, they're also explaining the universe to us, the audience. We feel like we're learning along with the main character. We're growing along with Luke. And when he struggles or experiences loss, then we feel bad for him. When he's up against the antagonist, we're engaged and we're rooting for him to win.

Everything else (plot, setting, etc.) is simply a vehicle for our main characters to interact with each other in a different way. As they respond to the events in the plot, we learn more about them.

Good storytellers such as Spielberg or James Cameron know exactly what to do to get you to care. In a lot of their films they will go ahead and pull every trick in the book to rope you into the movie.
Like good illusionists, these directors will get you so emotionally engaged in the film that you won't notice any plot holes. And that's ok, because if things worked out exactly they would have in real life, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting. It wouldn't be as engaging and *gasp* it might be boring. 

I can guarantee you that if a director had a choice between making an exciting, suspenseful movie with a few minor plot holes or a boring movie with perfect continuity, then they'd choose the former every single time. That director probably wouldn't have a job very long if their movies weren't emotionally engaging.

and are we really complaining about the realism of movie featuring space samurai wizards?



In the end that's all that really matters. If you are entertained and are emotionally moved by the characters in the movie. Then the director has done their job.

How I Watch Movies Now




This entry will be posted just a few days before the premiere of Star Wars 7, so my opinion will probably look wildly out of date when you read this years from now. But as an older, wiser Viet, I'm accepting the fact that the plot of this movie will not be anything earth shattering. Barring any sort of franchise changing plot twists, I can probably surmise that there's probably going to be like a Death Star 2.0* with a Trench 2.0 (see the top right side of the poster). And then there will be kind of like a Darth Vader 2.0 on the top left. In essense, Star Wars 7 will probably get the "Jurassic World" treatment wherein its technically a sequel but will also be a soft reboot.

JJ Abrams will be trying to convince the Star Wars fans that Star Wars 7 is indeed a real Star Wars movie. So I'm going to expect a lot of winks to the classic films. I'm also expecting him to minimize the screen time of the classic characters in order for the new characters to shine and to grow.

 For this movie, I'll be focusing more on Daisy Ridley and John Boyega's characters. And if they can give their characters life and depth in the same manner that Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher delivered their roles, then I will be plenty entertained.

And I'll keep my mouth shut this time if I see plot holes.

_____________

*Technically it will be a Death Star 3.0 as Death Star 2.0 was destroyed in Return of the Jedi
 

Popular posts from this blog

My Summer Training Block Part 1: Starting off with a fresh PR

-
    Hi everyone! Its been a minute. Work has been slow so I've been spending much of the summer running. The summer is going to come and go anyways, so might as well spend it building up a massive aerobic base šŸ˜Ž In the interest of not being too long winded, I'll break this into parts. I've been meaning to post something about my Half Marathon anyways, so I'll start with a race report about the Foot Traffic Flat on July 4th.   My Training :    I didn't have any particular training for this race. I wanted to start incorporating track work , specifically 400m repeats when I can . Its summer but I guess the kids at the high school still do practice for sports on the field . If the track is being used , then I end up going the "Kofuzi " workout , which is 6x1 mile repeats with about 90 seconds of rest . (Kofuzi is this guy ) I wanted to train some speed in before I started slogging through marathon pace work .     Outside of the 400 m repeats or the 1 mi...
Read more

Stumptown 50K Race Report

-
Image
  Coming off the back of the Vernonia Marathon and a solid performance in the Lake Oswego 10k, I approached this race as a “B” level event, meaning that I took it seriously, but I didn't put in a full 18 training block in the same way I treated Vernonia. Here’s a detailed account of my preparation, race day strategy, and the lessons I learned along the way. Training and Preparation In the six weeks leading up to the race, I maintained a steady training regimen, peaking at around 40 miles before tapering down. My taper wasn’t as restful as it could have been; I prioritized keeping my legs active rather than taking extended rest periods. One crucial aspect of my preparation was stretching. After attending a stretch lab demo, I learned my hamstrings and hips were particularly tight, which is common for runners. With a week to go, I integrated nightly hamstring and calf stretches to address potential knee pain, a recurring issue for me. Race Kit My race kit was assembled with comfort a...
Read more

The Brugada Challenge

-
Image
How the Concert Started How My Evening Ended I wanted to write something clever for this blog post, but I think the pictures do a good enough job getting your attention. Here’s how i ended up in the hospital. I had collapsed in the middle of June at a Death Cab for Cutie concert. When the medics checked me out, they noticed an irregular heart rhythm suggesting that a heart attack was imminent.  An ambulance came and a second set of EMTs performed another EKG. Since it was at a concert venue, they thought maybe interference from the music or the instruments was skewing the measurements. I t wasn’t. The second EKG confirmed the irregular heart rhythm so they treated me as if I was at risk for a cardiac event. It was puzzling for them because I was an otherwise healthy middle aged man. How could I be at risk for a cardiac event? My evening went from “ Death Cab for Cutie ” to “ Really Expensive Cab to Hospital ”  Upon arrival at the ER they perform a third EKG, which was no diffe...
Read more